Good SQL Server Version Match for VS 2010?

[jlsj]

Hi,

15 years ago I worked as a full-time programmer with VB6 and SQL Server. Now programming is mostly a hobby for me. I?ve been using Visual Studio 2010 and Access to develop some small, stand-alone applications, but one of them has outgrown Access. I?d like to start working with SQL Server again, but I don?t know which version is a good match for VS 2010. Which version do you recommend? And if you can recommend a good book on SQL Server, that would be great.

Thanks!

 

[JuggaloBrotha]

Hi,

15 years ago I worked as a full-time programmer with VB6 and SQL Server. Now programming is mostly a hobby for me. I?ve been using Visual Studio 2010 and Access to develop some small, stand-alone applications, but one of them has outgrown Access. I?d like to start working with SQL Server again, but I don?t know which version is a good match for VS 2010. Which version do you recommend? And if you can recommend a good book on SQL Server, that would be great.

Thanks!

Honestly any of them, 2008 and newer.
At my current job all of our Sql Servers are 2014 and we have plans in 18 months to migrate to Sql 2016.
We predominitely use VS2015 for projects, but we still have a few 2010 projects that we haven't migrated forward yet, but that being said Sql 2014 is what we use.

 

[jmcilhinney]

Are you required to use VS 2010? If not then you might consider upgrading to the latest version of VS. It depends what edition you're using but the Community Edition is pretty much fully-featured (unlike Express editions) and is free for single developers.

If you are going to stick VS 2010 then the only real limiting factor may be a desire to have VS create local databases. If I'm not mistaken, in order to add a Service-based Database item to a project in VS 2010, you must have SQL Server Express 2008 R2 installed. If you're not trying to add MDF files directly to your project though, any version of SQL Server or SQL Server Express will do the job. I'd suggest going with the latest unless you have a requirement to support a specific version for your customers. Even then, you can install multiple instances with different versions on the same machine.

 

[jlsj]

It’s good to know I have choices, and nothing will “break” if I choose one of those versions instead of another. I won’t be doing anything rigorous … just the basics. I have a lot to relearn after being away from SQL Server for so long. I think 6.5 was the last version I used.

 

[jlsj]

I’m using VS 2010 (Pro) only because I’ve been out of the loop, programming-wise. That, combined with budget and time limits, has caused me to proceed carefully. Thanks for recommending the Community Edition; that solves a couple of problems for me. I’d heard about the free versions of VS, but I was overwhelmed by the choices.

Another reason I hesitated to upgrade VS was the requirement to learn a new packaging/deployment system. If I recall, Microsoft stopped including the VS Installer/Setup Project after 2010. Unless they’ve restored it in the latest version, I’ll have to face an extra learning curve there.

These are some of the issues I’ve encountered getting back into the programming loop, so I’ve tried to prioritize things. SQL Server was next on my list. I’m just a small-time developer; I haven’t had customers for years. So in the near term I don’t plan to do anything fancy with SQL Server. I just need to reacquaint myself with the basics. My first goal is to install it locally, upsize one of my Access databases, and connect to it with an app. I’ve never added databases to my VS projects before, so the 2010 limitation shouldn’t be an issue. Based on your suggestion, I’ll look for the latest version of SQL Server. If an “Express” version is available at no cost, that’s what I’ll get. Otherwise, I’ll look for the most recent “Express” version. I need to successfully relearn SQL Server before I invest in a full version.

 

[jmcilhinney]

VS 2015 Community Edition: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691978&clcid=0x409
SQL Server 2016 Express: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/sql-server/sql-server-editions-express
Installer Projects Extension: https://marketplace.visualstudio.co...am.MicrosoftVisualStudio2015InstallerProjects

VS 2015 doesn't have the same support for Setup projects that VS 2010 had, which was dropped in favour of InstallShield LE. That third link is for an extension that you can install to reinstate very similar functionality.

 

[jlsj]

SQL Server 2016 Express, VS 2015, Installer Projects Extension ... yesterday was like Christmas morning all over again. They're all installed and running, with one project successfully ported from 2010 to 2015. Today I'll add an Installer/Setup Project, then begin the SQL Server upsizing. Thanks again for getting me started with all this. :biggrin: