What software you need
Software option #1: Full editions of Visual
Studio 2005
To develop C# applications, you can use any of the
full editions of Visual Studio 2005, including the Standard
Edition, Professional Edition, or Team System. All of
these come with everything you need to develop C# 2005
applications, including the Visual Studio development
environment, version 2.0 of the Microsoft .NET Framework,
C# 2005 (and Visual Basic 2005), and a scaled-back version
of SQL Server called SQL Server 2005 Express.
Software option #2: Free editions of Visual
Studio components
You can download two Express editions of Visual
Studio software from Microsoft's web site:
- Visual C# 2005 Express
- SQL Server 2005 Express
Both of these products are free. And together, they provide all of the components you need to develop Windows applications in C# 2005.
You may note a few variations, though, when you're using our book, which is based on the Professional Edition. That's because Visual C# 2005 Express is a scaled-back version of the C# you'll get in the full editions. So some of its user interfaces are simpler than what you'll see in the book. And a few of the features that are covered in the book aren't available.
To make sure that these variations don't interfere with your learning, this book carefully notes any differences between the Express and full editions. The good news is that all the skills that you learn and all the applications that you develop with the C# 2005 Express edition will still work if you upgrade to one of the full editions of VS 2005 later on.
|
