What is the difference between Visual Basic 2010 Express and Standard?

Question

I am looking to create an application that uses a remote mysql database, takes a picture from a live video stream, and also interfaces with an RS232 weighing scale. I'm just looking for a one or two sentence definition on what the huge differences are between VB Express and Standard.

I am a PHP developer and I have never worked with VB before (well maybe since high school 10 years ago). I am looking to either use vb or c++ to create this, but I have limited knowledge of any programming outside of web programming.

Answer 1

You may find it out here:

http://www.hallogram.com/vstudio/compare.html

Answer 2

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700921.aspx

should give you an idea of the differences. Based on what you've described the Express edition should do fine.

Answer 3

The differences are pretty much restricted to the IDE. With the Express editions, you get a limited version of Visual Studio proper, which is tied to a single programming language / platform; as a result, you cannot combine, say, a C# library (C# EE) and a VB windows forms application (VB EE) in one solution, or a VB console application (VB EE) and a VB website (Web Developer EE). Also, the Express editions don't support any third-party plugins (such as source control integration, advanced refactoring plugins, etc.). Some of the advanced editing tools are also missing from the Express editions.

As long as you don't intend to write larger applications professionally, the Express editions should be just fine.

Answer 4

There doesn't seem to be a feature comparison available between the Express and Standard editions for 2010, but you can use the 2008 Product Comparison as a rough estimate for what you might expect the differences to be in the 2010 editions.

If you don't have experience in Visual Basic.Net though, I would recommend that you consider C# over Visual Basic.Net. C# is the flagship language for .Net and you'll find a lot more advanced guidance in the form of articles, blogs, examples, etc. as you're coming up to speed. If you're considering C++ as one of the options because you have some familiarity with that language already, C# is going to be much more familiar to you than would be Visual Basic.Net.