.NET Framework Programming in Visual Studio

This section of the documentation discusses application development with the .NET Framework in Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual J#, or Visual C++. Any of these programming languages can be used equally well in the subjects covered in this section. Applications are built on the services of the common language runtime and take advantage of the .NET Framework class library.

You can download the .NET Framework 3.5 from the Microsoft Download Center.

In This Section

  • Quick Technology Finder
    Provides a table of links to the main technology areas of the .NET Framework.

  • What's New in the .NET Framework
    Describes key features that have been added or modified in the latest versions of the .NET Framework.

  • Overview of the .NET Framework
    Describes key .NET Framework concepts such as the common language runtime, the common type system (CTS), cross-language interoperability, managed execution, assemblies, and security.

  • Accessing Data (Visual Studio)
    Discusses aspects of incorporating data access functionality into your applications.

  • Language-Integrated Query (LINQ)
    Discusses the introduction of powerful query capabilities into the language syntax of C# and Visual Basic, and the common model for querying relational databases, XML documents, datasets, and in-memory collections.

  • .NET Framework Core Development
    Discusses programming subjects not related to user-interface creation: security, exception handling, I/O, serialization, and so on.

  • .NET Framework Advanced Development
    Discusses topics such as hosting the common language runtime, managed threading, and using side-by-side execution.

  • Security in Native and .NET Framework Code
    Discusses security issues covering the lifetime of an application.

  • XML Documents and Data
    Provides an introduction to .NET Framework XML features, with links to major sections of the .NET Framework documentation in which you can find more information.

  • Globalizing and Localizing Applications
    Discusses the steps needed to make your application useful for an international audience.

  • .NET Compact Framework
    Introduces the .NET Framework-based, hardware-independent environment for running applications on resource-constrained computing devices.

  • .NET Framework Samples
    Provides instructions for the implementation of specific development tasks or technologies, as well as examples of complete .NET Framework applications.