Visual studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) that helps C++, C#, Visual Basic, ASP.NET developers ensure the high quality of the coding they will do within the life cycle of an application. The code has to have the highest quality from design to deployment to ensure that the program will run smoothly with very little bugs.

Visual Studio 2010 has come a long way from its predecessor visual studio 2008. The 2010 version of Visual Studio has added new features and has streamlined some of its older functions. The improvements will enable any user to build, debug, unit test, and deploy high-quality applications on a diverse range of platforms including Windows, the Internet, the Cloud, Office and SharePoint.

Features that stand out

The overhauled user interface is built on a Windows Presentation Foundation that allows users and developers to toggle the code that they have to use. The 2010 version of Visual Studio also has an improved start page, code editor, IntelliSense, and a call hierarchy viewer. Call hierarchy allows developers to explore a code execution path by showing all calls to, or calls from, a selected method.

The features that have been improved will help developers design and use their code for the programs that they would like to run. For beginners, the 2010 version of Visual Studio will help them learn the ropes of coding because of the user-friendly interface. The improved features will also help hardcore developers to write code and run their programs smoothly. As an example, Visual Studio 2010 Professional provides support for multi-monitor, so you can organize and manage your work according to your needs. You can also unleash your creativity by utilizing visual designer to leverage the latest platforms, including Windows 7 and Windows Phone.

If you do visual c# programming, you will be much more efficient because of the coding editor and improved IntelliSense. IntelliSense provides an array of features that make language references easy to access. When you are coding, you do not have to leave the Code Editor or the command window to perform searches on language elements. You can keep your context, find the information that you need, insert language elements directly into your code, and have IntelliSense auto-complete your typing for you. This is what makes the Visual Studio 2010 a wonderful integrated development environment.

How can the 2010 version of Visual Studio help you?

A redesigned Threads window provides filtering, call-stack searching and expansion, and grouping. In addition, you can now organize and search breakpoints and share them with other developers. The new Parallel Stacks and Parallel Tasks windows help you to visualize and debug parallel code that is written in C++, C#, or Visual Basic.

The code editor has been improved and lets developers change the font size by scrolling the mouse down and holding the (ctrl) button. In previous versions, developers had to change the screen to find the changes.

The improved IntelliSense allows developers to use acronyms based on the Pascal casing of Visual Studio 2010. Another feature that will help developers is the Suggestion Completion mode, which allows users to type without IntelliSense interference.

Visual Studio 2010 comes in three different flavors – Visual Studio Ultimate, Premium, and Professional. You should visit Microsoft’s websites to determine which one is right for you. In addition, you can “try before you buy” by downloading a free trial version of the software from their website.

If you’re on a tight budget then you should consider the Visual Express products. They are always free to download and install. However, the express products have limited IDE features.

In addition, the Express version allows you create a “Master” page so that your website can have a consistent look and feel. These pages serve as a template and then your subsequent pages pull all the content from this page and allow you to place small areas of text in each of your other pages.  This gives you an easy-to-use and uniform template to ensure all of your pages are easy to manipulate and are consistent. However, if you want your pages to look or behave differently then you should not create or use a “Master” page.

If you are new to web development, ASP.NET can be a great resource.  The average website requires very little cutting edge technology that’s available with ASP.NET. However, it’s available to you if you decide to implement it in the future.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition is a great tool that’s easy to use.  The only thing that may be difficult is understanding the “Master” page template feature.  Again, this feature creates a vanilla website for you to use, which provides for a simple and clean way to build and design your website.

Remember, the Express Edition is not the complete Visual Studio product, but is a tool designed for students and hobbyists. Hard-core hobbyists and enterprise developers should get the complete edition of Visual Studio, which is not free.

Get Free C# Source Code now!