Microsoft Visual Studio Express

Microsoft Visual Studio Express

Screenshot of Visual Studio Express 2012 for Desktop running on Windows 7, developing a Windows application called Wikipedia Recon Drone
Developer(s) Microsoft
Stable release 2015 for (Web, Desktop, Windows and Team Foundation Server) (July 20, 2015 (2015-07-20)) [±][1][2]
Operating system Windows
Type Integrated development environment
Website www.visualstudio.com/products/visual-studio-express-vs

Microsoft Visual Studio Express is a set of integrated development environments (IDEs) developed by Microsoft as a freeware and registerware[3] function-limited version of the non-free Microsoft Visual Studio. Express editions started with Visual Studio 2005.

Visual Studio Express was supplemented by the Visual Studio Community edition, which is also available for free.[4] The community edition works with plugins, a feature that was previously exclusive to the paid editions (Professional and higher). Express editions of Visual Studio 2015 are, however, still available for the time being.[5]

History

Visual Studio 2005 Express, the first version of Visual Studio Express, was released on October 2005, with support until 2015. It runs on Windows 2000 SP4 and later. Service Pack 1 for 2005 Express was released on December 2006. Registration was not required; free-of-charge registration for use after a 30-day trial period has been required since the release of Visual Studio Express 2008.[6]

Visual Studio 2008 Express was released in November 2007, with its Service Pack 1 released on August 11, 2008. Visual Studio 2008 and 2010 Express require Windows XP SP3 or later. Although Windows 2000 is no longer supported, Visual Studio 2008 Express can develop applications to run on Windows 2000. Windows Phone support is available with Windows Vista and later.

Visual Studio 2010 Express was released in April 2010, alongside Visual Studio 2010.

2005–2010 products

Visual Studio 2005, 2008, and 2010 Express are geared toward single project types. For example, developers must launch Visual Web Developer Express to build web applications, while class libraries must be developed separately in Visual C# Express. The commercial editions of Visual Studio, however, support multiple project types without separate launch.

Visual Studio 2005, 2008, and 2010 Express consist of the following separate products:

Visual Basic Express

Visual Basic Express has the following limitations:[7][8]

Visual Basic 2008 Express includes the following improvements over 2005:

Visual Basic 2005 and Visual Basic 2008 Express feature a Visual Basic 6.0 converter that makes it possible to upgrade Visual Basic 6.0 projects to Visual Basic.NET. The converter is not included with 2010 Express.

Visual Web Developer Express

Visual Web Developer Express is a freeware web development tool[9] that allows developers to evaluate the web development and editing capabilities of the other Visual Studio editions at no charge. Its main function is to create ASP.NET websites. It has a WYSIWYG interface, drag-and-drop user interface designer, enhanced HTML and code editors, a limited database explorer, support for CSS, JavaScript and XML, and integrated, design-time validation for standards including XHTML 1.0/1.1 and CSS 2.1.

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express lacks certain features, such as the Accessibility Checker, the ability to create standalone class library projects, third-party add-ins and macros.[10] Visual Web Developer 2008 Express SP1 supports both class library and web application projects.[11] It also includes a new integrated HTML designer based on Microsoft Expression Web. However, this edition cannot publish self-developed websites.

Visual C++ Express

Visual C++ Express compiles .NET and Win32 applications in 32-bit only.[12][13] It includes Windows SDK's compilers and core files, which developers can use to build Win32 applications.

Limitations of Visual C++ Express:

Limitations in earlier versions:

While Microsoft lists memory windows as unavailable in Visual Studio 2010 Express,[16] third parties have reported that they are available when Expert Settings are enabled.[17][18]

Many open source projects have started providing project files created with Visual C++ Express; noteworthy examples include the Ogre and Irrlicht engines. Modding kits for commercial engines, such as Valve's Source engine, also support this development system.[19]

Visual C# Express

Visual C# Express is a free, lightweight, integrated development environment (IDE) designed for novice developers, students and hobbyists to create applications and (when combined with the XNA Game Studio) video games for Windows, Xbox 360 and Zune. It can build console, Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation applications, and class libraries.

Microsoft has found that a substantial community of game players are taking up C# programming.[20][21][22]

Limitations

Visual C# Express does not have a breakpoint control panel; breakpoints can only be toggled.

The following refactoring modes were also unavailable:[23]

The limitations effectively reduce the refactoring capabilities of Visual C# Express to renaming and extracting methods. According to Microsoft, the reason the listed features are absent is "to simplify the C# Express user experience". Some users remarked that the omission of refactoring capabilities removed useful functionality without actually simplifying use.[24]

The ability to attach the debugger to an already-running process is also unavailable, hindering scenarios such as writing Windows services and re-attaching a debugger under ASP.NET when errors under the original debugging session cause breakpoints to be ignored.

2012-2013 products

For the 2012 release of Visual Express, Microsoft changed its distribution of editions so that each version is geared toward an overall solution type, and can contain more than one project type. (This is unlike previous Express editions, each of which was geared around a single programming language.) For example, a web solution might consist of a web application project and a couple of C# class-library projects. This change was made to reflect the wide diversity of applications available for the web and the new WinRT platform used on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Microsoft has released five Visual Studio Express 2012 products:

Edition Description Desktop OS Server OS
Visual Studio Express 2012 for Web[25][26] Allows development of web applications. Includes integrated features for deploying to Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud computing platform.
Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8[27][28] Allows development of Metro-style applications for Windows Store in C#, VB.NET, C++ and JavaScript. Note: This edition runs only on Windows 8. Windows 8 N/A
Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop[29][30] Allows development of conventional Windows desktop applications in C#, VB.NET and C++, targeting Windows client technologies such as Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Forms, and the Win32 API. Unlike previous Express editions, it has built-in support for compiling 64-bit applications through IDE. Update 1 adds support for Windows XP in C++ applications.
Visual Studio Team Foundation Server Express 2012[31] Provides source control, work-item tracking, application lifecycle management and build automation for teams of up to five developers.
Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Phone[32] Consists of the Windows Phone 8 SDK that enables developing applications for Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 and testing them on an emulator. Supports C++, .NET Framework and DirectX. As part of its .NET Framework support, it can integrate with Microsoft Expression Blend. Windows 8 (x64 only) N/A

In October 2013, Microsoft released four new versions of its Visual Studio Express products. Like the 2012 Express edition, they are geared toward an overall solution type which may mix different types of projects. However, different IDEs are still offered for different destination platforms. They are: [33][34]

Note that Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone was not released in the set of 2013 products, but Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone is now merged with Visual Studio Express for Windows 2013.2.[36] With this new release, Windows 8.1 x86 is now supported for Windows Phone 8.1 development, but not for Windows Phone 8.0 development or the Windows Phone Emulator, the latter of which also requires a processor that supports Client Hyper-V and Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).

2015 products

The Visual Studio Express 2015 editions are:

On their Overview of Visual Studio 2015 Products page, Microsoft says:

Small teams and individual developers should consider Visual Studio Community 2015 which is more comprehensive than Express.[38]

Extensibility

Visual Studio is extensible by nature, ultimately consisting of a core "shell" that implements all commands, windows, editors, project types, languages, and other features through dynamically loadable modules called "packages".[39][40] Microsoft encourages and fosters third-party partners to create modules for Visual Studio via the free VSIP program. However, according to Dan Fernandez, Microsoft "made a business decision to not allow 3rd party extensibility in Express".[41]

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.visualstudio.com/vs-2015-product-editions
  2. ↑ https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-express-vs
  3. ↑ "Registration Issues". Microsoft. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  4. ↑ "Visual Studio Community 2013 Announcement". microsoft.com. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  5. ↑ http://blogs.msdn.com/b/onecode/archive/2014/11/12/differences-between-visual-studio-community-edition-and-express-editions.aspx
  6. ↑ "Home Page". Visual Studio Support. Archived from the original on March 8, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Visual Basic 2005 Editions". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  8. ↑ "Visual Basic 2008 Editions". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  9. ↑ Visual Studio 2005 Express Developer Center - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - questions 23 to 35, especially question 28 at the Wayback Machine (archived April 6, 2008)
  10. ↑ "Which features are missing from Visual Web Developer Express: Mikhail Arkhipov's blog". Blogs.msdn.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  11. ↑ Scott Guthrie. "Scott Guthrie's post on VS2008/.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Beta (bottom of page)". Aspalliance.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  12. ↑ Visual C++ Editions (Visual Studio 2010)
  13. ↑ Visual C++ Editions (Visual Studio 2008)
  14. ↑ "Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Version 7.1.0 Release Notes". Microsoft. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  15. ↑ "Visual C++ Editions". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  16. ↑ "Memory Windows". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  17. ↑ "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Debugger". Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  18. ↑ "Visual Studio Hints". Williams, Kenneth A. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
  19. ↑ "Source SDK wiki: Compiler Choices". Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  20. ↑ "Visual C# at C# Online.NET (CSharp-Online.NET)". Csharp-online.net wiki. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
  21. ↑ "C# C Sharp and Tutorials on C# Friends.com". http://www.csharpfriends.com/. Retrieved 2010-02-09. External link in |publisher= (help)
  22. ↑ "XNA Developer Center". Microsoft. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
  23. ↑ "Technologies site about MSDN". MSDNER. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
  24. ↑ "Aaron Stebner's WebLog". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 2004-10-20.
  25. ↑ "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Web". Visual Studio portal. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  26. ↑ "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Web". MSDN. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  27. ↑ "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8". Visual Studio portal. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  28. ↑ "Develop Windows Store apps using Visual Studio 2012 (Windows)". MSDN. Microsoft. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  29. ↑ "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop". Visual Studio portal. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 November 2012s.
  30. ↑ "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop is Here". The Visual Studio Blog. Microsoft. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  31. ↑ "Visual Studio Team Foundation Server Express 2012". Visual Studio portal. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  32. ↑ "Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Phone". Visual Studio portal. Microsoft. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  33. ↑ "Visual Studio 2013". Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  34. ↑ "What's New in Visual Studio 2013". Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  35. 1 2 3 4 "Download Overview". Visual Studio. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  36. ↑ https://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/downloadsdk
  37. 1 2 3 4 "Visual Studio Express". Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  38. ↑ "Overview of Visual Studio 2015 Products". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  39. ↑ "Introducing the Visual Studio SDK". Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  40. ↑ "Visual Studio 2008 Shell - Details". Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  41. ↑ "Dan Fernandez's Blog : Visual Studio Express and TestDriven.NET". Blogs.msdn.com. 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2009-06-28.

Further reading

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