How do I add a high-priority TODO comment in Visual Studio?

Adding a comment such as this:

// TODO: Refactor this code

...creates a task in the Task List that I can view etc. There is a column labeled ! that lets you sort these tasks by priority.

How can I set a specific task's priority?

Solution 1:

The priority of the task depends on the keyword you use to tag it. You can see and edit a list of keywords and their priorities by going to Tools->Options->Environment->Task List.

For example, on my installation, I've got HACK, TODO and UNDONE as normal priority, and UnresolvedMergeConflict as high priority.

If you want to add a new tag, type it into the "Name" box, choose a priority, and then click "Add".

Solution 2:

A cheap hack is to always put a priority just after the the TODO tag, then sort by description. Only use priority 1-9 to avoid alphabetic sorting confusion.

Any comments without a priority will drop to the bottom.

(Click to enlarge the image)