Microsoft Visual Studio is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) which is used to develop console and GUI applications. Apart from this it is also used to develop web sites, web Applications, services and Windows applications.The code editor in Visual Studio supports IntelliSense and also code refactoring. It supports different languages for programming. Built in languages are C/C++, VB.NET, C#, F#. other languages like Python, Ruby and others are also supported. XML, HTML, Java Script and CSS are also supported. There have been many upgraded version launched by MS for Visual Studio. The latest one which was launched is Visual Studio 2012.
Here is a list of few of the changes which one can find in this new Visual Studio 2012.
Revamped UI
As soon as you open the new version of the Visual Studio you will start feeling the change. MS has redesigned the user interface for streamlining workflows and this provides way access to the tools used by the developer. Apart from this:
- Tab clutter is reduced
- There are faster ways to find the code
- Tool bars are simplified
Windows 8 Ready
Windows 8 is almost ready to be launched and there are major graphical changes in this version of Windows OS than all the previous ones. For this reason all the new applications should also be built in such a way that it is compatible and of same advanced UI like that of Windows 8. For this Visual Studio has added new templates, designers and testing & debugging tools for advanced app development in limited time period.
Visual Studio is also providing a visual toolkit for taking advantage of graphic rich UI of Windows 8.
With this comes the development of Metro Style Apps which can be easily developed in Visual Studio 2012.
Upgraded web developer
Just like for application development as the new features are added for graphical upgradtion, similarly for web development new templates, better publishing tools, are added and supports emerging standards like HTML 5 and CSS3 and also latest advances in ASP.NET.
Using ASP.NET applications which can be optimized for phone, tablet in Visual Studio 2012.
Cloud Capable
Windows Azure is the cloud service offered by MS. Visual Studio comes with tools with which give users the ability to take the applications to this cloud server Azure, including publishing options, various new templates, support for distributed caching and lower install footprint.
Serious Stuff
There are major changes for Sharepoint in the Visual Studio 2012. These changes include new designers, templates, and deployment options.
ALM features are upgraded which now include: performance profiling, unit testing, and IntelliTrace. So programmers can take advantage of all these advanced features along with LightSwitch, which allows developer to create line of business applications without lot of coding.
All these features definitely make Visual Studio 2012 the best update till date. DotNet Development will undergo quite a change after this update. Usage of this new upgrade is good for developers because it has many useful features for them as well as for people who want developed applications because they can get advanced apps due to Visual Studio 2012.