Last November, Microsoft launched Visual Studio (VS) 2005 in several editions, including Team System, Professional, Standard, and Express. One edition of particular interest is the Express edition. The reason? It's free. For those System i developers who have been toying with the idea of delving into Microsoft's .NET world, VS Express may be just the thing to nudge you forward.

Why .NET?

Why would a System i programmer want to work with .NET? A number of reasons come to mind, including the ability to...

• support .NET applications your company already has or is contemplating purchasing
• create Windows GUI front-ends for your DB2 data
• build Web-based applications for DB2 data using ASP.NET
• easily construct and expose business logic (System i- or Windows-based logic) as Web services

Since .NET is popular among developers, skill set is yet another reason to consider learning it.

Why VS Express?

VS Express offers many benefits to beginners:

• Its simplified interface doesn't include the seemingly infinite options that are common in complex products like Visual Studio Professional and WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries.
• Ranging from 35–70 MB, it is a relatively small download. If you opt to download the SQL Server 2005 Express edition, this download becomes about 400 MB.
• The scaled-down help system that's included reduces complexity.
• It allows developers to experiment without coughing up cash that could be used on other projects.
• Even though it's an Express edition, it's loaded with features.
• VS 2005 Starter Kits help developers get up to speed by providing a way to study code demonstrating "best practices" in a small, easy-to-grasp project.

How Many Express Editions?

There are two basic VS Express editions to choose from:

• Visual Basic, C#, C++, and J# Express—Create GUI or console applications using any one (and only one) of these listed languages.
• Web Developer Express—Create ASP.NET Web applications using VB.NET or C#.

To get started, you need to choose a user interface (Windows vs. Web) and a programming language; then, download the appropriate Express edition. Note that for GUI programming, you may choose only a single language. Web Developer offers two languages.

Which language should you use? VB or C#? Since all .NET languages are supposed to perform equally, it really doesn't matter (although Microsoft has managed to endow VB.NET and C# with a few specific beneficial features that the other language doesn't have; I suppose Microsoft has to have a reason to keep them distinct!). If you have no preference and are starting from ground zero, I would recommend starting with C# because it shares many similarities with Java. Learning C# can therefore provide a jump start for Java skills, which is a boon to System i shops.

Features and Drawbacks

VS Express is loaded with many of the same great features as the Professional edition, including context-sensitive help, local debugging support, and "IntelliSense" support.

But alas, being free, VS Express is missing some things. First of all, several advanced project templates, such as the Crystal Reports application and Windows Service, are missing. Second, GUI programming and Web programming are differentiated into separate products. Third, mobile devices are not supported.

For more information, check out the full comparison of features offered by the various VS 2005 editions.

Practical Usage

This past summer, I created an intranet application for a customer, using Visual Studio 2005 Professional on my laptop. This intranet app retrieved most of its data from MAPICS running on a System i. My major dilemma was ease of remote code maintenance. My only access to the customer's system was a remote desktop connection. I didn't want to have to go onsite whenever the customer called requesting a small change.

The solution was to install VS Express Web Developer edition (no charge!) at the customer location. That way, I could simply change the application right on their system at their request. The only trouble I had maintaining this application was with Crystal Reports, which is unsupported in Express. I circumvented this problem by creating a separate Web services project to serve up Crystal Report requests. Therefore, I still have to maintain the Crystal Report definitions on my laptop and then export them (the hard way to the customer's box), but everything else works fine.

Finally, after installing the VB Express edition on my home computer, I even started showing my six-year-old twin daughters some simple VB programming. They love it!

Get It Now

Originally slated to be free for only the first year, Microsoft later announced that these Express editions will be perpetually free. This is a great way to delve into .NET. Once you've mastered Express, it'll be an easy decision to move to a higher edition—and worth the money.

Michael Sansoterra is a programmer/analyst at i3 Business Solutions, an IT services firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can reach him at msansoterra@i3businesssolutions.com.