Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2008
delivers on the Microsoft vision of smart client applications by enabling
developers to rapidly create connected applications that deliver the highest
quality, rich user experiences. With Visual Studio 2008, organizations will find
it easier than ever before to capture and analyze information to help them make
effective business decisions. Visual Studio 2008 enables organizations of every
size to rapidly create more secure, manageable, and reliable applications that
take advantage of Windows Vista™ and the 2007 Office system.
Visual Studio 2008 delivers key
advances for developers in three primary pillars:
- Rapid application development
- Effective team collaboration
- Break through user experiences
Visual Studio 2008 provides
advanced development tools, debugging features, database functionality, and
innovative features for quickly creating tomorrow's cutting-edge applications
across a variety of platforms.
Visual Studio 2008 includes
enhancements such as visual designers for faster development with the .NET
Framework 3.5, substantial improvements to Web development tools and language
enhancements that speed development with all types of data. Visual Studio 2008
provides developers with all the tools and framework support required to create
compelling, expressive, AJAX-enabled Web applications.
Developers will be able to take
advantage of these rich client-side and server-side, frameworks to easily build
client-centric Web applications that integrate with any back-end data provider,
run within any modern browser, and have complete access to ASP.NET application
services and the Microsoft platform.
Rapid Application
Development
To help developers rapidly create modern software, Visual Studio 2008 delivers
improved language and data features, such as Language Integrated Query (LINQ),
that make it easier for individual programmers to build solutions that analyze
and act on information.
Visual Studio 2008 also provides
developers with the ability to target multiple versions of the .NET Framework
from within the same development environment. Developers will be able to build
applications that target the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 or 3.5, meaning that they
can support a wide variety of projects in the same environment.
Break Through User
Experience
Visual Studio 2008 offers developers new tools that speed creation of connected
applications on the latest platforms including the Web, Windows Vista, Office
2007, SQL Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008. For the Web, ASP.NET AJAX and
other new technologies will enable developers to quickly create a new generation
of more efficient, interactive, and personalized Web experiences.
Effective Team
Collaboration
Visual Studio 2008 delivers expanded and improved offerings that help improve
collaboration in development teams, including tools that help integrate database
professionals and graphic designers into the development process.
Use the Microsoft .NET
Framework 3.5
The .NET Framework enables the rapid construction of connected applications that
provide outstanding end-user experiences by providing the building blocks
(pre-fabricated software) for solving common programming tasks. Connected
applications built on the .NET Framework model business processes effectively
and facilitate the integration of systems in heterogeneous environments.
Together Visual Studio and the .NET
Framework reduce the need for common plumbing code, reducing development time
and enabling developers to concentrate on solving business problems.
The .NET Framework 3.5 builds
incrementally on the .NET Framework 3.0. Enhancements have been made to feature
areas including the base class library, Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows
Communication Foundation, Windows Presentation Foundation, and Windows CardSpace.
