Microsoft continues work on upcoming 15.9 update to Visual Studio 2017. In the third preview of 15.9, Microsoft has announced support for UWP apps on the ARM64 platform and expanded functionality for TypeScript developers. As has been the familiar occurrence, a large of number of fixes are also included.
UWP Applications can now target ARM64 platforms. This platform support covers using C#, Visual Basic, and C++. Keep in mind C# / VB must use .NAT Native, and should be targeting Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (16299) or greater. UWP app developers should also see a more stable UWP XAML editor. Microsoft previously announced it was working on the UWP XAML Editor in 15.9 Preview 2, and this work continues on that theme. Unfortunately, Microsoft has provided only limited specific details as to what errors have been corrected-- but did mention the addition of Platform Only Mode in the XAML designer. Enabled by default, this prevents custom control code from being executed in an effort to improve stability.
TypeScript developers should appreciate VS2017’s new support for Project References on their TypeScript 3.0+ projects. Project references make it possible to more easily use multiple files for a TypeScript project rather than a single monolithic file. InfoQ's Dylan Schiemann has previously discussed this new ability as part of his TypeScript 3.0 coverage. For those who use VS2017, 15.9 brings the ability to make use of familiar IDE features like Find All References, Go To Definition, and Peek Definition.
The bulk of the other changes in this preview deal with bug fixes, according to the release notes. Around 20 bugs were patched, including some frustrating quality-of-life glitches. Those using a previous preview release of 15.9 should be first to install the latest update as soon as possible.
As with all preview releases of VS2017, this should not be used in a production environment or to produce production code. Preview 3 can be installed from within existing builds of VS2017 preview or obtained from Microsoft. As usual, full release notes have been provided.
