Compuware DevPartner Studio Professional Edition 7.1

asp:review

Compuware DevPartner Studio Professional Edition 7.1

By Mike Riley

I was fortunate enough to havereviewed the 7.0 version of Compuware's DevPartner Studio Professional productback in May of 2003, and jumped at the chance to continue reviewing the latestrelease in the product line, especially considering that the older release doesnot support the 2003 edition of Visual Studio .NET. Thankfully, that problemhas been rectified, along with a bundle of other optimizations and new productfeatures that make the 7.1 release a compelling upgrade for existing DevPartnerfans.

Because the latest release spansthe gamut of Microsoft development tools from the Visual Studio 6.0 C++ andVisual Basic environments through VS .NET 2002 and 2003, the number of toolsavailable in the package can be overwhelming at first. While most of the toolsfound in the 7.1 edition are identical to those found in the 7.0 version, thisreview will focus on the product enhancements in this point release; check outthe earlier DevPartner7.0 review.

For ASP.NET developers, the bestnew addition to the DevPartner toolset is its expansion of the source codeanalysis rules for ASP.NET and ADO.NET. Like the code rules culled fromprogramming experts in earlier releases of Code Review, 7.1 includes anextensive database of expert coding practices that teaches as much as itdetects. It's like having a computerized Extreme Programming peer review alwaysavailable when you need it. Even during the brief time I've been reviewing thisproduct, my own code practices have improved as a result - good job, Compuware!

Another addition specifically forthe .NET developer is DevPartner's extensive ability to analyze memory consumedby every program class and object created, track every reference to thoseobjects and quickly highlight the lines of code responsible for memoryallocation. It certainly takes the guesswork out of determining which portionsof an application are the most resource intensive and, by doing so, reduces orin some cases entirely eliminates bottlenecks or contentions that weren'tobvious during the application design phase.

The most colorful addition to thenew release is its ability to diagram code call graphs. Remember the first timeyou saw a Web tool display a graphical site link map? You'll get that samefeeling when you review the call graphs. Like site maps, the call graphs allowdevelopers to quickly traverse the applications dependencies and isolateproblem areas (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. The call graph feature isjust one of many new enhancements available in the latest release ofCompuware's DevPartner Studio Professional edition.

Other minor tweaks have been madeto the product to help make developers' lives easier. A difference engine nowexists to show the changes between two separate profiling runs, making codechange improvements considerably easier to identify. Although this could befudged in the previous version, its fully supported inclusion is a welcomeaddition. DevPartner Studio also now helps developers using threading to easilyidentify thread deadlock scenarios, helping to avert painful bug hunts.

About the only criticism I have ofthis latest upgrade is the price. I have reviewed other code evaluation andinstrumentation tools since the 7.0 release and, as a potential purchaser ofthese tools, my expectations have been reset as a result of lower costalternatives that deliver nearly as much value as the previous DevPartnersuite. Additionally, some developers might feel strong-armed into paying ahefty fee just to achieve VS .NET 2003 support while some .NET tool vendorshave opted instead for a free upgrade for existing customers. It's obvious thatthe 7.1 version is not just a patch, but it would have been nice to rewardcurrent 7.0 licensees with a more reasonable price break.

Even with the high cost, DevPartnerStudio is still the leader in the field of Visual Studio .NET code review andoptimization toolsets.

Rating:

Web Site: http://www.compuware.com/products/devpartner/studio.htm

Price: approximately US$1,495 per seat;US$700 for upgrade