An excellent studio (Microsoft Visual Studio .Net Enterprise Architect Edition)

Member Name: andycharger

Product:	Microsoft Visual Studio .Net Enterprise Architect Edition
Date:	15/07/03 (383 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent development, multi language

Disadvantages: Clumsy install, Hard to configure

When it comes to developing software applications, I have been very lucky to experience many different pieces of software to aid my job. After all, I am a software developer by trade!

I know that a lot of you out there will probably think "Boring, techie opinion" so im going to try and explain .net as we shall now call it, in a logical and easy way.

Firstly, you all know, software does not just happen. Its written. Someone, somewhere has written every piece of software se use on the pc and online.
Every game, application, website and program has created with programming language of some form.

Studio.net is not a language.

Studio.net is a tool that allows you to create programs utilising these languages as code and physical items. Its like a big Building site with blocks and scaffolding being errected.

So you use the .net platform to build your software on.

So you have your platform. Now on this platform go several different types of houses, all on the same programming "housing estate".

Yo see, building a website and building a desktop application are 2 completely different things. One of the only common grounds is that they both require a programming language and both need an interface to create them in. So Studio.net gives different options as to what you want to build but all on the same platform.
So to aid your development Studio.net keeps a uniform layout whether you are building websites or desktop applications. Its like building 2 bedroom flats or 5 bedroom houses. all on the same housing estate by the same company and all built by the same builder!
It creates a common look and feel and allows developers to be more comfortable with one development environment.

As an example, I will take you inside .net.

When you start the application, it asks you what type of application you want to build. Nice and simple. All of the types of applications are stari
ng you in the face, with descriptions as to what they represent.
A couple of options are : VB Desktop Application and VB Web Based Application.
Both use the same interface to build it but they differ.

this is because a Desktop application is going to physically sit on someone's computer. The Web Based application is going to sit on a server somewhere in the world, remote from the computer.
So both have different needs and ways to be built. Although the construction looks very similar graphically to the user, a lot of the underlying work is very different.
So .net is becoming much more flexible when compared to its predecessors.

Ok. So we know it covers many different types of software construction. Lets take a step back and discuss some points I did not know before I started to use it.

Firstly, the size of the software.
When I ordered it at work and it turned up in a large box, I started to worry. True, I had opted for the "Enterprise Architect" version but was not prepared for what I got.
The number of CDs in the box exceeded 20! There were addon's, Servers and applications of all types here. Enough to satisfy any developer.
So you are going to need plenty of disk space if you intend to install everything.
What you get is:
4 (yes 4) CD's with the actual Visual Studio.net development tool on it.
1 Studio Update CD to make your computer up to date with the latest patches and security issues before installing the software.
1 Copy of Windows 2000 Server
1 Copy of Windows 2000
1 Copy of SQL Server (development edition)
1 Copy of BizTalk Server
1 Copy of Ecommerce Server
and various other addons service packs and extras.

It truly is amazing.

Installing can be a major headache.
Firstly, installing it on your own machine is fine. You stick the first CD in the drive and it automatically starts up. Installation takes from 20 minutes to a few
hours depending on how much you want to install.
However, be prepared for lots of CD swapping.
It will need CD1 of the main application first, then ask for the
Windows update CD, then start installing.
If you dont watch it carefully, you will miss something major that I did not know about and which I will talk about later.
It is pretty much a self configuring process which will include many reboots and restarts thanks to registering different things on your PC. Believe me, you will need plenty of time to get it running just the way you want.

So if you are building software and websites on your own machine, or, locally as we call it, everything you need to build,test and deploy your software is installed during this process. However, it was not until I started trying to install things on to a web server and someone elses machine that I found problems.

Im going to get a little bit techy here so skip the bit between the *** if you don?t want to read!


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We talked briefly about VB Desktop Applications and VB Web applications before. These are built in 2 differing technologies within studio.net. These are VB.NET and ASP.NET respectively.
So with VB.NET, you are building a desktop application. So in the old Visual Studio system, you just made your software and compiled it. Compiling is converting your code into something the computer can understand.
Does that still work?
NO!
Now you need to actually install the .net Framework as its called on every PC you want to use VB.Net built applications on.
That is a 23MB download from Microsoft!
It takes a while and is a bit of a process.

It?s the same for the Web Server you plan to use. You need to install patches, the .net framework and special extensions to make it work. This is due to its new way of running script on the server.


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So we have talked about installing and its requirements to run.
How easy is it to develop or write software on?
Quite easy. The interfaces are very similar in layout to previous versions of Studio if you are familiar with them. Only now they have much more functionality and a lot of the ?3rd party? type languages you needed to use before as add ons have been replaced by in house alternatives.
An example is Javascript.
Javascript was used in web pages for validating forms and information but this in now all handled by the .net application. I suppose it helps Microsoft keep a monopoly on the market. It is also much easier to use than javascript.

Possible the best thing about building applications in studio.net is you are no longer restricted as to which language you write stuff in. Now you can alternate between Visual Basic and C# as much as you like within the same software. This I because the code is now all compiled and handled by a common runtime handler. Its basically like Holding a Press conference with 6 new foreign players and using an interpreter to help them all communicate. Without the translator, you would only be able to use players that spoke the same language. The same as coding with .net!

Versions available rang considerably from a Very cheap and entry level of the software for about £600 to the Enterprise Architect that I use that has everything you could ever need. However that cost £1,800!!!
Various versions between that and the lower spec are available with different ranges of servers and extras.

My version comes with a development version of SQL Server. This is how Databases written in SQL are able to sit on the server and allow data to be written and extracted.
Handy for usage on the web server for testing but you will still need to buy a licence if you use it for a commercial application.
I think if you are building data driven appli
cations, this is a must in the pack.


So, is it worth its money?

Every last penny.

The only downside I would suggest is that it is restricting software technology back to the Microsoft Monopoly again. With too much control over how we write software and the tools we use, they will completely take over the entire market. Im just glad they are crying out for experienced .net developers in the City now and Im on my way to becoming one!

Resources?
If I was to recommend 2 resources external to the Microsoft site for help, it would be 2 excellent Forums.

www.asp.net
Lots of tips, tutorials and a well constructed and clear forum makes this a good stopping place when you have questions.

www.dotnetforums.net
THE place to stop by for a quick answer to a problem. Instant posting and an almost instant resposne to most questions.

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