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Sarc · Apr 7, 2004, 01:25 AM

Lately, I been seen a lot of movement in Chilean universities areound M$'s .Net.
First, I don't think even M$ knows what it is, since it has mutated so many times ... I know I don't ...

Anyway, a friend of mine is using Visual.Net for his programming course.
Yesterday a M$ rep. went to another's friend Uni. and made them -according to him- a very intresting presentation of how easy and -supposedly- powerful it is.

So, where is microsoft going with this ... .Net, Longhorn ...

Anyone ?

Theodour · Apr 7, 2004, 02:48 AM

I have the same question. I've read on other forums lengthy explanations of how great it is (and counter-arguments to that)--specific to types of development (c#, VB), but never have I read just what it is ...
Is it an object oriented framework? Is it a web service? Is it a cross-platform solution?

What is .NET?

lngtones · Apr 7, 2004, 03:21 AM

.NET is Microsoft's answer to Java. .NET runs in a Common Language Runtime environment very similar to Java's Virtual Machine and all .NET languages compile to a bytecode-like language called Common Language in .NET terms. It's actually a nice idea, because it means that code in different languages can call each other without any loss of information. C# objects can inherit from VB.NT objects, etc. It all gets compiled to the same stuff anyway and all uses the same data types and so forth.

It's also a collection of libraries that any .NET application can use, similar to Cocoa, and the Java libraries.

Theoretically, .NET applications are portable since they aren't compiled to machine code. However, as far as I've heard Microsoft hasn't been helping out much with that idea.

It's got a lot of nice ideas, but when you come to the execution of them that's where you find Microsoft's brilliant inattention to detail. Similar to Windows, low cost mac-like interface for PC hardware. Hey sounds like a great idea, until you actually use it...

Theodour · Apr 7, 2004, 11:01 AM

Thanks. That was a great explanation.

Sarc · Apr 7, 2004, 02:24 PM

how does .Net relate to the Internet ?
because my friend that went to the M$'s rep. talk, said that he used IIS for part of the presentation.

lngtones · Apr 7, 2004, 02:51 PM

Originally posted by Sarc:
how does .Net relate to the Internet ?
because my friend that went to the M$'s rep. talk, said that he used IIS for part of the presentation.

Well, there is ASP.NET which allows you to write web applications using any .NET language. It's another nice idea. The first time someone loads an ASP.NET page the server compiles the .NET language behind it and stores it in compiled form. From then on the page loads pretty quickly because the main code doesn't need to be directly interpreted like a PHP page would everytime.

There's also a whole element of the frameworks for creating and using web services with XML that I'm not that familiar with. I do know that web services are code running on servers that applications can call, but they aren't web pages. For example, you can query google for search results and include them in your app, or you can query for stock information. Things like that.

According to Microsoft's .NET description, that is what they're pushing. "Smart" applications that update themselves automatically over the Internet and collaborate with different services set up everywhere.

<http://www.microsoft.com/net/basics/whatis.asp>

As far as the non-marketing version. It's a bunch of stuff in the frameworks that makes it easier for developers to do this kind of stuff.

The reason it's confusing is for a while Microsoft was using the .NET name as a branding tool for everything. Everything had .NET after it and people became confused what it was. There was talk of centralized databases of user's information and all that stuff. As far as I know, it's been scaled back to just relate to these Frameworks and .NET programming languages.

goMac · Apr 7, 2004, 08:57 PM

I have actually done programming in C#, the mainstay language of .net.

.Net is mainly for running applications over the web. Its a heck of a lot like Java in application. A good example of something in Java, but in practice what .net tries to be is AIM quickbuddy. Its a web based application that runs over the internet. The idea behind .net programs was that you linked to them and they launched transparently over the internet.

I eventually stopped working in .net because it required the .net framework be installed which is not yet a standard install for Windows, so only users who have manually opted to install it have .net on their machine. Theres no Mac support either, but Microsoft is porting .net to Mac.

Microsoft likes to use .net for about every other product name, but this is what .net is SUPPOSED to be.

Personally I thought WebObjects, although a bit different, was far more useful.

olePigeon · Apr 7, 2004, 09:29 PM

It's great, as long as you write it in MS C, MS C++, MS C#, MS J, MS J++, MS Basic, with only MS tools and run it on a computer that can only run a MS operating system.

Reminds me of Ford. "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black."

goMac · Apr 7, 2004, 09:45 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
It's great, as long as you write it in MS C, MS C++, MS C#, MS J, MS J++, MS Basic, with only MS tools and run it on a computer that can only run a MS operating system.

Reminds me of Ford. "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black."

Actually a while back MS released some tools to let you do some .net under XCode. It wasn't the complete package iirc, just a framework.

olePigeon · Apr 8, 2004, 12:58 AM

Originally posted by goMac:
Actually a while back MS released some tools to let you do some .net under XCode. It wasn't the complete package iirc, just a framework.

I haven't heard anything about that and couldn't come up with anything on Google. Are you sure?

I have a feeling that if that is true all it does is allow you to target your compile for x86 and not be able to run anything anyway. All it allows you to do is make the stuff inside XCode... then export it to a Windows PC.

torsoboy · Apr 8, 2004, 03:37 AM

In the past, i have had to develop quite a bit using the old asp language, and let me tell you, asp.Net with c# are soooooo much better to develop with (and more enjoyable too). You actually get to develop your application in a compiled language (my favorite reason for this is that syntax errors are caught before trying to use the application, and error descriptions are provdided) that supports debugging and is fully object oriented (includes inheritance, polymorphism, etc). I personally love .Net and think that requiring the .net framework is reasonable. Why limit the capabilites when it's so easy to get the framework? Also, we used to have to develop completely seperate applications for the web, hand held devices, and personal computers; now we just develop one code base and use it for all three. It's great.