Visual Basic .NET, visual C++ .NET, or C# .NET?

[Guest Myke]

which one do you guys recommend me getting? I dont know any programming or which would work better on a phone. Would these work or is there a special Compact Framework version?

also, do you guys recommend Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect Edition?

[Guest Peter Foot]

which one do you guys recommend me getting?  I dont know any programming or which would work better on a phone.  Would these work or is there a special Compact Framework version?

also, do you guys recommend Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect Edition?

To developer managed (.NET Compact Framework) applications for Smartphone 2003 you will need Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional or higher. This includes Enterprise Architect. You will also need to install the Smartphone 2003 SDK which adds in smartphone support.

You cannot use the standalone VB.NET or VC# products to develop for smart devices.

If you are writing native code you can use the free eVC++ - either eVC++ 3.0 for Smartphone 2002 or eVC++ 4.0 SP2 for Smartphone 2003. Note that for Smartphone 2002 this is your only option as there is no .NET Compact Framework support in Smartphone 2002.

I used Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Architect every day and it is an excellent rich development platform.

If you get into developing with the .NET Compact Framework don't forget to check out the code libraries and articles available at www.opennetcf.org

Peter

[Guest NeilC_MVP]

Since you are a new comer to programming, I would highly recommend you learn VB .NET. There are plenty of good web sites and books out there for you to get a solid grounding in the language before you even tackle the idiosyncrosies of developing Smartphone applications.

As Peter pointed out, OpenNETCF.org is an excellent place to find useful pieces of code (when you are ready to start developing applications for Pocket PC and Smartphone). There's nothing quite like a bit of shameless self-promotion :lol:

If you need any help at all with anything to do with VB .NET/C# or the .NET Framework, don't be afraid to ask.

[Guest Peter Foot]

There are some useful URLs with Visual Basic sample code in the thread titled "VB .NET samples / Getting started" in this forum:-

http://smartphone.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=94880

Also "Visual Basic .NET Step-by-Step" by M. Halvorson is quite a good book for beginners.

[Guest Myke]

thanks for all your help guys! Once I get Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional I will most likely be back with questions. 1 more before I go, yous said get Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional "or higher", is there a higher version out right now?

[Guest Peter Foot]

thanks for all your help guys!  Once I get Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional I will most likely be back with questions.    1 more before I go, yous said get Visual Studio .NET 2003 Professional "or higher", is there a higher version out right now?

I was referring to the editions rather than versions - VS .NET 2003 is the latest version but is available in a number of flavours:-

Professional

Enterprise Developer

Enterprise Architect

These include increasing functionality - and also increase in price.

More detail on what is included with each edition here:-

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/howtobuy...y/choosing.aspx

Peter

[Guest Myke]

ohh okay I see. So Enterprise Architect would be the most complete version.. also a hefty $2,499

[Guest NeilC_MVP]

If you're considering Enterprise Architect edition, consider going for a MSDN Subscription. It's cheaper, contains VS .NET EA, and has a whole lot more to offer.

[Guest Peter Foot]

Note that if you choose a DVD version of the MSDN subscription its significantly cheaper (if you are in North America you can get between $100 - $300 rebate).

Also as a beginner to programming and targetting smart devices you may not find much value in going for the Enterprise Architect version / MSDN Universal - check the feature matrix to determine what features you need.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/le...els/default.asp

As an example MSDN Professional subscriptions are available from Amazon for $1142 (and you qualify for a $110 rebate if you get the DVD version). Visual Studio Professional by itself is around $999 dollars so they work out very similar in price. Therefore they are roughly:-

Professional - $1000 (includes Visual Studio Professional)

Enterprise - $2000 (includes Visual Studio Enterprise Developer)

Universal - $2500 (includes Visual Studio Enterprise Architect)

Each edition of Visual Studio has an equivalent level of MSDN subscription and you will get a lot of extras with MSDN.

Peter

[Guest Myke]

what do some of you guys have, and are you developing smartphone software?

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

We all have MSDN more than likely.

I develop in VB.net (having grown up with VB), but C# is also very popular.

P

[Guest Peter Foot]

what do some of you guys have, and are you developing smartphone software?

Like Paul I have an MSDN subscription. Generally I've been working on Pocket PC development but slowly expanding this to include Smartphone, up until now using just the SDK but I got my E200 yesterday. My commercially released software so far has included class libraries and controls for .NETCF - including a managed pocket outlook library which works on SP2003.

I write mainly in C# although some of the samples etc have been VB.NET. It helps to be multilingual, and the truth is they are not too dissimilar. There are a few things you can do with C# that are not supported in VB.NET, such as unsafe code (best avoided in many cases anyway) so best to pick the language which you are most comfortable with.

[Guest LSmith4285]

Hello,

I have Visual Studio 2002 as thats the version our uni use and I managed to get one of there licences, can I develop applications for SmartPhone 2003 with this?

If so, what do I need?

As usual MS's site just keeps pushing 2003, which as a student I can't afford, and I can't seem to get details on what I can do with 2002.

Cheers

Lyle

[Guest NeilC_MVP]

There used to be support for Visual Studio .NET 2002 during the early days of the .NET Compact Framework beta. However, this supported ended long ago when the decision was made to tie Smart Device Programmability directly into Visual Studio .NET 2003.

If you wish to do any smart device programming, be it for Pocket PC, Windows CE .NET or for Smartphone 2003, you will need (at the very minimum) Visual Studio .NET 2003. There is no Smart Device support whatsoever for Visual Studio .NET 2002. If you manage to get Visual Studio .NET 2003, and I hope you do, you will need the Smartphone 2003 SDK. This is downloadable from the Microsoft website.

[Guest LSmith4285]

Cheers Neil