Datasheet
The following is a quick list of some of the features of VS that make it an appealing choice for .NET
development:
❑ VS automates the steps required to compile source code but at the same time gives you com-
plete control over any options used should you wish to override them.
❑ The VS text editor is tailored to the languages VS supports (including C#) so that it can intelli-
gently detect errors and suggest code where appropriate as you are typing.
❑ VS includes designers for Windows Forms and Web Forms applications, allowing simple drag-
and-drop design of UI elements.
❑ Many of the types of project possible in C# may be created with “boilerplate” code already in
place. Instead of starting from scratch, you will often find that various code files are started off
for you, reducing the amount of time spent getting started on a project. This is especially true of
the new “Starter Kit” project type, which allows you to develop from a fully functional applica-
tion base. Some starter kits are included with the VS installation, and you can find plenty more
online to play with.
❑ VS includes several wizards that automate common tasks, many of which can add appropriate
code to existing files without you having to worry about (or even, in some cases, remember) the
correct syntax.
❑ VS contains many powerful tools for visualizing and navigating through elements of your
projects, whether they are C# source code files or other resources such as bitmap images or
sound files.
❑ As well as simply writing applications in VS, it is possible to create deployment projects, mak-
ing it easy to supply code to clients and for them to install it without much trouble.
❑ VS enables you to use advanced debugging techniques when developing projects, such as the
ability to step through code one instruction at a time while keeping an eye on the state of your
application.
There is much more than this, but hopefully you have the idea!
Visual Studio 2005 Express Products
In addition to Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft also supplies several simpler development tools known as
Visual Studio 2005 Express Products. These are currently (at the time of this writing) in beta versions,
but are freely available at
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express.
Two of these products, Visual C# 2005 Express and Visual Web Developer 2005 Express, together allow
you to create almost any C# application you’d care to mention. They both function as cut-down versions
of VS and retain the same look and feel. While they offer many of the same features as VS, there are
some notable feature absences, although not so many that they would prevent you from using them to
work through this book.
VS Solutions
When you use VS to develop applications, you do so by creating solutions. A solution, in VS terms, is
more than just an application. Solutions contain projects, which might be “Windows Forms projects,”
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