ReSharper 6 Enhances Suggestions with Explanations
March 22nd, 2011 by Hadi HaririPrevious posts introducing ReSharper 6:
- ReSharper 6 EAP is Open; Details on JavaScript Support
- CSS Support in ReSharper 6
- ReSharper 6 Bundles Decompiler, Free Standalone Tool to Follow
One of the new features we have added to ReSharper 6 is the ability to find out why ReSharper makes certain suggestions. Often, ReSharper can provide a suggestion such as the one shown below:
For some people this might be clear, whether or not they would agree with the suggestion. For others it might make little sense, specially developers that are often new to the language or framework. In ReSharper 6, we have added a feature* which provides more information as to why these suggestions, hints or warnings are made:
When invoking the QuickFix, by pressing Alt+Enter, ReSharper now provides a new entry which is “Why is ReSharper suggesting this?”. By clicking on this entry, you will be redirected to a Wiki on the JetBrains site where you will be provided with more detailed information in regard to the suggestion. For instance, when being displayed with the following:
By selecting the “Why is ReSharper suggesting this?” action, the Wiki site will show the following information:
Currently we have over 40 entries in the Wiki and are continuing to add more entries. We will also be updating and reviewing them with more examples were required. As always, please let us know if you have any feedback.
* There is a plug-in which is available for previous editions of ReSharper called WhySharper, which this idea was partially based on. We realized however, that to make sure the information is kept up to date, it would be better to have this functionality built into the product.
Tags: JetBrains, ReSharper, ReSharper 6
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Its this sort of attention to detail that makes JetBrains the greatest!
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:25 pm
I, for one, do not need the “Why is Resharper suggesting this?”. I have come to accept the fact that Resharper is the best, its better than me and I should never doubt it.
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I’m a fan. Can never think of another refactoring tool for my VS.
You guyz rock!!!
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Any chance we can view this wiki now?
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:53 pm
@Argos
Sure, here’s the wiki index: http://confluence.jetbrains.net/display/ReSharper/Code+Inspection+Wiki
@Prajeesh, @cbp
Thanks a lot!
@Monty
That’s cool but sometimes users do doubt ReSharper suggestions, and in certain cases they have all the right to: for example, the case of using or not using ‘var’ is a personal decision to take
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:58 pm
The only question is: when is the release ? You said late spring, I ask: which country late spring
I must say R#6 is awesome.
March 22nd, 2011 at 5:00 pm
@Jura - thanks for that!
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:49 am
@Roland
Late spring means May. We’re still hoping to get things ready in May.
Thanks for acknowledging the awesomeness
March 23rd, 2011 at 4:52 pm
@Jura - looking to purchase R# soon, but would like to wait for free upgrade to R# 6 before buying version 5…any idea when this free upgrade will be available…?
March 23rd, 2011 at 4:55 pm
@magellings
We’re opening free upgrades to R#6 sometime in April.
March 23rd, 2011 at 7:08 pm
i guess it’s time to check if my reported issues got solved^^
March 27th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
@Jura does that mean that I should wait until you announce the free upgrade before buying if i want to move to 6 or if I buy now will I still be eligible to upgrade?
March 27th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
@pyro
If your priority is getting ReSharper benefits immediately, you buy ReSharper 5 now and you’re not eligible for a free upgrade to version 6
If your priority is getting a free upgrade to version 6, you should hold off the purchase until we announce the free upgrade campaign
March 31st, 2011 at 7:58 am
I would like to see some *really* compelling and convincing reasons as why to use ‘var’. Primarily for my colleagues benefit
I personally am a var-man at heart 
March 31st, 2011 at 10:45 am
@Graham,
Did you read my blog entry and some of the comments?
http://hadih.me/gSx9YT
April 2nd, 2011 at 3:00 am
Please tell me I didn’t just buy a license at a bad time! I would’ve held out a bit longer if I knew the release was in May.
July 9th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
I installed the released version of Resharper 6.0 but I don’t see that option in quick info, I tried various examples but none seem to show it. I did install EAP versions earlier could there be a problem?
July 9th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
@DotnetShadow
By quick info, do you mean the drop-down menu that opens once you press Alt+Enter?
The “Why is ReSharper suggesting this?” list item is not available for every inspection, just for some of them.
Prior installation of EAP builds is not known to influence subsequent official builds.
September 7th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Can you turn it off? I find it rather annoying.
September 8th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
@Nick
No there’s currently no way to turn it off.
Why do you find it annoying? Are you accessing Inspection Options and Suppress Inspection commands frequently?
September 8th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
@Nick,
As far as I know, you cannot. You can however file a request at http://youtrack.jetbrains.net/issues/RSRP to see if it’s viable to make it an option.
Thanks.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:38 pm
@Hadi: Thanks alot for this great update for ReSharper 6. I just bought the license a few days ago and this is exactly what I was looking for.
Can we expect more updates regarding Explanations in the future?
Thanks,
Alex
http://diablo3area.com/diablo3-barbarian-skills.php
November 2nd, 2011 at 9:23 am
@Alex,
We’ll be updating these as necessary.
Thanks.