In February, Microsoft released Web Tools 2012.2 and updated Web Essentials 2012. In this presentation I will introduce you to the time-saving components in each of these tools and share some tips on best practices.

Web Tools 2012.2

Web Tools 2012.2 is a tooling refresh of Visual Studio 2012 that extends the existing ASP.NET runtime with new features without breaking existing applications. It installs in minutes without altering the current ASP.NET run time components. This is a partial list of some of the new templates and features:

 • First class LESS editor

 • New Web API functionality

 • Paste JSON as classes

 • Page Inspector live CSS auto-sync as you type
 • New templates for Facebook Application and Single Page Application
 • Real-time communication via ASP.NET SignalR
 • Extensionless Web Forms via ASP.NET Friendly URLs

Web Essentials 2012

Web Essentials extends Visual Studio 2012 with a lot of new features that web developers have been missing. If you ever write CSS, HTML, JavaScript, TypeScript, CoffeeScript or LESS, then you will find many useful features that make your life as a developer easier.

  • Full support for TypeScript preview and compilation

  • CoffeeScript and LESS preview window

  • Improved Intellisense for CSS

  • Zen Coding

Toi B Wright is the Founder and President of the Dallas ASP.NET User Group. We will be celebrating our 10-year anniversary in August.

Toi B Wright is the Founder and President of the Dallas ASP.NET User Group. We will be celebrating our 10-year anniversary in August.