Overview Quest: What is .net?

<i><b>Originally posted by : MB Fonz (mbfonz@yahoo.com)</b></i><br />Hi,<br /><br /> I'm new to .net and trying to learn all I can. I know ASP and have worked with it quite a bit, I also know VB, C++, and have worked with Microsoft products for quite a while. I'm trying to understand .net and what it entails.<br /><br />So, what is .net and the "framework"? Is it the set of class libraries and hierarchy of classes that .net uses? And if it is, can all .net languages use it and have acces to the classes there? Thanks for any replies.<br /><br />Merrick-><br />@ All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors.<br /><br /><br />

<i><b>Originally posted by : Tom T (tnttemp2@cox.net)</b></i><br />You are correct that the .net is, essentially, a library of class objects. It is also correct that all classes are available to all supported languages (VB.Net, C#, etc).<br /><br />What is it? That's a tough one to nail down.<br /><br />It is a product that allows you to develop traditional windows desktop applications much like you have done in the past with VB. More importantly, it allows you to create web "applications" using pretty much the same coding approach you would use for a desktop app.<br />If you've worked with Classic ASP, you know that there is a tremendous amount of difference between creating a VB desktop app and a similar web app. To me, that's the big breakthrough. I've worked with both VB and Classic ASP and have found that the transition to .Net is fairly easy. There are differences obviously, but once you catch on to the basics (data access, variable types, creating objects) it's really just a matter of picking up syntax.<br /><br />The other breakthrough is that all .net apps (desktop or web based) are compiled. That's a big difference from traditional web apps and interpeted code.<br /><br />I've been working with .net for about four months and feel fairly comfortable taking on any project that I would have done in VB6 or ASP 3.0.<br /><br />With the high integration of xml throughout the .net design, and the rapid rise of xml, I think .net will be the approach of choice in a very short time.<br /><br />If you are planning to focus on web apps, just downloat the .net SDK from microsoft, install it on your development server and you're ready to go. The production (1.0) was released in Feb. 02.<br /><br />You can use Visual Studio Net for development or just purchase VB.Net or C# for a lot less. You can also get by with a good text editor for web developent.<br /><br />Good luck<br /><br />TT<br /><br /><br />------------<br />MB Fonz at 5/28/2002 10:54:03 AM<br /><br />Hi,<br /><br /> I'm new to .net and trying to learn all I can. I know ASP and have worked with it quite a bit, I also know VB, C++, and have worked with Microsoft products for quite a while. I'm trying to understand .net and what it entails.<br /><br />So, what is .net and the "framework"? Is it the set of class libraries and hierarchy of classes that .net uses? And if it is, can all .net languages use it and have acces to the classes there? Thanks for any replies.<br /><br />Merrick-><br />@ All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors.<br /><br /><br />