What Software Will You Need to Complete the Examples Provided with This Book?

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At a minimum, you will need to have the .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) installed on your computer to compile and run the samples shown throughout this book. The .NET Framework SDK includes the Common Language Runtime, the .NET Framework class libraries, command-line compilers, and administration tools. You can install the .NET Framework SDK on any of the following versions of the Windows operating system: Windows NT 4.0 (with Service Pack 6a), Windows 2000 (at least Service Pack 2 recommended) or Windows XP Professional. The .NET Framework SDK can be downloaded for free from the Microsoft Developer Network Web site at http://msdn.microsoft.com/net/.

Some of the examples in this book demonstrate solutions using Visual Studio .NET. Visual Studio .NET is Microsoft's premier integrated development environment (IDE) for writing programs on top of the .NET Framework. Visual Studio .NET includes the Visual Basic .NET, Visual C# .NET, and Visual C++ .NET compilers, an integrated editor, graphical debugger, design-time wizards, and other supporting tools. Visual Studio .NET is available in three product flavors ”Professional, Enterprise Developer, and Enterprise Architect. (Note that if you are a member of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), your subscription may already include Visual Studio .NET.) Complete product information for Visual Studio .NET may be found on the Web at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/.

NOTE

Although the .NET Framework SDK is only available for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP Professional, the .NET Framework Redistributable is available for Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows XP Home Edition in addition to the platforms supported by the SDK. Programs written on top of the .NET Framework require only that the Redistributable be present to run. Thus, while you need to run Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP Professional to develop .NET Framework programs, those programs can run on any of the platforms supported by the Redistributable.

Visual Studio .NET is currently available on the same platforms as the .NET Framework SDK ”Windows NT 4.0 (Workstation and Server), Windows 2000 (Professional and Server), and Windows XP Professional.

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