Should I upgrade from VS.NET ('02) to VS 2005?

[imb55]

So I've been outta the .NET loop for the past 3 or 4 yrs. After I graduated college I took a 4 month client/server course that concentrated on VB.NET and ASP.NET. Well, I couldn't get a job in that field, but ended up in the mainframe world, where I've been the last 3 years. But I wanna get outta this and into the client/server technology. So my plan is to try to get certification to help me get a foot in the door.

My question: I have VS.NET from 2002 and have noticed that MS has moved up to VS 2005. My concern is that I'll be missing key components from the 2005 version that could be tested on. Is it necessary to upgrade? I don't feel like spending so much money on upgrading, but I'd like to know that I have options.

[RhinoBull]

... Is it necessary to upgrade? ...

It's not of course but if you can afford it then it's worth every dollar...

[darth vador]

I was using 2003 and have started using vb 2005 express. It is free. I'm glad I did and am using 2005 exclusively. (I also use 2005 Visual Web Developer edition for ASP.NET - it too was free) Finally, I downloaded mySQL Express - free also.

And yes, you can make professional apps with it and distribute them. You can make any app you want with them. The only thing is that the Express editions are missing some of the bells and whistles. - Like creating a install/deploy package. It uses click-once and that is all. But I use Inno Installer (free! too. ) to deploy apps.

I don't know what else is missing from the Express editions. I haven't missed them, whatever they are.

You should at least download them and take a look. I'm glad I did.

[Venus]

Hmm... can't say much for the testing, but VS 2005 has a new control (the DataGridView) that replaces the horrible datagrid that you probably be using/tested on all over the place. In VS 2005, the datagrid isn't even a control they show anymore, if you want the old Datagrid you have to manually add it into the toolbox. The datagridview has a lot more functionality.

Secondly, VS 2005 has partial classes which really change the way you think and work over previous versions. Each form has 2 seperate classes associated with the code. Remember back in the day when Microsoft added all it's own code in each form, and you'd append your code to theirs so it was all in the same place? If you created it in a wizard and later ran the wizard again, Microsoft would erase all your added code with theirs? Not anymore. In 2005 each form has 2 classes for coding. 1 is Microsofts automatic code, with the labels, textboxes, their specifications, default values, and such. The second class is for you to put in your code. However, they both work together on the form and thought of as one entity. Just, there's is in their own page and yours is in your own. Makes reading so much easier and when you need to find Label1, you don't have to scroll through how many times it finds label1 appearing in the top of the form by Microsoft. Secondly, re-running a wizard will erase only Microsofts partial class and recreate it, not affecting yours at all. Partial Classes is the name.

Lastly, Microsoft has really vamped up the dataset and the way they bind. They've made great improvements with linking datasets and classes to databases, and their datasets linking to stored procedures is way beyond the previous versions and makes VS 2005 worth it to any database programmer.

I'd think those things would be on the test and more, I only deal with database programming so that's all I can focus on. My comparison is VS 2005 is like, Windows 98 over Windows 95. They are somewhat similar but also there have been some major improvements, abilities, and differences. VS 2005 really is a big difference and unlike going from VS 2002 to VS 2003. If there is a difference between 02 and 03, I didn't see it. The difference between 02-03 and 05 is big.

[RobDog888]

Here are a couple of links for product comparisions.
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005...e/default.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/products/compare/

You should upgrade to 05 as its much improved over 2002.