.NET---worth buying?

I was at the store today and saw VC++ .net for sale for $129.99 and was about to buy it, but then I decided to see if it was worth the investment or not, which is why I'm posting this.

I currently have VC++ 6.0 Professional edition and it's what I've been using for the past 2 and a half years and it's always worked perfectly fine for me. However, I can't help but feel that I'm falling behind in the times with my 'old' compiler. So, is it worth spending the $129.99 to get .net, or should I just wait till I actually really need it (IE: for a job or something).

If you are doing C++ then it is definitely worth it. But I got VC++.NET Standard for $99 for my personal copy. What edition was the one you looked at?

I have used both. I would recommend you at least try .NET.

Is it worth $130..........maybe..

.NET has better 'intelli sense'. The compiler shows you function params or struct/class members (as you type or highlight). I find this a useful reminder.

.NET has better GDI object management and lost GDI objects will be cleaned up (as they are now 'temp' objects).

The linker / project options are harder to find in .NET.

I also like the tabbed display of open files in .NET.

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.NET has better 'intelli sense'. The compiler shows you function params or struct/class members (as you type or highlight). I find this a useful reminder.

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As a note, MSVS 6 already had that feature.
Oddly enough, I was just thinking about posting the same question.

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However, I can't help but feel that I'm falling behind in the times with my 'old' compiler

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That's what they want you to feel...don't succomb....

I'm in Canada, which would explain the price difference. The version that was in the stores was the Standard one, and I couldn't find the price for the professional level one. I don't really think just "better intelli-sense" is enough to make me want to go buy a new compiler. :rolleyes: And also, I have tried .net before and kind of liked it...I was just wondering standard and code-wise if .net was definitely worth getting even though at this point in time I'm just a hobbiest programmer.

I have a trial disc I got with a MS cert course. Must be some of these lying around so you could try .NET.

>>I was just wondering standard and code-wise if .net was definitely worth getting

I might be tempted to wait until managed C++ is released in MSVC 2005 .NET. (true C++ supported within the CRL)

>>I don't really think just "better intelli-sense"

Its one feature I could pin-point. v6 has it but it got very much better in .NET including items that the programmer defined (not just standard stuff).

It is worth it, but wait a few months until the .NET Framework 2.0 is released. You'll be able to get Visual C++ .NET 2005 Express Edition for a lot cheaper and with all the new 2.0 features.

Isn't VC.NET more standards-compliant than VC6?

Yes, a great deal. That was the primary reason that I replaced 6.0 with .NET.

I got .NET through my MSDN Acedmic lincense thing for $12 +s&h

If you'd like to see Visual C++ 2005 Express, you might like to look at the beta thats avaliable free from Microsoft's site. http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/visualc/

I'm not sure what the standard edition features, but VC7 enterprise compared to VC6 enterprise is so worth it, it isn't even funny anymore. Get 7. Better yet, save the money and get 2005 Beta. It works fine. I programmed half a year using VC7 Beta and never had any problems.

Go download Beta2005, it's free

Yeah 2005 is pretty stable, we use Visual Studio .NET 2005 beta at work for production purposes. It easily manages 20+ C# projects and database connections all under source control (over 250,000 LOC at the moment, only 3 months old though). The forms designer does have its quirks but if you're careful (close all documents before compiling) it's usually OK, but since you're using C++ I believe you can't use the forms designer anyway so that won't be a problem.

.Net 2002 is no more standards compliant than VC6, it only has an updated standard library (which is more compliant). .Net 2003 is the one that's really compliant.