Select "Insert Snippet" from the context menu, and
then choose the category of snippet you want to use (for example: "File
System"):
Figure 2
And then the code-nugget to inject:
Figure 3
You'll then have the code added at that location in the
editor. Common variable values will be automatically highlighted for you,
with the cursor set on the first value. You can replace the values with
your own, and then tab to automatically jump to fill in the next value (no need
to use the mouse or arrow keys):
Figure 4
What makes code snippets really cool is that you can easily
create and define your own. So over-time you can build up your own
library of common patterns that you use, and add efficiency to your daily tasks
(for example: do you always write data code in a certain way, or insert objects
into the ASP.NET cache using a specific pattern, or validate security,
etc.) These snippets are stored within XML files on disk, and can be
easily shared across a dev team (or friends).
Update: Several people have pointed out that C# doesn't have
as many built-in snippets out of the box as the VB screenshots above. You can
download the same routines (but in C#) to add to VS 2005 or Visual Web
Developer here to get them: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/downloads/codesnippets/default.aspx
Here are a couple of articles and links I found on the web
that go into how to build and use your own snippets:
http://aspalliance.com/863
http://aspnet.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/122105-1.aspx
http://www.developer.com/net/vb/article.php/10926_3505156_1
http://blog.davidyack.com/archive/2006/01/26/3884.aspx
(David's blog has a whole list of great links here)
http://blog.davidyack.com/archive/2006/01/27/3886.aspx
http://aspalliance.com/752
Hope this helps,
Scott