VS .NET 2003 Is Bloat!

I've had a copy of Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, Standard Edition, for about five years now; and I've finally decided to give Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, Professional Edition, a try because I can get it for free from my university anyway.

That thing is two CDs, a prerequisites CD, and seven MSDN Library CDs I haven't even bothered with yet. The installation took an hour and a half.

Anyway, it seems like Microsoft has made big changes since Visual Studio 6.0. They've integrated all the Visual tools in a snazzed-up version of the Microsoft Development Environment IDE from Visual J++ and Visual InterDev 6.0 and made the whole thing much more Web centric.

Maybe I'll fool with it more later, but my impression is that it is a 500-pound monster compared to the 200-pound monster that is Visual C++ 6.0. I'm glad I've still got Visual C++ 6.0 installed.

yeah my university offers it for free to all Comp Sci students (through the MSDNAA), so I downloaded it.

The compressed installation file was 3.25 GB large.

I only installed the C# compiler and libraries because I already had Visual C++ 6.0 and it works great for me. I havent seen any need to upgrade to VC++ .NET yet.

(People always say the C# compiler comes free with the .NET Framework, but I have yet to find it...I installed the .NET Framework on my computer a long time ago and couldnt find the C# compiler anywhere...i kept looking for "csc.exe" because i know that is what it is called but didnt see it anywhere).

Don't you know its free if you can guess the correct 256 digit combo?

It comes with the .NET SDK (a free download from Microsofts site), but I don't think it comes with the runtime.

At the moment I use SharpDevelop with C#, I would love to get VS.NET but my schools aren't part of the MSDNAA and they dont have it :(

I didn't really like the .NET stuff

I bought C++ .net for 100 bucks and I don't use it

Yeah VS.NET is a bit bulky (installation AND purchase-price) but it has some REALLY great features that make your life a whole lot easier. I'm not sure if other IDE's have it as well, but there's that drop down menu of all the public members, methods, properties, etc... whenever you type in object's name in the code. The build wizard is also great for making installation programs and all that good stuff. I tried a 60-day trial I got with a book on VB.NET but that 60 days is long gone, and I wish I could get the full version for just a little less than the several thousand MS charges... Gotta get to college... fast...

I've downloaded both the .NET framework and the SDK, but the csc compiler is actually buried deep in the folders for the Framework itself. I'm not sure which download it came from though.

.NET 2003 does take up a lot of space, but it's worth it. The compiler is MUCH better than that of 6.0 and .Net. It's incredibly more compliant to the standard than the previous versions. If you get into templating much, you'll realize that you simply can't use Visual C++ 6.0. None of the projects I've written in the past year will even compile in 6.0 because the compiler is so broken (not to blame them as it came out 6 years ago). Not only that but the IDE is, IMO, much better in design as well in .Net 2003. I highly recommend trying to get used to it especially considering you already have it installed, otherwise you'll start running into problems with 6.0 where you'll get compiler errors where there shouldn't be and you'll wonder if your code is the problem, or if the compiler is the problem (you'd probably be surprised how often it actually is the compiler's fault). .Net is definately worth your money.

Currently at my desk are .NET 2002, .NET 2003, another .NET 2003 recent release, and MSDN disks. The IDE is simply amazing. It has absolutly NO competitors.

Just one of its many features that I just found out today: At the bottom of the combobox at the top of the File->Save/Open dialog, there are FTP options. So now, I can open my web site in a solution, edit it, and when I save, it automatically puts it on the passworded FTP. All I have to do is press my customized combo (Ctrl-E) or just refresh my browser and I see my updated website. It saves *so* much time.

The IDE looks homely to me. I feel comfortable in it. :)

The compilers are a free download at Microsoft. Just look for the .NET Framework SDK.

People often diss Microsoft for its products. Visual Studio .NET 2003 should be an exception. The IDE, although complicated, has more features than any other IDE in the market.

The C++ compiler this time is also much more compliant than previous versions. Its even better than GCC. If you're going to spend money on one IDE, spend it on .NET 2003.

I'm happy with gVim and autotools myself...

Maybe they could have loaded the whole thing unto a dvd!

I actually emailed the VS.NET team in Microsoft to ask for a DVDs. Here is what they replied, just five days ago:

Quote:

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Microsoft Visual Studio Setup & Deployment Team:
Currently, our MSDN subscriptions are shipped on both CD and DVD which. The DVD version of the products are merged to one disk. This is mainly due to the volume of content on the disks. I'm sure that in the future that DVD installations will become the norm. As of now, there are still quite a few support issues revolving around DVD installations. However, this suggestion has been forwarded to our inventory team.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by bludstayne
I'm happy with gVim and autotools myself...

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Autotools is too buggy for my tastes.

I have VC6.0, which I always loved, but .NET 2003 (which I got free from school) is pretty awesome. It's what I use 99% of the time now.

The .NET varsions of MSVC take some getting used to but are much better at finding errors, leaks and will fix many GDI leaks for you.

Watch the 2002 .NET release.
Quite a few bugs, esp. in the resource editor ie adding a border to a TAB control adds the owner draw style as well, meaning the control will fail dislplay can only be removed by editing the app's script (.rc) file.

Dev_C++_4++;