Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect

When you're building such elaborate systems, you need specialists. Which means you--the architect--need to make your specialists work as a team. You need to make each specialist aware of how their piece fits into the larger system, and allow each expert maximum room for creativity while ensuring that they comply with quality standards and documentation rules. The best tool available for marshaling specialists toward a comprehensive .NET application of professional quality is Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect (VSEA). It gives project leads the tools they need to think big thoughts while remaining sufficiently close to the coding to ensure their proper implementation.

To begin, VSEA incorporates the new Visual Studio .NET development environment completely. All of the tools in Microsoft's latest IDE--code editor, debugger, object browser, database browser--are present in this edition. If you have implementation responsibilities of your own, or if you're one of those project leads who goes hands-on to solve low-level problems, VSEA provides you with the tools you need.

VSEA also ships with the goodies that come with Visual Studio Enterprise Developer: Visual SourceSafe and developer-licensed copies of Windows 2000 Advanced Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Commerce Server, and Host Integration Server. VSEA owners will get .NET Server when it's released. In addition, VSEA tops Enterprise Developer's offerings with a developer's edition of BizTalk Server.

There's also an attractive set of utilities for designing applications, roughing out application framework, and publishing standards for use by specialist programmers. This is where VSEA really shines, and where it earns its premium price. If you put the architectural tools to good use, your organization stands to realize a great return on investment in the form of increased team efficiency, higher quality, and satisfied deadlines.

VSEA allows you to use Microsoft Visio to design your applications and the databases that underlie them. It's true that you can generate Unified Modeling Language (UML) and database schematics in the standalone version of Visio Professional; but VSEA provides enormous time savings by allowing you to convert your diagrams into actual code. You can create a UML diagram in Visio, then use it to generate a code skeleton--all required class outlines, with inheritance, properties, and methods in place--in C++, C#, or Visual Basic. You can then publish the generated skeleton to your programming team for fleshing out. This is the role that Rational Visual Modeler plays (or used to play) for many developers.

Database modeling in VSEA is even cooler, because you can either export your schematic diagrams as Data Definition Language (DDL) code, or hook into an actual database server via an ODBC or OLE DB connection and generate the tables you've modeled in Visio. It's extraordinarily efficient. In fact, VSEA blurs the lines that have traditionally separated design, implementation, and documentation.

VSEA supports an XML-based language called Template Description Language (TDL), with which you can dictate characteristics of project files in more junior programmers's Visual Studio .NET environments. You can use TDL policies to turn off elements of the Visual Studio workspace, for example. Similarly, policies allow you to preset properties of code elements (such as database connections) that programmers can include as modules in their projects. You can also use TDL to describe the contents of team members's New Project windows, adding code snippets and reference materials alongside starter projects with policies attached.

Be aware that TDL policies may only be interpreted by users of Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Developer; they're not meaningful to users of standalone Visual Studio .NET. Also, be prepared to edit the TDL files manually, as Microsoft hasn't provided good tools for writing and modifying them. Setting up developer environments is a big job that has a huge effect on the later success of your project. It's sort of like tooling up a factory before a production run, so be prepared to spend some time setting policies, writing reference material, and configuring your TDL policies.

Is VSEA worthwhile? The answer depends in part on how well you set your policies, and on your development team's eagerness to use centrally managed reference materials and design advice. Embraced wholeheartedly by a large team, VSEA is not just the only show in town for team development of .NET applications--it's a powerful tool for realizing the vision of a software designer. --David Wall

Amazon.com Review
Visual Studio .NET is a superb, next-generation development tool. At its heart is the .NET Framework, a runtime engine and class library that enables rapid application building for both Windows and Web applications. The runtime engine handles housekeeping, like memory management, while also providing fine-grained security and version awareness. The class library reduces the code needed to build rich applications. Visual Studio also provides a slick visual environment, with features like tabbed and docking windows, dynamic online help, and automatic code completion and hints.

Visual Studio .NET's common runtime is language-neutral so, for example, Visual Basic programmers can use components written in C# and vice versa. Other languages, such as COBOL and FORTRAN, can plug into Visual Studio, and Microsoft provides a version of the Java language called J#. These two languages, along with J#, have full support for the visual design tools in Visual Studio .NET. Also included is JScript .NET, Microsoft's version of JavaScript, although this comes without a form designer. Visual C++ is more similar to earlier versions, and is the only compiler included that can build old-style Windows executables. With a compiler switch, it can also target .NET, making it particularly flexible.

The Enterprise Architect edition has source-code management with Visual SourceSafe, performance testing, and analysis tools. It also includes developer versions of many of Microsoft's server products, including SQL Server, Commerce Server, Exchange Server, and the Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating system. These are licensed for development only, but even so, it is a rich range of products. Finally, there is the ability to use enterprise templates. New in Visual Studio .NET, these are sophisticated skeleton projects that assist organizations in maintaining consistent best practices, and this edition, Enterprise Architect, can create them from scratch.

Another benefit of Enterprise Architect is the inclusion of Visio, an advanced drawing package that has the ability to model databases or even complete applications. This includes code generation and reasonable support for UML, which is the de facto industry standard. Finally, Enterprise Architect includes BizTalk Server, which is able to manage business processes and integrate applications between trading partners.

Overall, Visual Studio .NET is a radical break from the past for Microsoft. C# is an entirely new language, aimed at C and C++ programmers looking for something safer and more productive. Visual Basic .NET is a new twist on the old Microsoft favorite, losing compatibility with earlier versions, but gaining full object orientation as well as access to all the .NET libraries.

There are a few points against Visual Studio .NET. One is that, like earlier versions, it only creates applications that run on Windows. Web applications are a partial exception, in that they support cross-platform clients, but deployment requires a Windows Web server. Another factor is, with its multiple compilers and mountains of documentation, Visual Studio .NET eats up gigabytes of disk space, and the IDE tends to be slow with less than around 384 MB RAM. Serious developers will take this in stride, but casual users could have difficulty. Fortunately, the applications created have more modest system requirements, although Windows 95 is not supported. Finally, developers coming from earlier editions face a lot of learning, with radical changes in both Visual Basic and ASP.

Despite these minor issues and a steep learning curve, Visual Studio .NET is an extremely versatile, sophisticated, and capable development tool. --Tim Anderson, Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com Product Description
Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect 2002 simplifies the development of XML Web services and Web solutions. It has many enhancements and new features such as a single, integrated development environment, object-oriented features in Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, and Web development tools. In addition, Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect includes core capabilities for building scalable and reliable applications in a team development environment.

Design XML Web services visually with application architecture using UML modeling that can generate code in Visual Basic, Visual C++, or Visual C#. Take advantage of support for database modeling, including conceptual, logical, and physical diagrams. Use the BizTalk Orchestration Designer to model business processes and communicate application functionality.

Create application starting points that include reusable components and can increase developer productivity while also ensuring architectural guidelines are followed. Define and communicate development policies within the Visual Studio .NET environment, making it easy for developers to implement the right technologies when building applications.

Interface (2 sections):
First Impressions 8/10 - I started up Visual Studio .NET only to see everything... EVERYTHING has been changed in some way. The reason why this gets an 8 is because it does not do well with new people coming to this product. But once you learn the interface and can get used to it:
Current Impressiosn 10/10 - You will find that it is much more productive interface than Visual Studio 6. Now if your coming from Borland products, you will find that C# and VB is great, and can compete directly with Borland.

Usefullness: 9/10 - It is just amazing how much you can do with this program, although it does have a few drawbacks, UML for example, but this can be overlooked.

Value: 8/10 - If you can afford it, but the reason I gave it an 8, is because it is expensive, and most people will not be able to afford this product, but those that are able to do so, should. Maybe in a few years, this will replace VS 6 in price :D

Final Score 9/10 - If you use C++, Visual Basic, or even the great C# that has just come out, you will love this product. The optimization is great.

Final Words: Buy it, if not this, at least Visual Studio 6, but VS .NET wins the battle of the two!


Great product, but look at the requirements!   November 25, 2002
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I come from a Visual Basic (3 and newer) and C/C++ background doing a great deal of development under both Windows and Unix. The software looks great and is quite user friendly (for a development environment). My biggest concern is the sheer size of the tool and the runtime environment. Among other things, I am a shareware author and a great number of prospective customers do not yet have the .NET runtime, which is a 24 MB download. Though I would not think twice about downloading such a file, those who are still dialing up to the Internet might think twice.

Overall, nice tool, but I am not yet convinced it is the most prudent tool for me and Visual Studio 6 is going to have a long lifetime despite this successor.


Outstanding   August 6, 2002
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The most "programming" I've ever done was a bit of server-side JavaScript - but with the IDE and the online help, I've had no problem sitting down and just chugging away at C#. The problem someone noted about needing an interpreter is incorrect: the Native Code Compiler included with the .NET SDK (installed with VS or available separately) can compile Microsoft's IL into machine code for Windows.

Definitely worth the learning curve if this is your thing!


Great IDE, but UML support is terrible   April 19, 2002
S. Yi (Redmond, WA USA)
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

Great, functional IDE for true object-oriented development.

However, the UML support is held together by glue and scotch tape with the included version of Visio 2002. Very poorly done, tedious and will not let you perform continuous round-trip engineering.

For an outstanding UML/Editor solution, check out Together Control Center. Although written and focused towards Java, it is capable of modeling and generating C# and VB.NET code.


I don't think .NET is that great   April 10, 2002
4 out of 39 found this review helpful

All .NET languages need interpretor. Even C.NET which is a shame. Such language as C usually used to develop apps closely interacting with OS. So there will be even less interaction between user created apps and system because now Microsoft tells us to do everything through interpreter. Just like crippled Java does! But difference between stuff written in Java and C is that you know what your C application does, but you can never be sure about your Java application because there is interpreter between you and system, another buggy layer that controls you and that you cannot control. I agree .NET might be convinient way for people who like everything easy or are afraid to explore, but The biggest flow is that it takes control out of your hands convincing you that you are in control.
Usual Microsofts trick!