the toe of webdev

OK, yet another area of slight distress has popped up.  As with most of the curriculum and overall coursework I’ve received, completed, and submitted, I feel as if it is not being transferred to me by competent hands.

I had my first C# class tonight and here is but an excerpt from it:

PROFESSOR: So the next question I usually get is, “C# 2003, 2005, or 2008?”

PROFESSOR: Let’s start from the first one – 2003

PROFESSOR: This is the version that comes bundled with your book.

PROFESSOR: I believe this is a free trial for Visual Studio, which is a good thing.

PROFESSOR: However, this is a trial so it’ll eventually expire.

PROFESSOR: Then there’s 2005.

PROFESSOR: Now I’ve used this in the past for this course and have recommended that folks use it here as well

PROFESSOR: It’s pretty much the same as 2003, but some things are a bit easier

PROFESSOR: The problem is that then your screen won’t match what it shows in the text, which is a bit of a problem sometimes

PROFESSOR: And just recently we got the chance to get 2008

PROFESSOR: Now this thing was just released in the past couple weeks, so I haven’t really had a chance to play with it very much

PROFESSOR: My guess is that for the purposes of this course, it’s probably about the same as 2003 … but I can’t promise anything

StudentA: If we want 2005, can we get a demo for free?

PROFESSOR: Either way, if you do choose to use 2005 or 2008, be aware that you should bother buying it.. at least not yet

PROFESSOR: Right StudentA… here’s the deal with that

PROFESSOR: Microsoft provides their ’Express Editions’ to us for free!

PROFESSOR: And again, for purposes of this course, the Express Edition is more than enough

PROFESSOR: So if you’re interested, and willing to work with something that looks different from your text,

PROFESSOR: then you might consider downloading the Express edition and using it for this course

PROFESSOR: I personally have all the versions on my machine (since Visual Studio 6!), so they all co exist just fine and

PROFESSOR: I’m able to handle any version you choose to submit to me

PROFESSOR: Ok, let me pause and see what questions you have

PROFESSOR: Uh-oh… is anyone still here?

StudentC: yes

StudentA: Yeah, still here. No questions

PROFESSOR: Ok good… one thing that worries me is when I ask a yes/no question and I don’t get a response.

PROFESSOR: I want to be sure you’re still here and participating

[[After having to reconnect because of server latency.]]

ME: Couple of weeks?

StudentB: I’m still here and I have no questions.

PROFESSOR: I also need to apologize for all the ’blue text’ tonight… there’s just a lot of info to go over

PROFESSOR: I’m sorry ME, can you rephrase your question?

StudentC: understandable

PROFESSOR: Well.. no matter which version of C# you choose to use for this class

ME: I was wondering about what you said about VS Express 2008 being released only a few weeks ago.

PROFESSOR: Yes, that’s correct.

PROFESSOR: The full release just came out

From what I remember, the 2008 Express Editions were talked about publicly as early as third quarter 2006, but officially released to the public fourth quarter 2007.  See here for example.  (And let’s not forget that Microsoft’s “RTM” means if it doesn’t blow up your computer it’s the product you’ll be stuck with for a while.)

Then on November 19th, 2007 the pre-release of Visual Studio Express and its many incarnations were released.  There was definitely a bit of buzz about it.

So am I missing something fundamental or does “a couple of weeks” not equate to well over two months?

I think my final point is basically that because the newest release is dubbed “2008,” then everyone, my professor included assumes it must have been concocted on January 1st, 2008.

Should I be worried?

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