[Vulcan]

hey...

i'd like to start programming in a windows (xp..) environment.

can you recommend a language to start with ???

[Vermyn]

Anything .NET is a great place to start.

[clutch]

I use VS.NET, and started working in C#. It's a lot like Java, and carries over behaviors from C++ (or so I am told). The only downside to C# is that it doesn't have the userbase (yet) of VB.NET, so there isn't as much code snippets to work with.

[Vulcan]

what do i have to download in order to use a .net ??

(it more a quwstion of where...)

[Lord Riff Raff]

You have to pay for it :D, however if you want something free you could try python from www.python.org

EDIT: Ah I see you want to know where, I suggest ringing up the local microsoft office in your area and asking if there are any stockists near you.

[adamvjackson]

There was an evaluation version of Visual Studio .NET 2003 available (60 day limit) from Microsoft, and if I recall correctly, all you had to do was pay shipping and handling.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/trial/default.aspx

http://shop.microsoft.com/Referral/Productinfo.asp?siteID=140

Note, that's not my referral, that was imbedded on a Microsoft page, if you were curious.

$5.00 for CDs, $2.50 for a single DVD.

Also, you may wish to check out this site: http://www.gotdotnet.com

Hope that helps!

[Vulcan]

visual basic .....visual c++ ...visual studio...

what are the main differences ,and to whom it is designed to ?
can all languages provide the same output ?

my background includes programming in assembler and C (dos format).

thanks...!!

[ViolentGreen]

Quote:

visual basic .....visual c++ ...visual studio...

what are the main differences ,and to whom it is designed to ?
can all languages provide the same output ?

my background includes programming in assembler and C (dos format).

thanks...!!

You would probably be more comfortable with visual c++ then. Visual basic is much less structured then C/C++. For instance, you don't have to declare variables or even the type of variable. Some people like this but i hate it. It seems to cause more problems then its worth. If you have MS Office, you can check out access's form builder or even words macro builder to see examples of visual basic code integrating with office.

I spent a very small amount of time (less then an hour) looking at borland's equivilant to visual c++. The window/form builder was very intuitive but the code behind the gui wasn't. Like I said I didn't spend much time on it though.

I believe visual studio is just a collection of languages put together but I am not sure about it.

Hope I helped

[Vulcan]

thanks a lot for your reply...

another question....

how similar is the programming in c++ is compared to c (dos)..?

[CUViper]

Well, c++ is really just an extension of c, so all of your c code will still compile under Visual C++. If you want, you could just ease yourself into the new features slowly. Offhand, I think the main difference is the addition of classes. Probably the best way for you to go would be to get a C++ programming book and jump straight to the section on classes.

Of course, if you want to make a gui, then that's a big bag-o-tricks. Best to read up on classes first, and then you can get into the gui stuff (forms, controls, etc.)...

[Vulcan]

thanks a lot !!!!! 8)

[nem]

First post .

Anyway, I do a bit of Win32 programming in my spare time so I've been through a lot of the iffies.

My suggestion for you to start out with is MFC and C++, don't use the Win32 API as it's incredibly complex in comparison to MFC. MFC's the C++ implementation of writing code for Win32 platforms and Win32 API is the more precise C method. Also, C++ has much better structure than C. C lacks classes, initializers within structs, nasty indirections when passing as reference, and all around, it's just something that if Win32 platform programming is new to you, you don't want to do.

My stance with using Visual Basic has never been good, I've seen a lot of VB programs come and go and eat a lot of memory. They're not the best ways to implement anything relatively large. Of course the development time for something under VB is considerably less than in C/C++. That's a trade-off you have to make though, do you want rapid development or efficient code?

My question though is do you have any prior programming language and if so, would it be in C/C++? Jumping right into Win32 programming is a difficult feat at best. You might want to reconsider it and start with some basic C/C++ console programs.

[Vulcan]

i have experience in C and in Assembler..

[nem]

Ah well, in that case I'd say start off with MFC then progress into Win32 API. The learning curve into Win32 API is pretty steep regardless of how much prior experience you have and doing trivial applications in MFC will give you a firm footing (plus the documentation isn't that great, nor are the books).

[shassouneh]

Quote:

what do i have to download in order to use a .net ??

(it more a quwstion of where...)

Actuially you CAN get free software to work with C# (providing its for personal non-commercial use).

Borland C# Builder Personal (free)

MAKE SURE YOU GET THE Personal download edition VERSION

Good Luck

[shassouneh]

I'mn a much bigger fan of Visual Studio. Its awesome. I am fortunate enough to be a student so I can use it for free.

When i saw you wanted to try C# but don't want to spend thousands of dollars on VS.net, I just HAD to say something. LOL.

I hope you try Borland C# bUilder. I have not messed with it at all. In fact, the one borland tool i have used recently was JBuilder which did not impress me at all. LOL.

NBorland C++ Builder is paradise on earth (especially for the GUI stuff)