Improved Debugging and Diagnostics in Visual Studio 2022 17.12: AI-Powered Insights and Optimized Workflows

Visual Studio 2022 17.12 introduces a series of innovations in debugging and diagnostics designed to boost developer productivity and code quality. Microsoft is increasingly focusing on AI integration and addressing frequently expressed wishes from the developer community.

Inline Method Return Values

One of the most requested features is the direct display of return values within the code. Visual Studio 17.12 fulfills this wish: Return values of functions are now displayed inline, highlighted in gray, directly below the respective return expression. A mouseover provides additional information, and the Copilot icon allows you to start an AI-powered analysis of the expression in the side window to identify potential errors.

Breakpoint Group Import/Export

For consistent breakpoint management across different project parts, Visual Studio 17.12 now allows the import and export of breakpoint groups along with their configurations. This simplifies the reuse of breakpoints and ensures uniform debugging setups.

AI-Powered Variable Analysis

GitHub Copilot in 17.12 supports the analysis of variable values in the "Autos" and "Locals" debugger windows. Next to the variable preview, you'll find the Copilot icon, which allows you to initiate a more in-depth error analysis by the AI.

IntelliSense in the IEnumerable Visualizer

The IEnumerable Visualizer benefits from the integration of IntelliSense, including syntax highlighting for LINQ queries. This speeds up the creation and editing of queries and minimizes errors. AI support for LINQ queries is also planned for the future.

Memory Analysis with Snapshots

The Diagnostics Tool now offers the ability to create and compare memory snapshots. After creating two snapshots in the Memory tab, the differences can be displayed using the "View Diff" function. In addition, the Diagnostics window now visualizes histogram data, further improving memory analysis.

Further Improvements in 17.12

In addition to the debugging features, Visual Studio 2022 17.12 offers further improvements. The version supports .NET 9 and strengthens AI integration, especially in debugging and code correction. The UI allows starting different project configurations and copying files between VS instances. Working with multiple GitHub accounts and creating local repositories is simplified, and Copilot commit messages can be customized. Under Linux, WebJobs can be published to Azure. HTTP files support request variables for reusing responses in further requests. In C++, command-line arguments can be set directly in the toolbar.

Conclusion

Visual Studio 2022 17.12 offers a variety of improvements in the debugging and diagnostics area. The integration of AI features like GitHub Copilot optimizes the workflow and enables deeper code insights. Additional features such as the import/export of breakpoint groups and memory analysis with snapshots increase developer productivity.

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