2k1Toaster

I have programmed quite a bit as well (well not since 1973 like you ) as I actually prefer C#. For embedded devices it is quite obvious that .net is not even a candidate. But programmers now dont really have to care about resources because there are so many available! When programming on a MMX with 16Mb of RAM and a 1Gb HD, resources were more restricted, and then on an 6Mhz AT with 512Kb of HD space it was required to watch out.

But today, programs are bloated normally. Some even by design (harder to pirate a 8Gb game that a 50Mb game). And with XP and Vista using .NET, C# seems like the logical platform for non-highend-commercial applications. If you need speed and are maxing out the processor today, then you need to go lower level. But that is a hard feat today. I cant run any home-made application or any application for that matter not from a big-name company like Adobe or something that even touches cpu usage.

Anyways, I still defend that C# is a good language to learn because of its ease, and lack of the ability to screw up inadvertantly.

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Enforcer

Try programming a Z80 with 64K (and that 64K was the upgraded version, standard was 16K or less) ;(

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jonessc

Auto IT is very easy to get into, and the support forums and documentation is superb to get a grips with. Always handy to know as well seen as youll prob end up using it in some way with your setup.

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CarPuter Progress:
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Current Project= Making skins in photoshop...

AtomicMonkey

C# is a good language to know these days. Personally I wouldn't waste time with VB.net at this point. Pretty much on par (or just as bad as C folk would say) as C#, but it just teaches you very bad programming habits. Not as atrocious as VB6 was but still bad. The managed .Net framework is quite bloated but with some good practices and efficient code it definitely has its place on your home desktop and industrial applications alike.

@Turby , I agree with you in principle, there is a reason some of the most complex or efficient software is written in C/C++ or platform specific languages, there is no argument there. But to dismiss the .Net as irrelevant or throw-aways would be somewhat ignorant of use of technology today. Efficiency is not only measured in the amount of time and resources a computer needs to run the software, but also the COD. I too have been around the programming block a few times in the past 25 years and have had many examples where produced C code was not only expensive but also leaky, slow as all hell, crashing left and right and taking the OS down with it.

Granted the powerful hardware today wrecks havoc because it is often seen as who cares, the computer can take it, and before you know it your uber machine is struggling to run as all those programs don't seem to care how many resources they consume and CPU cycles waste to execute. Elaborate (often mismanaged) graphics don't help either but we are way past the command prompt as industry standard. It is also often easier and makes more sense to double the cost of the hardware to alleviate efficiency problems rather than throw money at the developers to make things work smoother. Blame it on cheap parts and the application of the software, but it's a fact.

C# is leaps and bounds above the old VB approach and if you were to learn one language now that'd be most all-around beneficial, C# is a very good candidate even for a total novice. It doesn't look like it's going away any time soon either so time spent on learning it will not be wasted.

No problems with VS as far as stability and definitely not with the VS2008 here. As far as IDE's go, personally I think it really has no equals. Even with its occasional quirks. Support is sufficient, documentation's aplenty and hell, you can even get it for free.