Summary: Wiki about the next version of Visual Studio
SeeAlso: VisualStudioFeedback, VisualCPlusPlusFeedback, VS2005Wiki, MSBuild, TeamSystemWiki

Beta Download

You can download Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2005 from http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/

Also, join in the community giving feedback on this beta at http://labs.msdn.microsoft.com/productfeedback

Blogs

* CSharpBlogs
* DotNetBlogs
* VBBlogs

Express Download

Express versions of Visual Studio for VB, C#, C++, J#, Web Development, and SQL are all available at http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/. These are lighter-weight versions of Visual Studio (~50 MB downloads) that are targetted at hobbyist developers. Try them out, leave feedback at http://labs.msdn.microsoft.com/productfeedback , take part in the Summer of Express, and win an XBox and Halo2.

Click here, if you want to manually install the beta 2 of the Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions.

Framework change

I would like a way to query DNS hosts for things other than hostname resolution. SRV record support would be very handy, A good example is the LSID urn specification. They use SRV record to handle part of the URN resolution process. Basicly you use the SRV record to find a SOAP endpoint that is used to fully resolve the URN. The standard is being supported by IBM, Oracle and several major vendors in the BioInformatics arena.

Check out http://www-124.ibm.com/developerworks/oss/lsid/#whatislsid for more information on LSID. -- SWallace

Generics in VB.NET

Will VB have support for generics (or is that going to be an Orcas VB feature, if at all)? -- FutureTurnip

VB supports generics in Whidbey. It was recently demonstrated at the VB.NET Road Show. -- StuartCelarier

Now you can try them out yourself in VB.NET Express -- JonathanHardwick

"My" classes in VB.NET

What about the "My" "classes" in VB.NET? Are they going to be real classes in the FCL, or are they going to be VB syntax sugar? I'm of the C# line-of-descent, like the idea very much, and want to use it too. -- FutureTurnip

The "My" Classes are in VB.NET only. 3/4 of them are wrappers around what's already in the Framework. Things like the Print features though are more than just wrappers (originally the Strongly Typed Resources was part of it, but has been moved to the Framework so everyone can take advantage of that). -- HumanCompiler

Take a look at the new MSDN paper on My classes -- JonathanHardwick

Nav-Bar for all valid source types

The navigation bar is extremely helpful when looking at 'code' however it is only enabled when a project is loaded. Could you add the ability to navigate functions/classes etc in a single file if it is a valid type (*.CPP,C etc).

Operator overloading

The current operator overloading in VB2005 is great, but I would like to also overload the operators +=, -=, *= and /=.

The += would make a great replacement/enhancement for the always present .add method on collections, arrays etc.
Wouldn't it be great if you could just type "orderlist += item" to add an item to an order. It would also some mathematical objects more readable, like an imaginary number class.

The -= would make replacement for the .remove method.

The *= and /= operators could be used on classes that implement sets, matrixes or vectors.
-- Thargol

UML & Class Diagrams

Would like to hear more about the ClassDiagrammer that is going to be integrated into Whidbey. Why the overlap from VEA, and why the abandonement of UML compliance?

You can find some more details about the new modeling features on the msdn.com blogs of Keith Short_short/ , R.Ramesh , and Rob Mensching , among others. -- JonathanHardwick

Thanks Jonathan! As I mentioned in my blog, the primary goal of the Class Designer tool is to provide added value to the customers by making its visuals, terminology and behavior closely resemble the code that it visualizes. UML concepts of “attributes“ and “operations“ don't directly map to the CLR concepts that the developer deals with. So instead of seeing “Attributes“ and “Operations“ compartments in a say, C# or VB class, you'll see “Fields“, “Methods“, “Properties“ and “Events“ compartments. -- RameshRajagopal

Having looked at the class designer in Beta 1, it's a cool tool, and as an end user advocate for accessibility, it's great to see that a lot of thought has gone into this within the class designer. Although it's not UML, I think it still has worth, and communicates the same semantic concepts that UML does. From a usability perspective, it should help to quickly identify what components a class contains, modify classes, and create them.

As a feature suggestion, not too dissimilar to the class designer, a tool to import class designs from Visio may be a useful tool. There's already the VS add-in for Visio, that can export VB and VC code into UML diagrams within Visio, but a tool to take UML diagrams from Visio and turn it into code structure would be useful. Undoubtedly, UML is now the dominant force in at least the analysis/architecture/design stage of development, and a tool to turn design into skeleton code would increase productivity.

From there, the class designer could then be used to visually model individual classes, giving the overview of what a class contains, which is often difficult and cumbersome to do from the code, at least with large classes.

It should make the stages of design and coding more linked, and make for an efficient transfer between them. Maybe it would fit in with what's going on in Team System.

Has UML been abandoned? I understand it may be available as an add-on. Microsoft does need to leave something for other vendors to do. -- JonathanB

Leaving out UML is a big mistake IMHO and it is essential to a good integration with Java community and code particularly if/when integrated into .NET

Leaving out UML is a smart move IMHO. 90% of the time when people talk about integrated UML they're talking about class diagrams, which present static structure. Yet the complete static structure is efficiently represented in the code itself (MyClass : BaseClass, IInterface, IAnotherInterface { MyOtherClass moc; } versus how many pixels?). Class diagrams are primarily useful when they present filtered views (i.e., when they show "the most important classes for the subject we're talking about"), but if that's what you want, just use Visio with a "model free" UML template. Integrated UML class diagramming tools don't help deliver customer value faster: they're nothing but tailfins and chrome. Now an integrated activity or state-machine diagram, that'd be worth the price of admission... -- LOBrien

UML is great for the planning stages in multi-person/multi-state/multi-continent teams. It provides a consistant vocabulary for designing classes and workflow. It depends on whether or not you are a visual person. It helps me to diagrm out my classes using UML before I start to write them. I save myself a lot of type and work through a lot of design problems before I even hit the keyboard. -- LazyCoder

I think that ORM diagrams need more prominence. They are very good at creating the model of the data system without getting overly complex. Also the "plain english" models make it relatively easy to convey ideas back to end users. Particularly a tool for non-Enterprise Architects should be created similar to the VisioModeler that is no longer supported. The interface leaves a lot to be desired (maybe it is time for a revamp). For more reference (those who don't know ORM) check out Episode 25 of The .NET Show . -- Jazzynupe

SDE for Visual Studio .NET 2003 is also a powerful tool for UML modeling. It is a plugin of Visual Studio .NET 2003, which supports UML 2.0 notations, provides code generation and reverse engineering support for .NET languages includes C++, C#, VB.NET and ASP.NET, supports Object Relational Mapping (ORM), modeling with Visio stencils. It improves the efficiency of developing software. You can get more informations from here: http://www.visual-paradigm.com/sdevs.php -- David Ferdinand

Web/Win Forms cut down version

What about a version of Visual Studio just targetted at web development? Support for multiple languages would be needed (VB.NET, C#), but extra things that a web developer would never use would not - i.e. like Winforms.

Visual Studio has far too many features if all you want to do is web pages, web controls and perhaps web services. It could be priced around the same region as Dreamweaver, to try and persuade people to move.

Of course it would also have to be able to do valid XHTML/CSS and not reformat you code for you (follow your preferences - tab for indenting, tab size 4 spaces and so on).

Also, a Winforms only version would be good for those who don't develop for the web. Alternatively you could have a base system, with limited functionality and then you just buy/download extra features you may want. -- sbc

Which of these features does ASP.NET Web Matrix already have? Which could be implemented using its add-in functionality? -- JonathanHardwick

Hopefully Visual Web Dev 2005 Express is what sbc was asking for!

Windows Installer packages

More features!
* Installer dialog editor
* Support for patches

Intellisense for SQL Server

I'd like it if Whidbey would look to SQLServer for the tables in a database when writing a select * from or an update, and also provide intellisense for the columns in a table... this would dramatically reduce sql coding time.

VSCore Whidbey Test Plans

VSCoreWhidbeyTestPlans - Send us your feedback!

Best Practices for ASP.NET 2.0

ASPBestPractices - The Power Toys for Visual Studio team is working on creating a Best Practice Analyzer Power Toy for ASP.NET 2.0. Come help us define exactly what "Best Practices" are for settings on a deployed ASP.NET site!