Visual Studio Express Web Developer Edition
I have been using Visual Studio for a long time and also using the Express edition but until recent version 2008 of Visual Studio Express Web Developer Edition I say this is a clear winner but one little wish item, more about that later…
The Visual Studio Express Web Developer Edition is a freeware web development tool from Microsoft. Its main function is to create ASP.NET pages, It has a WYSIWYG interface and very good HTML editor, support CSS, Javascript, XML, drag-and-drop user interface designer; a database explorer for SQL express edition; and lot more!
I would not go into the limitation in compare to the paid version of Visual Studio but I do want to expand on the database explorer for SQL express edition. Some might think it is limited but I think it is perfect for personal development. It allow you to explore SQL database file without needing to concern about the standard SQL security and all that headache! You can debug your web site which access your SQL database file easily. In some case I would prefer this Express edition over the paid version although I do have both version load on my computer.
I heard the rumor that the future version of Visual Studio Express 2010 will have build in support for PHP if that is to be true it would be wonderful for open source developer. There is a big void out there for a nice editor that support PHP for free! There are some out there and I won’t name it but it just take too long to start up. If Visual Studio Express will have build in support for PHP that will be a big thumb up from me.
One little wish item that I would like to see in Visual Studio Express is to have some kind of plugin or extension support so that the open source community can help to extend this wonderful product further!
