You can have VB .NET and C# file in the same project? THAT IS FREAKIN' AMAZING! Are you serious? I haven't known that at all up until now. I haven't gone to DevDays yet, so I don't have the latest Whidbey bits, but... Man, I am speechless... Almost my tear comes out... I mean, tears of joy! (Man, I'm freakin' nerd)

Man, I am so excited to go to DevDays and get the Whidbey bits. I will be blogging Whidbey like a mad man when I get it. Thanks Cory!

You've been Taken Out! Thanks for the good post.

Well, everybody is using .net these days, and 99% are coming from a visualc++ background. Well, some of us are coming from a Borland background (you know, Delphi or someBuilder), and we were able to enjoy most of this dotnet stuff for years... Datasets, disconnected stuff, autoSQLs for update or insert, the briefcase model, ease of arranging UI (with anchors, docking and all the stuff), VCL classes with an abstraction layer but possiblity to dig down to Win32API calls, possibility to mix languages, etc, some of us are used to.
In fact I was expecting this mix of languages in VS. All Borland IDE tools (Delphi, C++Builder, JBuilder, Kylix) are, in fact, the same but with some different settings. The VCL (their classes, before dotnet) are the same and the resulting exe is almost identical, regardless of language.
Now Anders of Borland (the Delphi and VCL guy) is with MS... That's one thing.
Then, during beta of VS.net, there was a C# compiler on Borland's ftp. Why?
For Delphi (or VCL) programmers, dotnet comes like a natural upgrade, not a new stuff. Same objects, same properties, same events (not quite, I miss some onChange of datasets)...
Now the _only_ company doing dotnet tools and compilers is Borland. Why?
Borland have a huge Delphi user base, and that's why C# was launched first. If Borland were to launch Delphi.net at the same moment with VS.net (C#), then every Delphi developer shitched to the net version, and nobody focus on the new MS release.
So the releases are: MS first with VB and C#, then C# from Borland, then Delphi.net. This seems like the dotnet stuff is co-developed with Borland or licenced from.
Do you remeber some old days in which Borland was Inprise, and with some MS cash in it? Then it was Borland again, and without financial problems. Now there are rumours about a possible aquisition of Borland by MS.
Coming from a Delphi/C++Builder background, I see dotnet as a natural upgrade from VCL, and C# same thing which happened to Pascal (in Delphi).

1. Just because Anders is working on C# does not mean he leads the .NET initiative.
2. Visual Basic has more of an influence on the design of .NET than any product in existance IMHO.
3. C# is a language designed specifically to leverage .NET. Although I've heard the comment from several C++ developers that C# is nothing more than VB.NET with a C type syntax (yes, even from Borland C++ Builder guys).
4. Delphi.NET is delayed simply because Borland is too busy spreading themselves very thin shipping several languages(C++/Delphi/C#/Java) to be able to focus on what is very nitch market.
5. VCL is Borlands answer to COM/ActiveX and C/C++ .lib files.
6. If .NET is a natural upgrade from Delphi and VCL, then why is so much working going into Delphi.NET in order to keep with the existing language constructs? Delphi.NET is doing it's best not to change the existing language (further adding to the delay).
7. VB.NET attempted early on in order to reduce the language changes... it was dropped in favor of moving the language into the 21st century and closer integrating it with .NET.
8. No my knowledge, .NET *IS NOT* co-developed with Borland. At one time, there was rumor that Microsoft was looking to find someone to write a Mac OSX or Linux runtime... which I think was going to Novell. But that was, to my knowledge, just a rumor.
9. Delphi is a decent size userbase, but it never compared with VB, C++, or Java userbases. Although a nice product with many things going for it; it failed miserably in it's attempt to lure *all* the VB developers to it.

As such, I honestly think that Borland sees it as an eye sore that they are forced to continue to development; again, this is why Delphi.NET is delayed. They managed to produce a C# product (released over a year ago)... where's Delphi.NET. C# is the next big thing... Delphi isn't. VB.NET has a *HUGE* userbase, Delphi doesn't in comparison. That's why Delphi.NET is delayed, not because it might effect the sales of Microsofts VB.NET or C# products.

To say that 99% of the .NET developers come from a Visual C++ background is rediculous. I would argue that the numbers are closer to the users of C# can be broken down into four groups; 45% C++, 20% Java, 25% VB, and 10% new to development. This leaves about 75% of the developers moving from VB to .NET migrating to VB.NET. I really don't see how this adds up to 99% C++ developers.

Delphi has nothing on like garbage collection, the scope of the FCL, the language agnostic behavior of the CLS, a JIT compiler, IL, GDI+, Managed DirectX, PIA, etc. I'm not saying that Delphi is bad, just that you can't compare the two together. To say that Delphi is the source of inspiration for all that is .NET... that's rediculous.

If you were to say that some of the concepts transitioned, sure, but that is true of every single language being used today. The CLR team will be the first to say they explored every language when designing the CLR, since one of their goals is to create a framework in which *all* languages could leverage and exist within. There are things that the CLR can do today that Managed C++, VB.NET, C#, and J# can't do; but that can only be accomplished through IL or some other language that may or may not exist.

testing

I just got Visual Studio 2005 and installed it. I have been looking forward to this feature (multiple language files in the same project) for some time.

How do I do this? I can't figure it out, and I can't find any examples. I expected to just right click on a project and select Add --> New Item and then be able to choose any file type (C#, VB, etc.). However, this isn't the case.

Did Microsoft end up dropping this feature sometime after you wrote this post?

Thanks,

Yes and no...

The feature doesn't exist in the same manner as I originally saw it at a public developer event (when I reported this). Essentially it doesn't work for any Windows Forms, Console, Windows Service, Class Library, Component Library type projects. Aparently this was due to some limitiations or complications with the compiler (or complexity with doing so at an end user perspective). Not really sure to the exact reason, just repeating rumor at this point.

However, since the ASP.NET architecture changed significantly to handle a more "one the fly" model, it is possible to mix and match languages within the same "project". I put project in quotes since ASP.NET 2.0 doesn't really have a project model. Because of this, it will attempt to compile any and all types of appropriate source files within the same folder, no matter what the language is.

I'm hoping that if this is successful and utilized by a significant number of people that the desire to have this within other types of projects will be enough to get the "standard" compilers to handle this as well.