8 replies to this topic

[pastageek]

ello govnas. No I don't have an English accent.
My favorite language so far is Visual C# 2010 beta. I still have a lot to learn und I am looking forward to learning much here.

Soon I will be assimilating XNA, Silverlight, GDI+, and DirectX as soon as I have more time to devote. I'm currently studying for my Bachelors in Chemistry and Physics but I love to program on the side in order to destress and to use those programs for science. I've seen what the basic graphics library can do in C# when I override the OnPaint, now I would like to learn more about all wonderful libs.

[alphadog]

BTW, not to nitpick, but "Visual C# 2010 beta" is not a language. It's an IDE (integrated development environment). C# is the language you are presumably using.

The best way for you to learn may be to look for open-source (bio)chem visualization software.

Also note that, apart from the real basic stuff about displaying images, science software and game software have a small area of overlap. You'll still have lots to learn.

[pastageek]

alphadog said:

BTW, not to nitpick, but "Visual C# 2010 beta" is not a language. It's an IDE (integrated development environment). C# is the language you are presumably using.

The best way for you to learn may be to look for open-source (bio)chem visualization software.

Also note that, apart from the real basic stuff about displaying images, science software and game software have a small area of overlap. You'll still have lots to learn.

Ok, true enough it is an IDE, so then I will be more specific in saying that I'm using Visual Studio 2010 Professional beta, though usually when you buy a book it will say visual C# 20xx so there is reason for my lumping together. C# and VS seem inseparable unless you really feel like torturing yourself by compiling everything from a DOS prompt or UNIX shell.

Yeah I know I have much to learn and reading ppl's posts I think is good way to learn.

btw, the overlap is enough and goes beyond displaying images. Since I like being able to control instrumentation from a computer, it is nice to be able to make professional looking controls to do so. The same programming techniques that go into gaming can be used in the scientific world.

[alphadog]

Actually, C# and VS are very separable. See Mono or SharpDevelop, for example. However, with Microsoft being able to blitz the net with marketing, it's natural to think that C#, VS and MS and inseparable.

[pastageek]

alphadog said:

Actually, C# and VS are very separable. See Mono or SharpDevelop, for example. However, with Microsoft being able to blitz the net with marketing, it's natural to think that C#, VS and MS and inseparable.

Well you got me there. I've heard of mono, but can it be used on windows? I've not had much experience with Linux or mac.

[alphadog]

Yes, it can. However, not all the types (meaning something like the classes/types found in System.Management.Instrumentation.*) that you find in the core .NET 3.5 will be found in Mono. Also, they won't implement things in the layers above it, like WCF.

They have most of the important ones as far as I know.

[pastageek]

Why is such a thing missing? Since I have VS on my computer, wouldn't it be just as easy then though to add the libs from it to mono just by referencing it like any other?

[alphadog]

Not sure. Traditionally, you use Mono to be able to step away from Windows lock-in. Your questions starting to get beyond my cursory usage and experience with Mono. I looked into Mono about six months ago and ported a small .Net project with fair success.

Here's a page that can show you exactly where Mono has and has not implemented the .NET namespace:
http://www.go-mono.com/status/

To underscore my lack of "mono guruness" , my above reference to System.Management.Instrumentation is apparently wrong now. A better example would have been the newer System.Data.Linq.

If Mono really interests you, there's lots of material at mono-project.net. I think I can guess at why a certain namespace is currently missing, given that it's a volunteer project with limited resources, technical cross-platform challenges, and that can only follow a published API. As to linking .NET DLLs in a Mono project, I'm not sure if that is possible or not. Never tried it, so don't know.

I'm sure their forums will give you direct answers.

[olla86]

You gave me a lot of answers too. Thanks a lot!!!!