Topic: VS 2008 or 2010?

[troutspinner]

I have code for an existing AutoCAD add-on that was created with VS 2008 C# and the Objectarx 2009 SDK.  The person who created this add-on and code for me can no longer develop the product as he just does not have the time due to his personal life.

I've viewed the code in VSE2010 and he did a really nice job, it is very nicely written and documented.  I have a large learning curve ahead of me but I do have at least a hobbyist Objective C background.  On the bright side, I do not need to do anything else to the program, it works perfectly.  I would however like to use this as a learning tool as it is something I "dreamed" and has my total interest.  What better a way to learn, right? as well as I would like to gain a better understanding of .Net and ObjectARX and then maybe one day add a feature or two.

With that being said, should I continue where he left off and buy VS2008?  I know if I did, I could compile it in it's current state or should I take this learning curve with VS2010 or will my current VSE2010 do the trick?  Do I stay with Objectarx 2009 or just load 2012?  The program does not use too many libraries and is pretty lightweight.

Any and all opinions are welcomed.  Just picking up where he left off with the versions he used is still a way to gain knowledge with little frustration in setup but if the newer versions of VS and ObjectARX are more desirable then it would benefit me to go that route?

Thanks,

troutspinner

[mohnston]

IMHO
VS 2008 will not offer any advantage over VS2010. I haven't tried VSE2010 but am told it will work as well.
I would give VSE2010 a try first. If that doesn't work I would get VS2010.

The key will be to reference the right version of the managed AutoCAD dlls (Objectarx SDK) and the right version of the .NET framework.

Staying with Objectarx 2009 vs 2012 depends on which version the target systems will be running. 2009 and 2012 are not binary compatible.
It's best to match the Objectarx version with the AutoCAD version.

[kaefer]

Staying with Objectarx 2009 vs 2012 depends on which version the target systems will be running. 2009 and 2012 are not binary compatible.

In case you are talking about the Common Intermediate Language (CIL) into which all programs using the Common Language Runtime (CLR) will be compiled, then yes, they are.

I gather that the dll loading mechanism has been changed in 2012, but do not know if that affects materially the executability of older .NET libraries. What I do know is that by and large my 2009 programs run under 2011, of course without the newer API's.

It's best to match the Objectarx version with the AutoCAD version.

That certainly is true.

[troutspinner]

It's best to match the Objectarx version with the AutoCAD version.

With that being said, it is safe to assume that AutoCAD has backward compatibility for older ObjectARX libraries although newer versions of ObjectARX don't necessarily offer the same compatibilities to older versions of AutoCAD?  If this is true, then I know my answer of the ObjectARX version to use, now I just have to figure out which version of VS.

Thanks,

troutspinner

[Kerry]

... now I just have to figure out which version of VS.

If you have the option use VS2010.
VisualStudio is simply an editing IDE, and will not affect the .dll adversely.
The  .NET version compiled against can be controlled, and you have already touched on the selection reference files.

[troutspinner]

Thank you for the suggestions.  I just tried with VSE2010, had to update some references and the target .net build and it built successfully.  Time to play!

Thanks,

troutspinner