What's happening with VB.net? (1 Viewer)

[grnzbra]

I was looking to buy a copy of VB 2003.Net and no one seems to have it. The closest I've found it was in CompUSA.com and they said they were out of stock. Checked Microsoft's website and searched for Visual Basic, they didn't list it as a product, only had a couple of references to it. When I put it into ComputerShopper.com, I got back a bunch of references to Visual Studio, but when I looked at these, there was no reference to VB.

Has it been discontinued?

 

[boblarson]

Visual Studio 2005 has been released and Microsoft doesn't like merchants selling previous versions of their software. You might be able to find it on Ebay or some software outlet, but to buy VB officially now you will likely have to go buy 2005. I think you can buy the latest from Microsoft and they will let you "version down," but I'm not sure.

 

[grnzbra]

Is there any way to buy VB2005 without buying the whole studio? I don't see VB2005 as a stand alone and $900+ is more than I'm willing to pay to learn VB

 

[boblarson]

You can actually download Visual Basic 2005 Express for free from Microsoft. It isn't as functional (obviously) as the full version, but if you're working on learning it, that might be a good place to start.

Check it out here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/

 

[grnzbra]

Thanks. I did it and it's cool. One question. While I was playing with the tutorial Making Your First Application, I skipped a line when adding controls to a form and ended up with a button and a text box behind a panel. They even had a note saying that you had to have the button and textbox in the front or you won't see them when the application runs. However, they don't tell you how to move them to the front or back like you can in Access forms. I ran through all the properties but didn't see anything that looked like it was what I wanted. Do you know how to move things to the front or is that a function that isn't included in the free version?

 

[BukHix]

I am not sure I understand your question exactly but if you want the button to show up on top of the panel just lay the panel down first and then drop the button on top of it. I think you can also just cut and paste the item on top of the panel and it will do the same thing.

For the most part the limitations of Express are going to be the extra Add on stuff like Crystal Reporting, SQL Server Integration, Setup projects etc. and not things that limit the programming of applications. In fact (I think) you can do everything in Express that is possible in the Professional versions as long as you are willing to do the extra steps that Visual Studio will not do automatically for you in the Express version.

If you are just getting started I highly recommend the Visual Basic 2005 for Dummies Book. Although it is not written for Visual Studio 2005 Express most of the samples should work without too much trouble and the context around those samples is perfect for beginning VB.Net programmers.

I have over 10 VB/ASP .Net 2005 books in my collection and there is not one that compares to the usefulness of this “Getting Started with VB.Net” book.

 

[grnzbra]

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought of trying a cut 'n' paste.

 

[Lightwave]

Just like to add that I'm starting down the server/VB route and went out and bought the Visual Basic for 2005 for dummies on Sunday and I've got SQL Express and VB Express running along with the SQL Server Management Studio Express - so far everything seems to be going well.. Lots of questions but at the moment just taking it one step at a time.

Regards the book it's great particularly like the videos that have come with it although they actually concentrate on Visual Web Developer Express Edition