Getting started with Visual Studio
Remarks#
Visual Studio is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It enables the developer to work project orientated with various types of projects, including Windows Forms, Console Applications, Office Plug-Ins, and Windows Universal Apps.
The IDE supports various programming languages, the most common being Visual C#, Visual Basic, Visual F#, and Visual C++.
There are several editions of Visual Studio: Community (free), Express (free), Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate (However, not all are available for all versions).
Versions#
| Version | Codename | Version number | Supported .NET Framework versions | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | Boston | 5.0 | N/A | 1997-02-01 |
| 6.0 | Aspen | 6.0 | N/A | 1998-06-01 |
| .NET 2002 | Rainier | 7.0 | 1.0 | 2002-02-13 |
| .NET 2003 | Everett | 7.1 | 1.1 | 2003-04-24 |
| 2005 | Whidbey | 8.0 | 2.0, 3.0 | 2005-11-07 |
| 2008 | Orcas | 9.0 | 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 | 2007-11-19 |
| 2010 | Dev10/Rosario | 10.0 | 2.0 - 4.0 | 2010-04-12 |
| 2012 | Dev11 | 11.0 | 2.0 - 4.5.2 | 2012-09-12 |
| 2013 | Dev12 | 12.0 | 2.0 - 4.5.2 | 2013-10-17 |
| 2013.1 (Update 1) | 2014-01-20 | |||
| 2013.2 (Update 2) | 2014-05-12 | |||
| 2013.3 (Update 3) | 2014-08-04 | |||
| 2013.4 (Update 4) | 2014-11-12 | |||
| 2013.5 (Update 5) | 2015-07-20 | |||
| 2015 | Dev14 | 14.0 | 2.0 - 4.6 | 2015-07-20 |
| 2015.1 (Update 1) | 2015-11-30 | |||
| 2015.2 (Update 2) | 2016-03-30 | |||
| 2015.3 (Update 3) | 2016-06-27 | |||
| "15" Preview | Dev15 | 15.0 | 2.0 - 4.6.2; Core 1.0 | 2016-03-30 |
| "15" Preview 2 | 2016-05-10 | |||
| "15" Preview 3 | 2016-07-07 | |||
| "15" Preview 4 | 2016-08-22 | |||
| "15" Preview 5 | 2016-10-05 | |||
| 2017 | Dev15 | 15.0 - 15.2 | 3.5 - 4.7; Core 1.0 - 1.1 | 2017-03-07 |
Installation or Setup
Visual Studio can be downloaded and installed for free in Comunity edition from the Microsoft site and can be also found in different versions. Just click on the Download button and run the executable, then follow the instructions.