Introduction to Visual Studio .NET


Visual Studio .NET, which is the latest version of Visual Studio, is based on the .NET framework. It provides languages and tools that enable you to build Web-based, desktop, and mobile applications. You can also use it to create Web services.

Visual Studio .NET includes the following programming languages:

  • Visual Basic .NET

  • Visual C++ .NET

  • Visual C# .NET

It also provides additional technologies, such as ASP.NET, that enable you to develop and deploy applications. In addition, Visual Studio .NET includes the MSDN Library, which contains documentation on various development tools and applications.

Using the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of Visual Studio .NET, you can create applications in the various .NET languages. The IDE allows you to share tools and create applications in multiple languages.

Visual Studio .NET includes various enhancements over the earlier versions of Visual Studio. The following sections describe these enhancements.

Visual Basic .NET

Visual Basic .NET is the latest version of Visual Basic and includes many new features. Unlike earlier versions of Visual Basic, this one supports inheritance. The earlier versions of Visual Basic, versions 4 to 6, supported interfaces but not implementation inheritance. Visual Basic .NET supports both. (You'll learn about implementation inheritance later in this appendix.) Another new feature is overloading. In addition, Visual Basic .NET supports multithreading, which enables you to create multithreaded and scalable applications. Visual Basic .NET is also compliant with Common Language Specification (CLS) and supports structured exception handling.

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CLS

CLS is a set of rules and constructs that are supported by the CLR. Visual Basic .NET is a CLS-compliant language. Any objects, classes, or components that you create in Visual Basic .NET can be used in any other CLS-compliant language. In addition, you can use objects, classes, and components created in other CLS-compliant languages in Visual Basic .NET. The use of CLS ensures complete interoperability between applications, regardless of the language used to create the application. Therefore, while working in Visual Basic .NET, you can derive a class based on a class written in Visual C# .NET, where the data types and variables of the derived class will be compatible with those of the base class.

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Visual C# .NET

Visual Studio .NET provides a new language called Visual C# .NET, which is an object-oriented language based on the C and C++ languages. Using Visual C# .NET, you can create applications for the .NET framework. As mentioned earlier, Visual C# .NET supports the CLR. Therefore, any code written in Visual C# .NET is managed code. The IDE provides various templates, designers, and wizards to help you create applications in Visual C# .NET.

Visual C++ .NET

Visual C++ .NET is an enhanced version of Visual C++ that includes new features, such as support for managed extensions and attributes.

Managed extensions include a set of language extensions for C++ to enable you to create applications for the .NET framework. Using managed extensions, you can easily make existing components compatible with the .NET framework. Therefore, with the help of managed extensions, you can reuse existing code and thus save both time and effort. In addition, by using managed extensions, you can combine both unmanaged and managed C++ code in an application.

Visual C++ .NET also supports attributes, which enable you to extend the functionality of the language and simplify the creation of COM components. You can apply attributes to classes, data members, or member functions.

Web Forms

Visual Studio .NET introduces Web Forms, which are based on Microsoft ASP.NET technology. Web Forms are used to create Web pages. In Visual Studio .NET, you can drag controls to the designer and then add code to create Web pages. A Web Forms page can be opened in any Web browser and includes controls that are based on server-side logic.

Windows Forms

Windows Forms provide a platform for developing Windows applications based on the .NET framework. A set of object-oriented and extensible classes enable you to implement visual inheritance, in which you inherit a form from an existing form. This way, you can reuse code and thus enhance productivity. Typically, Windows Forms are used to create user interfaces for a multitier application.

Web Services

Web Services are applications that exchange data by using Extensible Markup Language (XML). They can also receive requests over HTTP. Web Services are not a part of any specific component technology, so any language or operating system can use them. You can use Visual Basic .NET, Visual C# .NET, or ATL Server to create Web Services.

XML Support

Visual Studio .NET includes support for XML. It also provides XML Designer, which enables you to create and edit XML documents and create XML schemas.

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XML

XML is a markup language based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), which is a standard for all markup languages. A subset of SGML, XML enables you to define the structure of data by using markup tags. In addition, you can also define new tags using XML.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has defined XML standards to ensure that structured data is uniform and independent of applications.

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Macromedia ColdFusion MX. Professional Projects
ColdFusion MX Professional Projects
ISBN: 1592000126
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 200

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