How to Use the Solution Templates in MS Visual Studio 2005

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Video Transcript

So, now that we reviewed the application architectures, let us examine the templates that we have available in Visual Studio. Visual Studio 2005 comes at the set of predefined project templates. These templates create a preliminary set of items for your applications. These items include physical files and references. You can later customize your based project files and add your own items and references. Let us go ahead and open up Visual Studio 2005. I happen to have a shortcut on my start menu port, so, go ahead and click that. This launches the Visual Studio IDE. In order to see the templates that we have available, what we will need to do is go ahead and select the file menu. Select new, here, you have two different options when working with solution templates. Anything that is web based will be under file, new, website. All the other projects will be located under file, new, project.

Let us go ahead and select that option for now. Once we selected file, new, project, this launches the new project dialogue box. On the left hand side, you see the variety of project types we have available. Most of these are sorted by language such as Visual Basic and C sharp. Once you select the particular language such as Visual Basic or Visual C sharp, you can go ahead and explore the different templates that you have available. Let us go ahead and select Visual Basic.

We expand these nodes and you will see that you have a different templates that appear on the right hand side. Go ahead and select Windows. Here, you see the different templates that are available under Windows type of application. A windows application is simply a desktop application that sits on the local machine. A class library is used to share logic between different projects. These are most often compiled as a DLL or what is also referred to as the .Net assembly.

Most often, these exist in the application tier and they do not have a user interface at all. Another application is the console application. A console application is simply a command line application. You will also have windows control libraries as well as web control libraries. Respectively, this work with Windows controls and web controls, you also have Window services. A Window service has no user interface, this formerly was called NT services. Now, they referred to as Windows service applications. Why would this be useful? This can be scheduled to pull a directory for changes for example, look for new files or monitor system performance.

There are also other project types that are available such as smart device applications. If you go ahead and expand this node, you will see that pocket PC, Smart Phone and Windows C applications are available for you to build with the compact framework. You will also have database applications that allow you to program against sequel server and also, you have starter kits which are very useful learning tool.

Although they are quite rudimentary, they actually provide you access with a lot of the commonly used features in the .Net framework 2.0. They are a great learning tool and I highly suggest you work with this. Underneath the other languages you will find similar templates. For example under Visual C sharp, you will also find Windows in Smart device applications.