Welcome to the next installment of my Visual Studio Tricks series. Continuing on from last time when I discussed how to quickly switch between startup projects using hot-keys, we’ll cover another startup project trick.

Here’s the scenario. Suppose you’re working on a brand new WCF application that has both a client and server piece.

You need to start both the client and server to accomplish anything interesting. Most people fumble around starting the server, then the client.

Did you know that you can tell VS to run both at once. You just have to know where to look. The place to look is the properties of the solution. i.e. Right-click on the solution and choose properties and you’ll get this dialog:

Click for full image

By default this is set to “Single startup project”. But you just have to select “Multiple startup projects” and you’re on your way to smooth sailing with your client / server application. You even get debugging of both the client and server when you press F5.

Enjoy!