Chapter 1

How to get started with

Visual Studio

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 1

 A Windows Forms application running on the
Windows desktop

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 2

 A Web Forms application running in a Web
browser

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 3

 Visual Studio 2008 Editions
Edition Description
Express Edition A free, downloadable edition that supports
just one of the Visual Studio programming
languages. There is also an Express Edition
of SQL Server called SQL Server 2005
Express.
Standard Edition Designed for individual developers who want
to build Windows and web applications
Professional Edition Designed for individual developers who want
to build a wide variety of Windows, web,
mobile, and Office-based solutions
Team System Intended for teams of developers working on
large projects

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 4

 Programming languages supported by Visual
Studio 2008
 Visual Basic
 Visual C#
 Visual C++

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 5

 The .NET Framework
.NET Applications

Visual Basic Visual C# Visual C++

.NET Framework

.NET Framework Class Library

Windows Forms classes ASP.NET classes Other classes

Common Language Runtime

Managed applications Common Type System Intermediate Language

Operating System and Hardware

Windows 2000/2003 WindowsXP Windows Vista Other Operating Systems

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 6

 The Visual Studio IDE

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 7

 The Start Page that’s displayed when you start
Visual Studio

Start Page

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 8

 The Open Project dialog box

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 9

 Project and solution concepts
 Every C# project has a project file with an extension of csproj that
keeps track of the files that make up the project and records
various settings for the project.
 Every solution has a solution file with an extension of sln that
keeps track of the projects that make up the solution.
 When you open a project file, Visual Studio opens the solution
that contains the project. And when you open a solution file,
Visual Studio automatically opens all the projects contained in the
solution.
 The project file can be stored in the same directory as the solution
file or in one of its subdirectories.

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 10

 Visual Studio with the Form Designer window
displayed

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 11

 Visual Studio with the Code Editor window
displayed

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 12

 The Solution Explorer

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 Project files
 The Solution Explorer uses different icons to distinguish between
source code files that define forms and those that don’t.
 Each form is defined by two C# source files where each file
contains a partial class. The file with the cs extension contains the
code that’s entered by the programmer; the file with the
Designer.cs extension contains the code that’s generated when the
programmer works with the Form Designer. When the project is
compiled, these partial classes are combined into a single class
that determines the appearance and operation of the form.
 A source code file that doesn’t define a form is usually stored in a
single C# source file that contains a single class.
 The References folder contains references to the assemblies for
the namespaces that the application can use. These namespaces
contain the classes that the project requires. In most cases, all the
references that you need are included when the project is created.

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 14

 Visual Studio with two floating windows and a
hidden window

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 15

 How to rearrange windows
 To undock a docked window so it floats on the screen, drag it by
its title bar away from the edge of the application window or
double-click its title bar.
 To dock a floating window, drag it by its title bar onto one of the
positioning arrows that become available. Or, double-click its title
bar to return it to its default location.
 To hide a docked window, click its Auto Hide button. Then, the
window is displayed as a tab at the edge of the screen, and you
can display it by placing the mouse pointer over the tab.
 If two or more windows are grouped into tabbed windows, you
can display any window in the group by clicking on its tab.
 If you dock, undock, hide, or unhide a tabbed window, all the
windows in the group are docked, undocked, hidden, or unhidden.

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 16

 The form that’s displayed when the Financial
Calculations project is run

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 17

 How to build a project without running it
 Use the BuildBuild Solution command. Or, right-click the
project in the Solution Explorer and select the Build command
from the shortcut menu.

How to run a project

 You can run a project by clicking on the Start Debugging button
in the Standard toolbar or by pressing F5. Then, the first form of
the project is displayed on top of the Visual Studio window.
 If the project hasn’t already been built, the project is first built and
then run.

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 18

 The starting page for the Visual Studio
Conversion Wizard

Murach’s C# 2008, C1 Slide 19

 The Advanced Compiler Settings for a project

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