- Other
- Adobe PageMaker
- Training and Tutorials
- Music Instruction & Theory
- Programming & Web Development
- Scriptwriting
- 3-D & CAD
- Reference
- Other Characters & Brands
- Microsoft Office
- Enid Blyton
- Music
- Printing & Painting
- Barbie
- Translation
- Budget Software
- Pinnacle
- Dinosaurs
- Fax & Phone
- Microsoft Excel
- Ages 5-8
- Creative Writing
- Game Categories
- Music Creation & Editing
- Children's Reference
- Graphics & Video
- Software Categories
- Voice Recognition
- Legal
- Science & Nature
- Watches
- Home and Garden
- UK Electronics
- UK Books
- Health and Personal Care
- UK Sporting Goods
- Clothing, Shoes and Accessories
- Electronics, Gadgets and Computers
- CDs and Music Downloads
- UK Software and Video Games
- UK Toys and Games
- UK Home and Garden
- UK Video Games
- UK Baby Clothes and Accessories
- Books On
- German Electronics
Software and Games : Software Categories : Programming & Web Development : Programming Languages
-
Microsoft
Visual Studio .Net is Microsoft's multi-faceted development tool, targeting both Windows and Web applications. This 2003 edition includes numerous small improvements as well as major new features such as the Compact Framework, for applications that run on Pocket PCs and other smart devices. It supports multiple languages, with the main ones being Visual Basic, C#, and C++. There is also a Java-like language called J#, although J# applications only work on Windows so this is not a true Java development tool. The Visual Studio .Net environment is truly integrated. It makes extensive use of docking and tabbed windows and there are plenty of project wizards along with huge amounts of online help. Auto-completion and pop-up help eases the business of editing code.Microsoft's .Net tools are very different from their predecessors. Visual C++ can still compile standard Windows executables, but the other languages all target the .Net Framework, a runtime engine and class library that manages memory and enforces security. Framework applications perform well, since they are compiled to native code at runtime, but there is an overhead in terms of memory usage and the Framework runtime must be installed. In compensation, .Net brings many advantages. All the languages are fully object-oriented, the class library is rich, and XML support is fully integrated. ASP .Net is for Web applications and represents a large advance on the old ASP. Instead of script, ASP .Net supports any of the .Net languages, running on the server and just-in-time compiled to native code. There is a visual Web page designer and carefully designed applications support a wide range of browsers. New in this version of Visual Studio is Mobile Web Forms which use adaptive rendering to support the browsers in mobile phones and PDAs. The database technology in Visual Studio is called ADO .Net and uses a disconnected model ideal for laptops, smart devices and wide area networks.
Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect 2003 is the top of the range. It's the only version to include Visio, a drawing and modelling tool with integrated reverse-engineering and code-generation, though sadly not full round-tripping. There are also developer licenses for the key Microsoft server platforms, including Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2000 Server, Biztalk Server and SQL Server 2000. Another key component is the Visual SourceSafe code management system, which is especially important for team development, the Application Centre Test, for stress-testing Web applications, and Enterprise Templates which let architects design and deploy best practices for project development. For those wondering whether to make the jump to .Net, this release is probably the right moment to go ahead. The technology is maturing, and the inclusion of the Compact Framework makes the package more compelling. The deep XML support on offer is essential for many enterprise applications and enables integration with other platforms. It's still important to note the heavy system requirements, and that .Net applications do not run on Windows 95. In most cases, the higher productivity of .Net languages soon pays for any additional resources. --Tim Anderson
-
Focus Multimedia Ltd
-
Serif
Serif WebPlus 7 Home Page Creator is an easy to use Web authoring application that will instantly appeal to anyone who wants to make a Web site without getting tangled up in the technicalities. Like many DTP applications, WebPlus 7 works by simply placing text, pictures and animations on the page where you want them to go.If design isn't your strong point you needn't worry, using wizard-based templates you can choose from business or home styles, customise the content, choose from a range of co-ordinated colour schemes and you have the basis of a six-page site. That's 90 percent of the work done in around five minutes, beyond that there's a range of powerful tools in a well-designed, user-friendly interface which you can use to adapt and expand your basic site.
The Studio Bar keeps everything you need in neatly organized palettes, so you can quickly change fonts, add graduated and transparent fills, select new colour schemes, choose ready made logos, backgrounds, flashes and text effects, or return to the wizard to further customise the basic design and content. There's plenty of additional content in the form of 600 animated gifs, 400 TrueType fonts and 20,000 Web Art images and these can be quickly and easily added to the page. If you want to create your own artwork, the excellent LogoPlus applet can be called up from the toolbar, you can also make good use of it to adapt the existing clipart to your specific needs.
Whether you looking for a personal home page or a small business site you can be proud of Serif WebPlus 7 Home Page Creator will help you get there. --Ken McMahon
-
Microsoft
-
Focus Multimedia Ltd
The 3D Gamemaker's easy-to-use graphic interface introduces the world of game making to those without a background in programming--you simply choose from a series of options to produce the game you desire. Also available in a special edition lite version, this CD-ROM allows you to easily create your own game within minutes.By selecting from a series of pre-made options (including character, weapon, environment and enemy) the user can produce, for example, a first-person shooter or a racing game. One nice option is the "magic game" in which the computer chooses a set of random options and you play the resulting game that can produce some really interesting results. Once familiar with the options you can start to play around with the different elements--graphics and sound can be added to the interface (helpfully, the sound can be in the popular MP3 format to save on space) meaning you can create all your characters and objects using a graphics package, and then insert them into the game and manipulate them if you wish. The environment can also be changed, and with the simple use of the editor you can create you own 3-D world, then place the objects you have created in it.
No game is complete without an array of weapons; your own personal selection can be created and given varying degrees of strength and impact damage. In all there are plenty of options to keep a gamer going for a while. Tidy up your game by creating some title screens, have a high-score display, set difficulty modes and so on. Once everything for the game has been set to your liking you can save it down into a single executable file for easy distribution to your friends.
The 3D Gamemaker interface used is easy and fun to use, though it is very much aimed at the novice game maker. There is often a feeling that there is a lack of control over different aspects of the game creation process, and experienced programmers could get frustrated with this controlled environment and the restriction over certain gaming elements. On the other hand, this package is an easy introduction to game making for those without programming knowledge. --Robert Hyde
-
Macmillan
-
Guildsoft
-
Microsoft
Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 is Microsoft's all-purpose suite of tools for developing all kinds of software for its Windows platforms (including Windows 2000), network resources for the Web, and combinations of the two. These development aids typically have steep learning curves (as does the Windows environment itself with Microsoft's tool set). Once you've done a bit of work with them (and perhaps studied a book or taken a class), they're unsurpassed in the degree of control they give you over your Windows development projects.Five main development tools comprise Visual Studio:
1. Visual Basic 6.0 helps you create applications quickly. Visual Basic excels at creating attractive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and custom front ends for databases. It's also an easy way to create component object model (COM) resources. Visual Basic is a popular, relatively easy-to-learn tool for general-purpose Windows programming.
2. Visual C++ 6.0 is Microsoft's low-level development environment for C and C++ software. Orientated around the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), Visual C++ puts the least overhead between your programs and Windows, meaning they will (if properly designed and implemented) run faster than programs written in any other Microsoft environment. It's great for games, device drivers, and other solutions in which top performance is more critical than ease of development.
3. Visual J++ 6.0 allows you to write software in a variant of Java tailored to the Windows environment. Visual J++ stand-alone applications aren't platform-independent as true Java applications are, unless you're careful to avoid the Windows-specific classes, which is hard to do. Some developers prefer its object orientation scheme to that of other Windows development languages.
4. Visual FoxPro 6.0 supports the FoxPro language, with which you can build applications that refer to databases. Because this environment supports COM and distributed COM (DCOM), it's possible to build FoxPro applications that access databases and other computational resources across a network.
5. Visual InterDev 6.0 is the ultimate tool for developing Internet resources that fit the Microsoft Document Object Model (DOM). While Visual InterDev's power really shows when you're writing for an intranet based on Internet Explorer 5, you can use it to create platform-independent pages suitable for open Internet sites. You'll be happy with Visual InterDev as a means of creating browser interfaces for your back-end databases, COM objects, and other Microsoft components.
On top of the primary development tools (which are well integrated by common interface elements and an ability to share components), Visual Studio comes with a considerable supporting cast of goodies. Visual Studio Installer enables you to write installation scripts for your software. Visual SourceSafe helps development teams manage large projects by managing code check-in and check-out chores. Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) is a freely distributable Structured Query Language (SQL) server that's compatible with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, so you can build distributed SQL applications for growing workgroups without having to buy SQL Server right away. You get quite a bit of documentation and training material too.
To put it simply, Visual Studio 6.0 is the best tool you'll find for efficiently creating Windows applications that can interact with the network resources as well as the Windows environment. This is the tool of choice for working inside Microsoft's COM framework. If you're familiar with the Microsoft architecture (or know you want to learn it) and want the latest tools for building within it, this is the most cost-effective way to outfit your workstation with everything you need. --David Wall, Amazon.com
-
Borland
-
Aztech New Media
-
Sierra
-
BHV
-
Microsoft
-
Red Hat
-
Microsoft
-
Microsoft
-
Scarlet Software
-
Microsoft
-
Microsoft
ADO.NET STEP BY STEP
-
Microsoft
