Look beneath the surface at some developing changes
Visual Studio .NET is probably the most significant milestone in the evolution of Microsoft's graphical development environment since Visual Studio (VS) 1.0. Visual Studio .NET isn't just an IDE face-lift with a few new productivity tools thrown in. One look at Visual Studio .NET reveals that the new product is a marked departure from any previous version of VS. The changes aren't just skin deep; the UI enhancements are just the tip of the iceberg. The changes below the surface let you use Visual Studio .NET to develop Microsoft .NET applications. These changes include support for the C# and Visual C++ (VC++) languages, support for the radical enhancements to Visual Basic (VB) embodied in the Visual Basic .NET language, integrated support for a new programming model called XML Web services, and integrated support for the new .NET class framework.
Microsoft has released four versions of Visual Studio .NET:
- Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect (VSEA)
- Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Developer (VSED)
- Visual Studio .NET Professional
- Visual Studio .NET Academic
VSEA is the superset of all the other versions. All the versions provide the same core IDE; the ability to use C#, Visual Basic .NET, and C++; and the ability to create Web services and generate handheld applications. In addition to the core development features, VSEA enables central control over a group of developers, letting a lead project architect set rules and policies and create templates for developers to use. VSEA also includes a copy of BizTalk Server Developer Edition and design tools that use Unified Modeling Language (UML) to map out application designs.
VSED is a subset of VSEA but a superset of Visual Studio .NET Professional. Besides the core development features found in the other editions, VSED includes the developer editions of Windows 2000 Server, SQL Server 2000, Commerce Server 2000, Host Integration Server 2000, and Exchange 2000 Server. It also includes Visual SourceSafe and the Visual Database tools.
Visual Studio .NET Professional and Visual Studio .NET Academic both include the core Visual Studio .NET development languages and tools. However, Visual Studio .NET Academic has some additional features for course management and generating student applications. Now, let's take a tour of the most important new features you can find in the Visual Studio .NET enterprise editions, including some database-integration features that Microsoft added for .NET developers.
The Tip of the Iceberg
VS has always been a developer's best friend, and Visual Studio .NET is no exception. The enhancements available in Visual Studio .NET bring it a new level of sophistication and customization. The release of Visual Studio .NET also marks the first time Microsoft has provided a common IDE for all its development environments. You'll appreciate this change if you've worked with more than one of the earlier VS development tools, which required you to learn a different UI and IDE for each language.
When you start Visual Studio .NET, you'll find the Start Page that Figure 1 shows. The Visual Studio .NET environment assumes that your Internet connection is always available; many of the links displayed on the Start Page connect directly to Microsoft's Web site. When Visual Studio .NET first starts up, links under the Get Started label show your most recent projects. Selecting What's New will display the latest Visual Studio downloads and updates on Microsoft's Web site. The Online Community option links to a list of Microsoft's .NET newsgroups. The Headlines link takes you to a collection of .NET technical articles on the Microsoft site. The Search Online link displays the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Search page. You can find links to Visual Studio .NET code samples, add-ins, and guided walkthroughs under Downloads. For a list of the Web services that you can incorporate into your own applications, select the XML Web services link. The Web Hosting link displays a list of sites that you can use for testing your Web service applications. Finally, the My Profile page that Figure 1 shows displays a set of options that you can use to customize the operation of the IDE. You can use My Profile to choose between the default Visual Studio .NET settings and settings that more closely resemble VB 6.0 or VC++.
Opening a new Visual Basic .NET Windows Application project and beginning a new form displays the Visual Studio .NET IDE that Figure 2 shows. Visual Studio .NET still provides the familiar IDE features that were a mainstay of previous versions. These familiar features include the Code Editing window with color-coded keywords; the Design window, which lets you visually create your UI by dragging components from the Toolbox window; and the familiar Solution Explorer and Class View windows, which show the files and class hierarchy in the project. An Object Browser displays an object's properties and methods, and a To Do window tracks upcoming tasks that need to be performed for the solution. In addition, in Visual Studio .NET enterprise editions, the IDE is tightly integrated with the new version of Visual SourceSafe, the source-code version-control system that Microsoft bundled with Visual Studio .NET.
Although the Visual Studio .NET development environment retains many familiar features, it also introduces several entirely new aspects. The tabbed child windows, for example, make navigating between open windows a breeze. The Code Editing window also has the ability to outline, a feature that lets you collapse multiple lines of code under one line. This ability is particularly useful when you want your new Visual Basic .NET project to more closely resemble VB 6.0 modules.