MS Visual Studio.Net Professional

Visual Studio.Net is the new version of Microsoft’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment). It targets the .Net platform and most applications created from this IDE are capable of running on machines having the .Net framework only. The exception is Visual C++, which can target native Windows installs as well.

Visual Studio.Net Professional comes on a single DVD or multiple CD-ROMs. Installing off the DVD is simpler. The install procedure is lengthy if your system doesn’t have all the required components. If you’re installing it on Win 9x/NT/2K, be prepared to install the latest Service Packs, reboot, install IE 6.0, reboot, install a couple of other ‘required components’ and

reboot, before the actual install evens starts. 

Once the install starts, you’ll need to update the components you just setup, but you don’t have to reboot. After this the set up of Visual Studio starts. Enter the product key, name, and accept the EULA. The next step is important–selecting the options you wish to install. Since the entire install can take more than 2 GB space, you may not want all the samples, documentations and add-on components.

Once the choices are made, click on Install Now! and you can go out for lunch and come back, and still find the installation going on. We found out that the actual installation always takes more time than the estimate given. Of course if you’re installing from CD-ROMs, you’ll be busy swapping CDs to go out anywhere. Once set up ends, you can download updates, if any, from the Web. Now click on the Microsoft Visual Studio .Net icon and the interface loads. If you’re on a slow system with less RAM, it’s time to upgrade. To give you an idea, it crawled on a Celeron 400 machine with 64 MB RAM, was usable on a PIII 400 with 256 MB RAM, and worked fine on a PIII 700 with 256 MB RAM. Our review of the product was done on the PIII 700. The interface takes time to load up, but once done, it’s mostly fast and responsive. By now you’d notice that the

IDE for VC++, VB and VC# have been integrated into one interface.

VS.Net begins with a Start Page, much like the Outlook Today view in MS Outlook. This lets you perform different tasks, like customizing the way you use VS, opening and creating projects and looking for help, documentation and samples. When you do create a new project, you get a dialog box that lists the different languages you installed as well as the kind of applications you can create. Note that any Windows application you create using VS.Net (except for VC++) will require the .Net framework to run on a target machine. 

Other projects that you can create include class libraries, controls, ASP.Net web pages, Web services and even console (command-line) apps. Depending on the option you choose, a new project will be created and initialized for you. If you chose a Windows Application, a new project will be created for you in the language of your choice and initialized with a blank form. If you chose an ASP.Net WebApp, a new virtual directory is created in your Web’s Document Root and a default page created. This becomes your main design area.

An auto-hiding toolbox resides by default on the left side of the design screen. Hovering the mouse over for a short time un-hides the toolbox and you can select the component to place in your application. The available components are also tabbed according to their function or set, like Data, Web Form, HTML, and General. Drag-n-drop the control to your form to place it. 

The right side of the design screen holds multiple items. The first is the Solution Explorer, which allows you to view and open files that make up your project. Below that lies the Properties window that lists the properties of the currently selected control in the design area. You can customize how the properties are presented to you. 

This window shares space with another tabbed window, Dynamic Help. This feature is definitely worth the screen space it takes, as it constantly monitors your work and provides a list of topics that might be useful. For example, when a control is selected, dynamic help lists the name, members, samples and other information about the controller. When you’re entering code, the dynamic help keeps changing depending on the code you’re currently writing. So help is only a click away at any time. This will increase productivity and reduce the time spent in searching for relevant information.

By default, VS hides the code from you. The easiest way to get to the code window is to double-click a control. As in previous versions, a new event-handler method is created for the default event. You can of course change it from the drop-down selection box at the top of the screen. The code window still continues to hide other code including auto-generated lines.

Most controls have also got a facelift and new properties that can make your life easier. For example, the .Net windows forms let you set a transparency key to the form’s background image and therefore turn off the rectangular-ness of usual windows. So you can go ahead and even create your own version of Windows Media Player. 

The power and use of VS.Net will come in the creation and usage of Web services. These are a set of ASP.Net pages that act as a service and provide information based on the inputs given. The output of the Web service is always in XML and it is up to the calling application to interpret and use it. Web Services can be used for things like providing share prices, weather or traffic conditions. The input can be given either using a query string or a normal form POST. Creating a Web service is simple. You need to do is create the public methods that will be accessible to the users and write the code for them. Compile the project and the Web services are immediately available for use. Going to the ASP page lists the public methods that the Web service exposes and clicking any of them takes you to a page that allows you to enter values for its input parameters if any.

The output is returned as XML in a new browser window.

The bottom line: VS.Net makes it simple to develop .Net apps with its new and useful features. However, remember that older systems would require major upgrades. But if you are into developing .Net apps or Web services, it could be one tool that you can’t live without.

Vinod Unny