difference between VS.net and Visual Web Developer Express Edition

[webdev]

Hello,

I am in the process of upgrading VS.net 2003 to 2005. However, I am also interested in Visual Web Developer Express Edition for some of my beginning programmers who are more familiar with html, javascript, css, etc., than they are asp.net (VB.net) but would like to learn asp.net to build applications. Could someone tell me the difference between the VS.net 2005 and Visual Web Developer Express? Does the express edition create solutions and contain code behind pages? Should I order both products? ASP.NET WebMatrix was a learning tool I used here to get them[non-programmers] familiar with .net, but as you know, there was no code behind pages, and no solution files were built.

TIA
webdev

 

[kulrom]

O yeah there was code behind pages but you have to create it manualy as web matrix will not do that for you as vs.net does it. However, if you worked with webmatrix you will know the meaning and purpose of Express editions and why they come for free (very, very limited regard VS.NET pro)

HTH
Regards

 

[webdev]

Thanks, HTH for your reply. I know that Web matrix does not create code behind pages, solutions files, etc. Perhaps my question was not clear. I asked the forum:

What is the difference between VS.net 2005 and Visual Web Developer (VWD) Express Edition?

Namely, does VWD create solution files and code behind pages like VS.net 2005 does?

TIA,
webdev

 

[TechGnome]

The difference:
VS is the full studio... VB, C#, Web Dev, etc....
VWDExpress is JUST the Web Developer part. It has a few other limitations, but I'm not sure what they are (I think one is the ability to run the web pages localy, but I don't know.)

HAve you tried looking at the Microsoft VWD Express web site to see if the info is out there?

-tg

 

[webdev]

Thanks TechGnome for your reply. Actually, I've been trying to go through the training videos by Scott Guthrie at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/reference/multimedia/#scottgu all day. Finally, able to go through it now.

It does create code behind pages, and you can run your apps on your local machine, of course, and it does create .sln files. So far the features are very similar to VS 2003 (I havent downloaded 2005 yet)... so I'm still trying to find out what is the difference. Should I buy VWD for my junior developers (who are stronger in html, javascript, css, some asp, etc.), or just go with Studio 2005 --

Just brainstorming now for budget purposes...

 

[jmcilhinney]

VWD Express is free for unlimited use as long as you get it by Nov 7 this year. VWD Express is designed for students and enthusiasts to create ASP.NET 2.0 applications in VB and C#. It is a cut-down version of VS 2005 that is designed for Web applications only. VB Express, C# Express, C++ Express and J# Express are each designed for Windows application development in a single language. Put the five of them together and you basically have VS 2005 Standard. VS Standard has a few extra features plus the ability to properly open multi-language solutions. VS Pro adds even more features.