2. Introduction to the Visual Studio .NET IDE

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2. Introduction to the Visual Studio .NET IDE

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Chapter Outline

• Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE
• Menu Bar and Toolbar
• Visual Studio .NET IDE Windows
• Solution Explorer
• Toolbox
• Properties Window
• Using Help

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Overview of the VS.NET IDE

• Integrated Development Environment
• Visual Basic.NET
• Many language enhancements
• Inheritance,Overloading, Free Threading
• Visual C
• Integration with .NET Framework with managed
  extensions (classes)
• C
• New development language
• Based on C/C with Garbage Collection/Memory
  Management
• JUMP (Java User Migration Path) to .NET
• http//msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio

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Overview of the VS.NET IDE

• Single IDE for all Languages
• Server Explorer
• Event Viewer, Message Queues, Services
• SQL Databases, Data Connection, Etc.
• Integrated IE Browser
• HTML/XML Editors
• Dynamic Help
• Common Forms Editor
• VB.NET, C, and C
• ..

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Overview of the VS.NET IDE

• User creates a new project in Visual Studio
• A solution and a folder are created at the same
  time with the same name as the project
• The project belongs to the solution
• Multiple projects can be included in a solution
• Solution
• Contains several folders that define an
  applications structure
• Solution files have a file suffix of .sln
• Project contains files for a part of the
  solution
• Project file is used to create an executable
  application
• Every project has a type (Console, Windows, etc.)
• Every project has an entry point A Sub
  procedure named Main or a Form

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• When Visual Studio .NET begins execution, the
  Start Page displays

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• Get Started loads a page that contains a table
  listing the names of recent projects.
• Whats New displays a page that lists new
  features and updates for Visual Studio .NET.
• Online Community links to online resources for
  contacting other software developers through
  newsgroups and Web sites.

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• Headlines provides a page for browsing news,
  articles and how-to guides.
• Search Online to access more extensive
  information, users can select and begin browsing
  through the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network)
  online library, which contains numerous articles,
  downloads and tutorials on various technologies
  of interest to Visual Studio .NET developers.

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• Downloads displays a page that provides
  programmers access to product updates, code
  samples and reference materials.
• The My Profile link loads a page where users can
  adjust and customize various Visual Studio .NET
  settings, such as keyboard schemes and window
  layout preferences.

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• Programmers can browse the Web from the IDE
  using Internet Explorer (also called the internal
  Web browser in Visual Studio .NET). To request a
  Web page, type its address into the location bar
  and press the Enter key.

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• To create a new Visual C program, click the New
  Project button , which displays the New Project
  dialog.
• The Visual Studio .NET IDE organizes programs
  into projects and solutions, which contain one or
  more projects.

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Overview of the Visual Studio .NET IDE

• By default, the Visual Studio .NET IDE assigns
  the name WindowsApplication1 to the new project
  and solution.
• The Visual Studio Projects folder in the My
  Documents folder is the default folder referenced
  when Visual Studio .NET is executed for the first
  time.
• Programmers can change both the name of the
  project and the location where it is created.

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Visual Studio .Net
designer
controls
Properties, events
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Menu Bar and Toolbar
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Menu Bar and Toolbar
The programmer can access menu commands from the
toolbar, which contains pictures, called icons,
that graphically represent commands.
Positioning the mouse pointer over an icon
displays a description called a tool tip
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Visual Studio .NET IDE Windows

• The IDE provides windows for accessing project
  files and customizing controls.
• These windows can be accessed via the toolbar
  icons or by selecting the name of the desired
  window in the View menu.

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Demonstrating the auto-hide feature
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The solution explorer
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Toolbox
The Toolbox window contains controls used to
customize forms. Programmers can drag and drop
controls onto the form.
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Properties Window
The Properties window displays the properties for
a form or control. Properties specify information
such as size, color and position.
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Using Help
The Help menu contains a variety of commands,
which are summarized in the following table.
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Using Help Dynamic Help
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Conclusion

• In VS.NET the code you create is organized
  using different layers of grouping
• Solutions contain one or more projects.
• Projects contain more than one file.
• Files.

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Conclusion

• Solution Explorer provides access to all the
  files in a solution.
• ToolBox contains controls used to customize
  forms.
• Properties Window displays the properties for a
  form or a control.