Visual Studio 2017 has been out for over a year, yet Microsoft continues its pattern of regular updates. A preview of the 7th update has been released, and this one continues to spread improvements around the entire tool.
First among the new additions is support for TypeScript 2.8. This release of TypeScript brings new language features like conditional types, JSX Pragmas, and granular control on mapped type modifiers. VS2017 specific improvements include the ability to turn off type-checking for unopened project files, saving IDE resources. Another IDE change is the ability to apply all quick fixes within a file at once, organize imports, and provide completions for the .this keyword in classes. To take advantage of all the features, be sure to change your TypeScript projects so that they target TypeScript 2.8.
UWP App developers will appreciate a change made to generating UWP apps for distribution via sideloading. Sideloading is the process of installing UWP apps on Windows 10 systems directly, without first going through the Microsoft Store. In 15.7 Preview 2, Visual Studio will generate an .appx file that includes AppInstaller so that users only need to double click the .appx file to install it. The latest version of AppInstaller includes the ability to provide instructions as to how the app can auto-update itself once installed.
A significant amount of changes were made that will benefit C++ developers using VS2017. Additional support and compliance for C++17 has been added, including completion of the full implementation of Expression SFINAE. Five new coding rules from the C++ Core Guidelines have also been added to the editor.
Visual Studio 2017 15.7 Preview 2 is available for download now, and as always with preview releases this should not be installed on production systems.