[chconline]

I'm no hardcore programmer like Hops etc, but I do an extent of programming for my engineering courses I used to be a fan of simple "lite" compilers just to whip up those C++ programs. But then as our programming fundamentals course got a lot more complex, the simple stuff wasn't cutting it since the code is too long So after my friend who raves about Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 on a daily basis, I decided to give it a try (Free for students with MSDN, if you don't have MSDN you can grab a copy at DreamSpark as well). So I got the 3.5GB download and burned to a DVD and installed it.

Damn, it made my life so much easier! When my program has problems, it actually SHOWS where it is rather than randomly crashing and without hard coding checks in you can do breakpoints as well as variable monitoring, etc. The class definition and calls etc adds i nautomatically. I just got a grasp of about 3 out of 10000000000000 features in Visual Studio and I understand why everyone uses it

The funny thing is, despite the huge size of MS Visual Studio, it actually loads almost instantly on my laptop, whereas stuff like Dev C++ takes 5 seconds, lol.

I became a convert as of yesterday.

[DynCastProgramming]

chconline, on 20 November 2009 - 03:58 PM, said:

I became a convert as of yesterday.

I became an unregistered user today.



Also, http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

Hopkins isn't the biggest fan of Eclipse, but I use it for everything I can. It can do anything from C++, Java, to PHP and Ruby. I stay away from anything .NET related (Visual Studio) unless I absolutely have to.

*EDIT Number Two*

Beware of which C++ compiler you are using. Different compilers can yield different runtime results. This is especially true when using a Visual C++ compiler versus something like GCC or G++.

This post has been edited by DynCastProgramming: 20 November 2009 - 05:16 PM

[TL6MT]

What's wrong with Visual C++? Our affiliated Programming firm everyone uses Visual Studio - it's quite an excellent IDE IMO, but I'm no programmer.

[DynCastProgramming]

First off, I have nothing against Visual C++, other than it can sometimes act differently than GNU C++. There will always be slight run-time variations when you have several different compilers for the same source.

Visual Studio is a great IDE. It has tons of features. However, Visual Studio to me is like Dreamweaver for web stuff. Most rapid developers use the "drag-drop" features of Visual Studio (and Dreamweaver) which generates a ton of messy code in the background. It works for what they want, but as soon as it breaks, they have no idea why because they wrote 2% of the final code.

I have always been one that codes by hand. That being said, I need an IDE that has syntax highlighting, suggestions, etc. Eclipse does that for me perfectly. The only time I would ever use Visual Studio is because Microsoft likes to keep their stuff proprietary. If I need to create a Windows desktop application that utilizes .NET, I have to use Visual Studio.

To be short, I hate WYSIWYG editors. =)

[TL6MT]

How is Visual Studio a WYSIWYG editor? Last I checked its only the name, like the screenshot above you still need to write up your own code the way it is.

[DynCastProgramming]

For what chconline was doing, yes there is no GUI editor.

However, if your doing anything with Windows Forms (GUI stuff) or ASP.NET, there is drag drop GUI elements from the "toolbox". Then your project file starts to consist of all these different .design files and partial classes. Not to mention unless you take the effort to refactor, objects are called button1, button2, etc.

[chconline]

For the most part Visual Studio is an excellent IDE IMO, and yes for the backend actual coding there's no other choice but to make the actual code. The "Visual" part comes to GUI implementations as Dyncast mentioned only

[Big Bang]

Visual Studio FTW, it's expensive stuff though. Good thing its Free for you.

[redeemed]

Ditto the expensive

But with an MSDNAA account (which I do not have ) or equivalent, you'll be all set Free professional software FTW.

[shc-boomer]

MSDNAA is awesome, I took almost everything off there that I would need or ever need.

[DynCastProgramming]

shc-boomer, on 24 November 2009 - 11:07 PM, said:

MSDNAA is awesome, I took almost everything off there that I would need or ever need.

Haha even the MS-DOS 6.22?

XD

[chconline]

I don't think our subscription (Assuming Kenneth and I have the same stuff) we only get Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. The other useful thing is Visual Studio 2008 Professional. Other than that it's stuff that no one really cares about like Office Groove, etc. A real MSDN OS subscription gives you fun stuff like Windows 3.1 though

[DynCastProgramming]

This is what my MSDA-AA account allows me to download.

(Don't mind the numbers in front of some of them. I wasn't about to go clean it up from HTML for the entire list.)

.NET Framework 1.1 SDK
.NET Framework SDK 1.1
.NET Micro Framework SDK
Academic Resource Kit .NET CD1 Teaching Resources
Academic Resource Kit .NET CD2 Technology Resources
Access 2003
Access 2007
AutoCollage 2008 Academic Edition v1.1 - (English)
BizTalk Server 2006 Enterprise Edition
BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Developer Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD
BizTalk Server 2009 Developer Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
BizTalk Server 2009 Enterprise Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
1438 BizTalk Server 2009 Standard Edition (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
1283 CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008
1233 Commerce Server 2007 Developer Edition
1186 Compute Cluster Pack
1187 Compute Cluster Pack SDK
1234 Customer Care Framework 2008 (v3.0) - CD
1235 Desktop Optimization Pack 2007
468 Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
1178 Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition
1177 Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition
1326 Exchange Server 2007 with SP1 Enterprise and Standard Editions (x64) - DVD (English)
1428 Exchange Server 2010 Beta (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage)
1188 Expression Blend
1240 Expression Blend 2
1241 Expression Design 2
1242 Expression Encoder 2
1243 Expression Media 2
1191 Expression Studio
1244 Expression Studio 2
1444 Expression Studio 3 (x86) - DVD (English)
1183 Expression Web
1245 Expression Web 2
1222 Forefront Client Security (x86 and x64) - CD
1223 Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD
1224 Forefront Security for SharePoint with Service Pack 1 (x64) - CD
1225 Forefront Server Security Management Console (x86) - DVD
1236 Host Integration Server 2006
1427 Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 RC (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage)
513 InfoPath 2003
1167 InfoPath 2007
1195 ISA Server 2006 Enterprise Edition
1207 IT Academy Course: Database Developer
1208 IT Academy Course: Web Developer
1209 IT Academy Course: Windows Client
1210 IT Academy Course: Windows Developer
1211 IT Academy Course: Windows Server
1086 M.E.L.L. - Developer Edition for MSDNAA eLEarning Libraries
535 MapPoint 2004 European - Run Disc (2/2)
534 MapPoint 2004 European - Setup Disc (1/2)
533 MapPoint 2004 North America - Run Disc (2/2)
532 MapPoint 2004 North America - Setup Disc (1/2)
1266 MapPoint 2009 European Maps (x86) - DVD
1265 MapPoint 2009 North American Maps (x86) DVD
1526 MapPoint 2010 North American Maps (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
1440 Microsoft CCR and DSS Toolkit 2008 R2 Academic Edition (x86) - (English)
1524 Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack 2009 R2 (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
1262 Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 Academic Edition
1435 Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Academic Edition
1443 Microsoft Surface SDK 1.0 SP1 Workstation Edition (x86) - (English)
1190 MSDN Library - April 2007 (DVD)
1176 MSDN Library - December 2006 - (DVD)
1018 MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD1
1019 MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD2
1020 MSDN Library - May 2006 - CD3
1360 MSDN Library - October 2001 (Full)
928 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD1
929 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD2
930 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD3
1199 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
1504 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (x86, x64 WoW) - DVD (English)
565 MS-DOS 6.0
566 MS-DOS 6.22
1189 Office Accounting Professional 2007
1213 Office Accounting Professional 2008
1251 Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 with SP1
1204 Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition
1395 Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Editions (x64) - DVD
1093 Office FrontPage 2003
1184 Office Groove 2007
1193 Office Groove Server 2007
1271 Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 (x86) - CD (English)
1238 Office Project Portfolio Server 2007
1203 Office Project Server 2007
1179 Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise
1180 Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard
530 OneNote 2003
1165 OneNote 2007
1370 Project 2007 SP1
144 Project Professional 2002 (Single-User)
518 Project Professional 2003
1168 Project Professional 2007
527 Project Server 2003
1166 SharePoint Designer 2007
1517 Songsmith Academic 1.02 (x86) - (English)
51 SQL Server 2000 Developer Edition
52 SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
521 SQL Server 2000 SP3a
938 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD1
939 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD2
940 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD1
941 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD2
942 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Itanium - CD1
943 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 64-bit Itanium - CD2
1194 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - DVD
997 SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
1118 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - CD1
1119 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - CD2
944 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 32-bit - DVD
994 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD1
1010 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - CD2
945 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Extended - DVD
946 SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition - 64-bit Itanium - DVD
947 SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition - 32-bit - DVD
1270 SQL Server 2008 Developer (x86 and x64) - DVD (English)
1257 SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (x86 and x64) - DVD
1439 Streets & Trips 2009 (x86) - DVD
1523 Streets and Trips 2010 (x64 and x86) - DVD (English)
1226 System Center Capacity Planner 2006 with Service Pack 1
1227 System Center Configuration Manager 2007 - DVD
1237 System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 - DVD (Multilanguage)
1205 System Center Essentials 2007 - DVD
1228 System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (x64) - CD
1198 System Center Operations Manager 2007
1229 System Center Reporting Manager 2006
1230 System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 (x86/x64) - DVD
1272 System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (x64) - DVD
1525 System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage)
1260 Systems Management Server 2003 R2
636 Virtual PC 2004
1200 Virtual PC 2007
1215 Virtual PC 2007 64bit
969 Virtual PC for Mac 7.0.2
1371 Visio 2007 SP1
75 Visio Professional 2002 (Single User)
523 Visio Professional 2003
1174 Visio Professional 2007
1006 Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
1250 Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1
1359 Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2
1008 Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
1007 Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
900 Visual FoxPro 9.0
180 Visual J# .NET
1009 Visual J# 2005 Express Edition
442 Visual SourceSafe 6.0d
350 Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional - Full Install
1094 Visual Studio .NET 2005 Professional - Full Install
450 Visual Studio .NET Academic Student Tools 2003
451 Visual Studio .NET Academic Teaching Tools 2003
355 Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 CD1 ISO
356 Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 CD2 ISO
357 Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 Prerequisites ISO
932 Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition CD1
933 Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition CD2
934 Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition CD1
935 Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition CD2
1027 Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Trial Edition
1114 Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD1
1115 Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD2
1116 Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite - CD3
937 Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System
1254 Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition with SP1
1192 Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
1330 Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86) - DVD
1253 Visual Studio 2008 SP1
1231 Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
1394 Visual Studio 2010 Professional Beta 1 (x86) - DVD
1505 Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Beta 2 (x86) - DVD (English)
1255 Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1
1383 Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Standard Edition (x86) - DVD
1378 Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition (x86) - DVD
1206 Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
989 Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
1447 Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Debugging Symbols (x64) - (English)
1448 Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Debugging Symbols Checked Build (x64) - (English)
1449 Windows 7 Debugging Symbols (x86) - (English)
1450 Windows 7 Debugging Symbols Checked Build (x86) - (English)
1446 Windows 7 Language Pack (x64) - DVD (Multilanguage)
1445 Windows 7 Language Pack (x86) - DVD (Multilanguage)
1442 Windows 7 Professional (x64) - DVD (English)
1441 Windows 7 Professional (x86) - DVD (English)
1452 Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD
477 Windows CE .NET 4.2 Disc 1
478 Windows CE .NET 4.2 Disc 2
479 Windows CE .NET 4.2 Disc 3
480 Windows CE .NET 4.2 Disc 4
481 Windows CE .NET 4.2 Disc 5
482 Windows CE .NET 4.2 Disc 6
1181 Windows Embedded CE 6.0 DVD
1518 Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 - DVD (English)
1328 Windows Embedded Standard 2009 Academic Edition (x86) - (DVD)
176 Windows Hardware Compatibility Test Kit Version 11.0
324 Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
374 Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition - 64 Bit
1005 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1
1004 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2
1220 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with SP2 - Disc 1
1221 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with SP2 - Disc 2
1196 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition with SP2 - Disc 1
1197 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition with SP2 - Disc 2
1021 Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition - Disc 1
1022 Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition - Disc 2
1039 Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition - Disc 1
1040 Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition - Disc 2
1498 Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard Edition with SP2 - Disc 1 (English)
1499 Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard Edition with SP2 - Disc 2 (English)
376 Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
392 Windows Server 2003 Web Edition
1217 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD
1219 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard 64bit - DVD
1475 Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web (x64) - DVD (English)
148 Windows Services for UNIX 3.0
690 Windows Services for UNIX 3.5
1259 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP1
1252 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 with SP1 (x64)
1453 Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (ia64) - DVD (English)
1454 Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64) - DVD (English)
1455 Windows Software Development Kit for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86) - DVD (English)
1182 Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD
1247 Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD with SP1
1169 Windows Vista Business CD1
1170 Windows Vista Business CD2
1171 Windows Vista Business CD3
1172 Windows Vista Business CD4
1173 Windows Vista Business CD5
1175 Windows Vista Business DVD
1246 Windows Vista Business DVD with SP1
1519 Windows Vista Business with SP2 (x86) - DVD (English)
1331 Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x64) - DVD
1263 Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x86) - DVD
1216 Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (32bit, 64bit) - DVD
1456 Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (x86, x64, ia64) - DVD
1416 Windows Vista SP2 (x86) - CD (Multilanguage)
1248 Windows Web Server 2008 - DVD
1249 Windows Web Server 2008 64Bit - DVD
124 Windows XP Embedded
1483 Windows XP Multilingual User Interface Pack (Multi-Language)
918 Windows XP Professional (Single User) 64bit Edition
1528 Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (Greek)
474 Windows XP Professional with SP1a (Single User) ISO Image
771 Windows XP Professional with SP2 (Single User) ISO Image
1258 Windows XP Professional with SP3 (Single User) ISO Image
1280 Windows XP Service Pack 3 (x86) - CD (English)
828 Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, Disc 1
829 Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, Disc 2
option value="1218 XNA Creators Club Online Academic Subscription
1264 XNA Game Studio 3.0
1515 XNA Game Studio 3.1 - (English)

[Big Bang]

That's what a Full subscription gives you, right? Different schools have different Packages.

[DynCastProgramming]

Big Bang, on 28 November 2009 - 09:47 AM, said:

That's what a Full subscription gives you, right? Different schools have different Packages.

I have no idea what package we have, but that's what it gives us. I wish it had Office and some of the Mac stuff. But oh well.

[chconline]

This is what we have:

506 Access 2003
1164 Access 2007
468 Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
1244 Expression Studio 2
1444 Expression Studio 3 (x86) - DVD (English)
1167 InfoPath 2007

1207 IT Academy Course: Database Developer
1208 IT Academy Course: Web Developer
1209 IT Academy Course: Windows Client
1210 IT Academy Course: Windows Developer
1211 IT Academy Course: Windows Server
1266 MapPoint 2009 European Maps (x86) - DVD

1265 MapPoint 2009 North American Maps (x86) DVD
1435 Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 R2 Academic Edition
928 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD1
929 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD2
930 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2005 - CD3
1504 MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (x86, x64 WoW) - DVD (English)

1184 Office Groove 2007
530 OneNote 2003
1165 OneNote 2007
1168 Project Professional 2007
1166 SharePoint Designer 2007
51 SQL Server 2000 Developer Edition

938 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD1
939 SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition - 32-bit - CD2
1257 SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (x86 and x64) - DVD
1439 Streets & Trips 2009 (x86) - DVD
636 Virtual PC 2004

1200 Virtual PC 2007
1215 Virtual PC 2007 64bit
523 Visio Professional 2003
1174 Visio Professional 2007
442 Visual SourceSafe 6.0d
350 Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional - Full Install

1094 Visual Studio .NET 2005 Professional - Full Install
450 Visual Studio .NET Academic Student Tools 2003
451 Visual Studio .NET Academic Teaching Tools 2003
937 Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System
1192 Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
1330 Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (x86) - DVD

1206 Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite (x86 and x64 WoW) - DVD
1442 Windows 7 Professional (x64) - DVD (English)
1441 Windows 7 Professional (x86) - DVD (English)
1005 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 1
1004 Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition - Disc 2
1217 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard - DVD

1219 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Standard 64bit - DVD
1247 Windows Vista Business 64bit DVD with SP1
1175 Windows Vista Business DVD
1263 Windows Vista Enterprise with SP1 (x86) - DVD
918 Windows XP Professional (Single User) 64bit Edition
1258 Windows XP Professional with SP3 (Single User) ISO Image

1515 XNA Game Studio 3.1 - (English)

[Matzy]

You can get Visual Studio from your college for free at www.dreamspark.com using your .net passport account. I simply just went on their, selected my college then i took me to a login page, popped in my college details i use for the computers at college and it gave me access.

[shc-boomer]

Matzy, on 06 January 2010 - 08:09 AM, said:

You can get Visual Studio from your college for free at www.dreamspark.com using your .net passport account. I simply just went on their, selected my college then i took me to a login page, popped in my college details i use for the computers at college and it gave me access.

I tried this already, it failed for my school site. I should message the SFU webmaster about this problem soon.

[chconline]

I have both copies, but MSDN doesn't require a key during installation, whereas Dreamspark does.

[Matzy]

Have you tried the 2010 Beta 2 chconline? I have tried it out and it looks pretty good so far.