How do you manage to use and practice the Microsoft technologies without the ability or desire to pay for all of the software needed?
Are there free versions of Visual Studio, SQL Server, and plugins? Are there any tutorials on how to set up ASP.NET Development on a local server? Is it practical to develop and test on my own machine?
With regards to hosting, is it expensive to use Microsoft-oriented technologies?
My hosted server costs like $40/mo, but I don't need it to do development. The professional version of VS2008 is not that expensive (a few hundred dollars, unless you went to a kick-off event and got it for free), and SQL Server 2008 Express is free. Compared to a mechanic that pays thousands of dollars for his tools, I feel like I'm getting away relatively unscathed.
There are (free) express editions of Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005/2008. And you don't need any servers to develop ASP.NET applications - you can do this on XP/Vista as well.
You will only need to pay for a hoster if you want to make an application publically available.
Please also have a look at the following question for some similar information: Does Learning C#/.NET Require An MSDN Subscription?
Update: As an alternative to a commercial hoster (e.g. to temporarily make one of your applications available to others), you can host them on your PC and use a dynamic DNS service (such as DynDNS) to make your PC accessible from the internet. Although (as Robert mentions in his comment), permanently hosting a web application in that way might be a violation of your agreement with your ISP.
First off, like you said, they have Express versions of everything you would need to be able to do development at home. If you are finding you absolutely have to have the features of the non-free versions, perhaps it's time to try to find the money to get them. They are definately worth having.
My experience has been that the Express editions of Visual Studio (and SQL Server, for that matter) will provide about 80-90% of the most commonly-needed functionality and can run on simple hardware.
As for hosting, GoDaddy provides ASP.NET-capable web hosting plans for as little as $5 USD per month. GoDaddy isn't the best, but they are more than adequate for toy or personal projects.
Personally my home computer was beefy enough for running games that I found that I could create a few virtual machines pretty easily. Microsoft has 90 day trials for just about everything which is perfect if I'm just creating throw away servers and projects for learning. I'd just kill the virtual server and rebuild it from scratch after the trials wore out.
But since then the Express editions are out and they take care of everything you really should need if you are just doing this to learn. I would have killed to have something like that when I was teaching because the price point was so high for people to learn. They have everything you need to really grasp the important aspects of .NET and Windows development. They might not have some of the fancy bells and whistles, but I think most would agree that not having some of those tools will only make you a better developer down the line. They are there to save you time once you understand what's going on behind the scenes, and really don't take much time to learn if you're that worried about it.
Eventually I just bought the MSDN subscription. I was building enough stuff at home to warrant the expense. But until you can afford and justify the cost, then you really don't need it so I wouldn't worry about it.
The Visual Studio express editions actually have more functionality than I thought they would. I was able to do everything I needed with them (build personal site, work on the occasional open source project, etc.). I also have SQL Server 2005 Express set up on my home PC, and it runs good. And since I have Windows XP Home (no IIS standard), I just use the ASP.NET development server built into Visual Studio.
For hosting, the best deal I found was 1&1 Virtual Private Server hosting. I pay $30 a month, and get my own Windows Server 2003 server that I am an admin on and can Remote Desktop into. I've also loaded SQL Server 2005 Express on it without any problems. And to add my sites, I just work directly through IIS. Overall it's a lot easier than shared hosting, and has much more flexibility. I run about 8 small sites off of it with no problems. You could even split the cost of the hosting with a friend who wants to run a web site, and you can each have your own logon's to the server.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Visual studio express is not bad, SharpDevelop is surprisingly good (IMO even better than express)
I'm with Lunarpages at $9.99 per month, importantly they support the latest flavour of .NET so you have access to all the .NET 3.5 goodies :-) Plus unlimited SQL Server and MySQL
The best option is to get an employer sponsored MSDN subscription. If you are an independent contractor, IMO, you have to invest in tools to get the returns you desire.
Sure there are free/light version of the tools but these might not have the features you desire to demonstrate to potential clients or the features you want to hone your skills on. For example, I am not sure if SQL Server 2005/2008 Express has the Analysis Services, Reporting Services components which you might want for cube based reporting.
While I hate for this to be THE REASON that you would attend your local .NET user group, Alt.NET meeting, or whatever the local flavor is. It is a side benefit to staying relevant and getting involved inside of the the .NET community, Door Prizes:-)!
They want you to use their technology when coding at home so you can recommend it when coding @ work, where they'll pay. Personally, and in my work, about the only thing we pay for is Visual Studio. Pretty much everything else there is an equal, or better, open source solution.
All you have to do is install Visual Studio and MS SQL Express and your workstation becomes a self container development server. This is the model that is preferred. Developers create and test their code on a local environment and when all the bugs are fixed, it should be deployed to a Q&A environment. There the application gets reviewed and tested further for functionality.
I totally prefer this approach. I can be anywhere, with no Internet access and still be able to code.
Just to let people know, if you are a student you may be eligible for free professional versions of development software thanks to dreamspark.
Olà Sir,
Most .Net development tools are free theses days !
Yes, you got it right : they are plain free for as long as you want, not less !
How come ? Simple : you just have to have a recent computer. Then, you install Microsoft Virtual PC or VMWare Workstation (the first is free, the latter is not free, you have to look). They are virtual machines engines.
Then, you install XP or Vista on your virtual machine (you can use your current DVD along with your current Windows Product Key, or any ISO files - you can even download a free trial of Windows Vista or Windows 7 on Microsoft website - for free.). Once it's done, you can install on your virtual machine as much free trial Microsoft's softwares as you want : Visual Studio 2008 Team System, Visual Studio 2010 CTP, Office 2007, Visio 2007, you name it ! Just go and install them !
Once it is done, make a backup of you virtual machine (it should be a big file, something like 20 Go; but at todays' prices, you can even store it on an USB key ! it's very cheap). Then, lunch your primary copy and enjoy all those softwares for free !
60 days later, when your free trials begin to expire, you just have to copy your virtual machine's backup over your current virtual machine. 5 minutes... Then, start it up and change the date and time of your virtual machine (change it to the date of your downloads).
This way, you can use free Microsoft softwares for as long as you want !
Well... Most people will not do that if they really use these softwares... A complete version of Visual Studio sells for about 200 $ these day (just buy the upgrade edition) and it is very, very cheap ! Office (the familly version) sells for about 150 $. Again, this is a real bargain. At these prices, stealing softwares is not an option to me.
That is to say, if you want to explore and don't have a lot of money to spend for it, virtual machines revivals can be a solution.
Beside that, as a lot of peoples told you, there are free Express Versions of about every Microsoft's developer's tools. They are much more than introductory tools and they may be the best bet for what your looking for. You should definitively have a look at them.
(I just download VStudio 2008 Team Foundation for Virtual PC for free and it is exactly what we use at work. My intend : to explorer freely without breaking real world work...
Best wishes Sylvain Rodrigue, Paris.
Best wishes, Sylvain, Paris.