Not new to programming, but fairly new to .Net. I have learned enough about C# to actually start doing something productive, but I am having trouble putting it all together. Most Windows Forms apps start by setting up the environment, opening databases, displaying the desktop, menu, etc. I'm so used to working with code snippets and other pieces of an application, that I don't know how, nor am finding in any resource I have studied, to correctly set up an application. A picture is worth a thousand words, and would like to ask any members if there are any good, complete, example applications on this site (or anywhere else) that I can use as a springboard? Any help would be appreciated! :-D

LOL, yeah, I know. There was a mass exodus out of VFP when .Net was released leaving a giant vacuum of unsupported clients and abandoned applications. I've made tons of money since then filling this need and even to this day am extremely busy, but I got back on the leading edge with my Sharepoint 2007 experience. Now it's time to fill in everything in between and I should be in decent shape. Thanks for your replies. Good luck.

I understand what you are talking about, but my situation may be different than yours. I spent the last 15 years primarily as a Visual FoxPro independent developer, and I learned it from scratch, in my spare time. It took me two years. I developed into one the premier VFP developers in my region. Well, the writing is on the wall and Fox is dying a rather quick death now. Back in the early days of my FoxPro experience, I bought a framework and just like you, found it full of fluff. But it did help me develop my own base classes that handled database issue, especially multi-user concerns. This was worth the price of admission alone. That set of base classes evolved over time but was used in nearly every application I wrote since then. As as independent, I do not enjoy an employer sponsored educational process. I must get quickly productive. At 46, I do not have the energy level to moonlight after hours every day after my normal 60 hour week. What I am hoping for is to find the best code generator for me, whatever it may be, then lift the hood and see what makes it tick. I'm a very visual learner and would quickly catch on and find ways to improve upon it. However, to start from scratch and figure out things like how to handle record contention when there are tools out there to produce a working copy for me, this is not a desirable route for me. Thank you.

Hi, I'm not new to programming, but fairly new to .NET (I'm an old timer). I've been teaching myself C# since I am an old C/Unix programmer and thought it was a better alternative to VB. I've been scouting around for the last month to invest in a RAD tool, and there are some application generators that I have reviewed. So far I've checked out DeKlarit, DevForce, and IronSpeed. The latter is nice but I don't necessarily want to do web apps only. I also own Infragistics controls, so it must be compatible with them. There is quite a price range in these three above, and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses, but I feel it would be worth the investment to get a tool to give me a jump start on some larger scale applications without the huge investment of time in developing my own home grown application framework. Plus at my skill level, my first cut wouldn't be very good anyway. I would appreciate any comments from individuals with experience with the above products, what you think of them, what the strengths and weaknesses, and if you recommend it (please specify what version you own, i.e. basic, professional, enterprise). I would also like to hear about others that I haven't yet reviewed that you found to be preferable. Thank you in advance! John L. Miller

Hi, I'm not new to programming, but fairly new to .NET (I'm an old timer). I've been teaching myself C# since I am an old C/Unix programmer and thought it was a better alternative to VB. I've been scouting around for the last month to invest in a RAD tool, and there are some application generators that I have reviewed. So far I've checked out DeKlarit, DevForce, and IronSpeed. The latter is nice but I don't necessarily want to do web apps only. I also own Infragistics controls, so it must be compatible with them. There is quite a price range in these three above, and they all seem to have their pluses and minuses, but I feel it would be worth the investment to get a tool to give me a jump start on some larger scale applications without the huge investment of time in developing my own home grown application framework. Plus at my skill level, my first cut wouldn't be very good anyway. I would appreciate any comments from individuals with experience with the above products, what you think of them, what the strengths and weaknesses, and if you recommend it (please specify what version you own, i.e. basic, professional, enterprise). I would also like to hear about others that I haven't yet reviewed that you found to be preferable. Thank you in advance! John L. Miller.

Thanks Scott. Much appreciated.

Hello, can I install VS 2008 on the same machine with VS 2005 and have them not interfere with each other?

Thanks for your help...

Cool! Thanks. Just a question pertaining to Visual Studio 2003 (which I don't have). Do you think that the 2003 courses would be applicable to 2005?

Hi Pete, Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I saw this site and have been looking it over, but their C# stuff seems a little dated, focusing on Visual Studio 2003. I have 2005 and it may not be that much of a difference. In any event, this seems to a good starting point.

Hi, I am searching for some well-organized training materials that I could use to learn C# fairly rapidly. The AppDev stuff looks good, but is real expensive bought new. If anybody has any courses that they have used and found valuable that they would be willing to sell, please contact me! Thanks to all. John

Pete, thanks for the great recommendations. What they offer is fastastic!

Hi, Very new to C#, and to .Net for that matter (been doing mainly legacy stuff for 20 years). Well, .Net is incredible, but one thing that bums me out is that I pretty much have to trash all the 3rd party component libraries that I have invested my money in over the years and essentially start over. I've been perusing ComponentSource.com and ran across ComponentOne Studio Enterprise (http://www.componentsource.com/products/componentone-studio-enterprise/index.html). This is coming out of my personal funds, and $899 is *ouch*, but it seems to have just about everything to get a good start. What do you all think? Any other suggestions to get some good components without making me broke? Thanks to you all, J Miller

Hello, I a pretty new to VS2005. I have gobs of programming experience (22+ years) but mainly in legacy development platforms (most recently Visual FoxPro, which is doomed in the long run). I'm steering towards C# mainly since I was a C/Unix guy in the 80's, but I do have experience in VB6. It's a toss-up. But anyway, I digress... What I am looking for is some source code, preferably a full application, that is a simple database application with forms, toolbars, reports, etc. I have books I have ordered but you can't really put everything together from a text book. I would even pay a reasonable fee for something like this. This (for me) is the fastest way to learn. Thanks in advance, J Miller