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http://www.studica.com/microsoft/cat...?categoryid=23
at that site, they sell two things of intrest.
1) MSVC++ Standard. $50
2) MSVStudio Professional $90
Does MSVS come with MSVC Pro? MSVC Pro is $500 by itself!!! What's wrong here?
Also - is optimization really worth all the extra money?
No. Don't spend the extra money 'till you think you need it for your programs. By then, there will proably be a newer version of MSVC++ available.Quote:
is optimization really worth all the extra money?
I don't know about the site, but in regards to the optimisation thing, its not just extra optimisation MSVC gives you. Not having to cart around thousands of dlls/libs (Borland C++ Builder style), being able to use any library/SDK (like DirectX 9, although im not sure how well it works with DevC++) are all added bonuses MSVC gives you, because almost all of these SDKs are written for MSVC, as its the most common windows compiler out there.
Personally, I got MSVC because I needed to use the socket libraries, which didn't seem to work in DevC++ (they probably do but maybe I needed to link with something, and at the time I didn't know how), nor in Borland C++ builder (which IMHO, if it didn't require hundreds of DLL's/Libraries for programs to run, would be far better than VB or MFC). I also wanted to use the DirectX SDK, which only came with instructions for MSVC, and I didn't know how to set it up for other compilers.
It all depends on what sort of programs you want to make, and what requirements they need from your compiler.
The vast majority of MS products are available at huge discounts to academic users. In the past at least, you paid the normal price but got a refund ticket which you needed to submit via your university or whatever and got the balance back. I think Borland operate the same kind of scheme.
It is a marketting ploy. If people get used to certain products at school/uni, they are more likely to use the same tools when they leave.
what I find interesting is that it is prof. edition for ~100 dollars. the reason that doesnt make sense is that the academic edition of MS products contains a clause that you are not allowed to release commercial products with it. I doubt it is prof. edition like they say on the site, because :
1) everywhere else, full VS pro .NET is ~600+ dollars
2) Academic edition everywhere I have looked is ~100 dollars, so it makes logical sense that on a academic site to have the acadmic version.