Category list

A Word About Programming Languages

One of the hallmarks of the .NET Framework is that it is language- agnostic . For the first time in history, it matters little what language you choose to write code in because in the end all languages exercise the same set of features in the .NET Framework.

I do all my coding in C#, in part because C# is the only language designed specifically with the .NET Framework in mind, and also, because I m an old C++ guy, C# feels natural to me. Since I m a C# programmer, the vast majority of the code samples in this book are written in C#, too. Few of the concepts presented in the book, however, relate only to C#. This book is about programming the .NET Framework, and C# happens to be the vehicle that I use to express my thoughts. If you prefer Visual Basic .NET or COBOL instead, it is my hope that this book will be no less valuable to you. Once you know how to open a connection to a database with ADO.NET, the code for actually doing it is remarkably similar whether it s written in Visual Basic .NET or C#.

Most of the samples in this book were written by hand, without the help of Visual Studio .NET. That s not a knock on Visual Studio .NET; it s evidence of my belief that learning is best accomplished by coding and not by having someone else code for you. Once you understand what goes into a Windows form or a Web form or a Web service, you ll find Visual Studio .NET an able partner in helping to create them. Writing applications the old-fashioned way first will increase your depth of understanding and better prepare you to work in an environment in which tools shoulder part of the load for you.

System Requirements

To compile and run the more than 75 sample programs included in this book, you must have the .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) installed on your machine. The SDK runs on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and presumably on later versions of Windows as well. The CD that comes with this book includes version 1.0 of the .NET Framework SDK as well as Service Pack 1. When newer versions become available, you can download them by pointing your browser to http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?url=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/000/976/msdncompositedoc.xml. We all know that URLs change. If you go to this one and find that it s no longer valid, visit the Microsoft .NET home page at http://www.microsoft.com/net for the latest information on where to find the SDK.

Chapters 5 through 11 of this book, which cover ASP.NET, impose another requirement on your system. In addition to being outfitted with the .NET Framework SDK, your PC needs to have Microsoft s Web server, Internet Information Services (IIS), installed. Because ASP.NET requires Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you need one of those operating systems, too. On the Professional editions of these operating systems, IIS isn t part of the default installation. To install IIS, open Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel and select Add/Remove Windows Components. You ll find a check box for IIS. Be sure to install IIS before installing the SDK to make sure ASP.NET gets installed, too.

Some of the chapters in this book include sample programs built with Visual Studio .NET and provide Visual Studio .NET “specific instructions. You don t have to have Visual Studio .NET to build code that targets the .NET Framework; the SDK comes with command-line compilers. However, Visual Studio .NET offers a highly integrated development environment that makes writing, testing, and debugging code easier. If you don t already own a copy of Visual Studio .NET, you can purchase one from Microsoft. For more information, visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/howtobuy.

Flylib.com

Category list

A Word About Programming Languages