Visual Studio 2008

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PHTech

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Hi there...

I just want some opinions regarding Visual Studio 2008. As I am now really fed up with Dreamweaver CS4, I want to move on to something hopefully more advanced and friendlier to use.

I am currently busy downloading Visual Studio 2008 Pro, and want to know some of the following info:

  • Is it easier to use than Dreamweaver (web-dev)
  • If I have never written in VB / C#, would I be able to develop easily if I am used to DW CS4
  • If I want to write Desktop Apps, would Visual Studio 2008 definately help with rapid development of applications
  • Is there enough resources available like: Tutorials, Add-ons, references, etc

Why I am asking, is that I want to start developing on stuff that people will use in my area. So... Wil Visual Studio 2008 do the thing for Desktop App Development, AND also ASP.NET development better than DW CS4...?

And what language is better in Visual Studio: C# or VB...?

Thanx...!
 
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Visual Studio is pretty synonymous with anything .NET-related. I'm surprised you've been using Dreamweaver so long! The WYSIWYG-editor in VS2008 is pretty powerful, but I always prefer the HTML-view (or "Source" view) above the designer. But that might be just me - I like having control over EXACTLY what will be rendered to the browser.

As for Windows Application development, it is also very powerful. You have a lot of flexibility in the "designer" department with a wealth of controls to cater for pretty much anything you need to do.

Debugging for both Windows and Web apps is (AFAIK) waaaaay more powerful than anything Dreamweaver can muster up and the Intellisense and Object / Class browser also makes life a lot easier...

VS2008 practically codes your applications for you. You just need to stroke it in all the right places and it will perform a few magic tricks for you. ;)
 
Dreamweaver hides a lot of stuff from you - which makes you stoopid ;)

If you realy want to write software, you need to be close to your code - VS will do this for you, and can also automate a lot of repetitive tasks, like setting up and configuring datasources etc. You find it a bit of a learnign curve at first, but the advantages it has over Dreamweaver are huge. Make this switch, you will benefit.

Language choice is pretty much a personal preference in .Net, as everything you write runs against the framework version you are targeting. Those in the know reckon that C# exposes more of what is available in the framework than VB does. I chose C# because because I do a lot of jscript, and they are very similar.
 
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I'm about to start learning it too, though I will be using VWD Express (without SP1 as my cap is a midget).

Most people would suggest using C# rather than VB.
 
And there I was thinking Dreamweaver is the coolest development app (web development) there is... What made me so freakin mad today, is the lame excuse for the ASP.NET > 2.0 development in Dreamweaver. They say ASP.NET is not fully supported as they can not keep up with Microsoft's updates and stuff on the .NET Framework... So now is a good time to do a break and move over to VS2008...!

As I assume, the desktop app development and web development in VS2008, walks hand on hand (or close enough)...?
 
PHTech said:
As I assume, the desktop app development and web development in VS2008, walks hand on hand (or close enough)...?
Click to expand...

Well, it all depends on the language you will be using. Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition allows you to do just that - build ASP.NET web applications in either VB.NET or C#.

If you want to do Windows / Console apps, you will have to choose between the following, depending on your language preference:
  1. Visual C# 2008 Express Edition
  2. Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition
  3. Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition
 
charles's birthday card said:
In terms of ASP.NET applications, but what will I be missing by using VWD Express rather than VS 2008 Pro?
Click to expand...
Not too much - the major restriction is that add-ins are not allowed in VWD, with the notable exception of ASP.Net MVC, which is included in SP1. Also, you can't reference other projects with VWD - but you can simply reference the resulting DLLs, IIRC.
 
  • Is it easier to use than Dreamweaver (web-dev)
  • If I have never written in VB / C#, would I be able to develop easily if I am used to DW CS4
  • If I want to write Desktop Apps, would Visual Studio 2008 definately help with rapid development of applications
  • Is there enough resources available like: Tutorials, Add-ons, references, etc
Click to expand...
  • As simple as, using WYSIWYG.
  • Ever programmed before? Like a duck to water.
  • Yep. VS is the definitive IDE for Windows Dev (.Net)
  • Yep. Quickstarts on MSDN will get you started. Code Project is a good place for beginners too. ASP.Net has a load of resources for beginner web devs. Last of all, remember: Google is your new best friend.
 
The issue I have with VS2008 Pro, is that it is just such a resource hog of note.

Wow.

That and SQL Server 2008.

MS just keep on adding this and that and everything else. Sheesh.

I downloaded Wamp Server. Quite lekka.
I'm playing around with Netbeans 6.5 - quite nice (though no C# :()

:)
 
Raithlin said:
  • As simple as, using WYSIWYG.
  • Ever programmed before? Like a duck to water.
  • Yep. VS is the definitive IDE for Windows Dev (.Net)
  • Yep. Quickstarts on MSDN will get you started. Code Project is a good place for beginners too. ASP.Net has a load of resources for beginner web devs. Last of all, remember: Google is your new best friend.
Click to expand...

+ 10000.
TBH, that's all I ever needed. Works very nice. Most answers can be found there.
 
Thanx for the replies... Will definately move over to Visual Studio...!!!
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Visual Studio is pretty synonymous with anything .NET-related. I'm surprised you've been using Dreamweaver so long! The WYSIWYG-editor in VS2008 is pretty powerful, but I always prefer the HTML-view (or "Source" view) above the designer. But that might be just me - I like having control over EXACTLY what will be rendered to the browser.

As for Windows Application development, it is also very powerful. You have a lot of flexibility in the "designer" department with a wealth of controls to cater for pretty much anything you need to do.

Debugging for both Windows and Web apps is (AFAIK) waaaaay more powerful than anything Dreamweaver can muster up and the Intellisense and Object / Class browser also makes life a lot easier...

VS2008 practically codes your applications for you. You just need to stroke it in all the right places and it will perform a few magic tricks for you. ;)
Click to expand...
qft

VS2008 kicks butt.
 
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