vs2003 or vs2005

[Martin D.]

Hello all,

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to programming and I want to start
learning C#. I was wondering if someone could tell me which one to start
learning. VS 2003 or VS 2005 beta2. How different are they?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bob Grommes]

They are not vastly different, but particularly with respect to ASP.NET
(web) development generally, build automation, and security auditing, 2005
is a real advance, and there are a lot of nice enhancements all around, such
as easier data binding to non-ADO objects. VS 2005 will not be in final
release until fall, and may not actually be in use on many projects and/or
in many companies until a year or more after that. So if you know for a
fact that you'll be needing the skills in a VS 2003 environment then you
might want to consider focusing there, otherwise, I'd go for 2005,
especially if you plan to take several months for the learning process.
Also if you're on a budget, for early learning purposes you could use the
2005 Express products -- the price (free) is certainly right.

--Bob

 

[Peter van der Goes]

Hello all,

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to programming and I want to start
learning C#. I was wondering if someone could tell me which one to start
learning. VS 2003 or VS 2005 beta2. How different are they?

Thanks in advance.

I agree with Bob, and suggest that you prepare for the future by downloading
the Express beta(s) of your choice here:

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/default.aspx

Note that you can also download the full Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 as well.
The Express Editions will not be free after production release. Per the FAQ,
they are slated to sell for $49 US each.

 

[Fred Mellender]

VS2005 has significant C# language updates, as well as new classes in the
..NET framework that employs them. Specifically, "generics" are quite useful
and you should begin to code using them.

 

[Søren Reinke]

VS2005 has significant C# language updates, as well as new classes in the
.NET framework that employs them. Specifically, "generics" are quite
useful and you should begin to code using them.

If i make a program using VS2005 in C# where i use generics and the new
stuff, can a normal Windows XP user run my program or do they need to
download something first ?

 

[Fred Mellender]

They would need the 2.0 version of the dotNet runtime, instead of the 1.1
version that is included in VS 2003.