I've encountered SharpDevelop a few times before but I don't know anyone who actually programs in it. Would you recommend it for medium size projects in C#?
Subquestions: Is there a difference in speed of compiling? (Article is about multi-threading compliling in SharpDevelop)
Thanks for answers!
There is absolutely no compelling reason to choose SharpDevelop over Visual Studio if you have the choice and the budget.
Visual Studio is by far the best IDE on the market, and I have used quite a few.
And, as Marty says in comments, he is a student. At http://www.dreamspark.com any student can get free, full professional versions of most all of the Visual Studio and Windows SKU's.
Visual Studio is also offered without cost in less featured versions labeled 'Express'
If you are not a student (or don't know one, wink wink) and on a budget, and the VS express versions don't have the features you need, then SharpDevelop would be a good way to go.
I am not an MS fanboy, just in case you are wondering.
For people who need opensource.... eclipse for example would have never been so successful without Open Source
Complete list for Feature comparison (VS Express vs SharpDevelop):
http://community.sharpdevelop.net/blogs/mattward/pages/VisualStudioExpressComparison.aspx
Hi,
i have tried it for VB.NET couple of years, didn't like the IDE. After i tried i used the Express Editions for C#/VB.NET (2005).
Now i've a msdn premium account from my company, thats why i only use the Team Systems (home/work).
I think VS is imo the best IDE to develop with the .NET Framework.
If you have a full license for Visual Studio and are going to write only Windows programs for only yourself or a business, then there would be no incentive.
However, if you wanted to use the C# language and the .NET-style for an Open Source project, or one that is compatible across many platforms, you'd probably choose to use Mono instead of .NET and ShareDevelop instead of VS.