Datasheet

History of Visual Studio

Although this book is dedicated to Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0, having a

good historical background in Visual Studio can help you better understand the features treated

in the subsequent chapters. Regardless of whether you are old friends with Visual Studio or it is

new for you, it is always worth knowing where it started and how it ’ s been evolving.

The roots of Visual Studio go back for almost 19 years, back to the point somewhere between

the release of Windows 3.0 and 3.1. It is incredible how the development tool has evolved

enormously during almost two decades! The road behind Visual Studio was never smooth or

ﬂ at; it was full of bumps and curves. However, one thing stayed constant during the years:

Microsoft created this tool with developers in mind, and made amazing efforts to build a

strong developer community surrounding the product.

In this chapter, you ’ ll read a short story of Visual Studio ’ s past and present, with emphasis on

the roots of this great tool, as well as the situations and motivations that led to the integrated

development environment (IDE) you use today.

VISUAL STUDIO DOCUMENTARY

At PDC 2009 (held between November 17 and 19, 2009, in Los Angeles),

Microsoft published a screencast with the title, “ Visual Studio Documentary. ”

This one - hour video is a great source for “ company secrets ” surrounding Visual

Studio from the ancient ages to the present - day stage. A number of Microsoft (and

ex - Microsoft) celebrities such as Anders Hejlsberg, Alan Cooper, Bill Gates, Tim

Huckaby, Sivaramakichenane Somasegar, Dan Fernandez, Tony Goodhew, Jason

Zander, Scott Guthrie, and Steve Balmer are featured in this video. They add

interesting personal commentaries on history, motivations, technology context,

competitors, and nitty - gritties that paved the road for Visual Studio.

You can download this two - part documentary from

http://channel9.msdn.com/

shows/VisualStudioDocumentary/The-Visual-Studio-Documentary-

Part-One

, where you can also ﬁ nd the link for the second part of the video.

CH001.indd 3CH001.indd 3 9/6/10 4:29:31 PM9/6/10 4:29:31 PM