Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Standard 2003

Two things make Visual Basic .NET Standard 2003 easy to learn and use. One is the language itself, which is designed to be closer to natural English than others. The other is the array of tools and wizards that Microsoft provides, including a visual form designer for both Windows and Web projects. The web technology is called ASP.NET, and enables easy creation of web page that query and update databases, although note that a Windows web server running .NET is required. The programming environment is slick, with convenient features like docking and tabbed windows, project wizards, auto-completion and pop-up help in the code editor. The .NET version of Visual Basic benefits from full object-orientation and a rich class library. It also supports advanced features like multi-threading, which is a way of writing code to do background tasks.

Whereas Visual Basic 6.0 and earlier version needed a small runtime library, this .NET edition requires the .NET Framework, a runtime engine and class library that manages memory and enforces security. Framework applications perform well, since they are compiled to native code at runtime, but there is an overhead in terms of memory usage and the Framework runtime must be installed. These factors, together with less than perfect code compatibility, have made some Visual Basic developers reluctant to switch. While that's understandable, the .NET technology is now maturing and this release is probably the right moment to make the move. It's still important to note the heavy system requirements, and that .NET applications do not run on Windows 95. --Tim Anderson, Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com Product Description
Visual Basic .NET 2003 provides the easiest, most productive language and tool for rapidly building applications for Microsoft Windows and the Web. Ideal for existing Visual Basic developers as well as new developers in the Microsoft .NET development environment, Visual Basic .NET 2003 delivers enhanced visual designers, increased application performance, and a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) to get you on the fast track to application development.

Intuitive visual designers for Windows Forms and Web Forms provide a single development model for building both rich desktop applications and broad-reach Web applications. New support for mobile device application development enables you to use the skills you already have to build mobile Web applications and rich Pocket PC-based software. And with new Windows Forms, developers using Visual Basic .NET 2003 can build Windows-based applications that leverage the rich user interface features available in the Windows operating system.

Find a full assortment of rapid application development (RAD) tools in Visual Basic .NET 2003, including drag-and-drop form design and the popular "code behind" forms model. In addition, features such as automatic control anchoring and docking eliminate the need for complex form-resize code. Controls such as the in-place menu editor deliver visual authoring of menus directly within the Windows Forms Designer.