DebuggerStepThroughAttribute

Let's say you have some code that often throws an exception, but you just swallow it and carry on. This is usually fine, unless you have your debugger set to break on. So take some code like this:

Public Shared ReadOnly Property IsInstalled() As Boolean
 Get
    Dim isInstalled As Boolean = False

    Try
       Dim temp as Object = CreateObject("Some.ActiveX")
       isInstalled = True
    Catch ex as Exception
    End Try
  
    Return isInstalled

 End Get
End Property

If the COM object doesn't create properly, it will generate an exception. This sort of code is usually in the start up of an application, so you might have to hit this every time you debug your app. It's annoying.

However, if you add the handy attribute DebuggerStepThrough just before the Get clause:

Public Shared ReadOnly Property IsInstalled() As Boolean
   <DebuggerStepThrough()> _
   Get
      Dim isInstalled As Boolean = False

      Try
         Dim temp as Object = CreateObject("Some.ActiveX")
         isInstalled = True
      Catch ex as Exception
      End Try
      
      Return isInstalled

   End Get
End Property

Then Visual Studio just runs over the code like nothing ever happened.