Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: This changes everything...
Review: There is so much that can be said for Microsoft's new Visual Studio .NET programming platform that I will only mention some of the key points here... For existing OO developers (Java, C++, etc.): You'll now enjoy a single programming interface (Integrated Development Evironment - IDE) for multi language solution development. The IDE is very intuitive and has plenty of help built in in the form of auto statement completion, integrated dynamic help and intellisense to guide you. For existing VB developers: You no longer have to feel like a second class programmer. VB.NET is now FULLY OBJECT ORIENTED and supports inhertance, overloading and polymorphism in just the same way the long-time OO languages have. No matter what language you develop in, you'll have one IDE and a VAST set of built-in classes to work with. The other major point to mention about .NET is that with it, you are positioned to rapidly create powerful web applications as never before through ASP.NET and Web Forms. Data in VS.NET is converted to XML automatically. This means that .NET is a powerful tool for managing the movement of data as well. Applications built with VS.NET are not COM dependant (although they can interop with COM for backwards compatibilty) which means the end of "DLL Hell" for thousands of developers around the world. The bottom line: There is an awful big learning curve here, but the rewards are well worth it (language integration, common IDE, rapid application development, ease of application deployment, new power behind web applications, etc.). There are surely features that need to be improved or introduced, but VS.NET is a great first step into the next era of application development (eventually leading to platform independance). You and your organization may not make the move to .NET right away, as it does involve a learning investment, but learn .NET now anyway because it WILL be the programming standard.
| 
