The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

February 1997

Visual Studio 97 (Con’t from page 1)

The new platform and tools technologies enable three key scenarios:

Extend client/server . Evolving two-tier client/server to multitier architectures centralizes business rules, abstracting them out of clients and back-end databases. This provides businesses with the flexibility to more easily support a variety of clients, from browsers to powerful workstations, and the ability to deploy new business processes as quickly as competitive conditions demand.

Activate the Web . Building Web applications with Active Server Pages (ASP), a feature of Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0, and server-side databases enables businesses to reduce the number of HTML pages they need to maintain a presence on the Web. Web applications also make it practical to present users with personalized, dynamic content, while simplifying site management.

Integrate the Internet . The combination of multitier architectures, which provide a secure business process layer, and the broad accessibility of the Internet makes it practical to implement Web interfaces to existing client/server or legacy systems. This creates a new opportunity for businesses to forge direct connections with customers, suppliers and partners more efficiently than ever before.

Building solutions for these scenarios requires multiple tools. Today, more than 50 percent of professional developers use multiple programming languages, and among some developer segments the number is significantly higher. For example, Microsoft research shows that over 60 percent of developers using Visual C++ also use Visual Basic, and over 90 percent of developers employing Java(TM) use other programming languages as well.

Visual Studio 97 Addresses Key Developer Needs

Visual Studio 97 addresses requirements of developers who

integrate Internet technologies and client/server solutions.

These requirements include the following:

* ComDrehensive supppj~t. Breadth of tools and languages, training and support infrastructure, anci a iarge supply Of commercially available reusable components

* Scalability . Building solutions that require high-performance executables with access to enterpnse ciata, robust transaction support, and support for team-based development

* Open standards. Technology broadly adopted by customers Including vendor-ariven standards sucn as Java, or stanaaras managed by formal industry bodies such as the World Wide Web Consortium’s HTML

Visual Studio Offers Leading Development Tools

Microsoft Visual Studio 97 will include Microsoft’s best-of-breed

Visual Basic, Visual C++ and Visual FoxPro tools, as well ai..

the new Visual J++ and Visual lnterDev development systems fcr building dynamic Web applications.

* Microsoft Visual Basic, the world’s most popular rapid application development (RAD) system for creating Windows(R) operating system-based applications

* Microsoft Visual C++, the award-winning C and C++ development system used to build many of the worlds best-selling Windows-based applications

* Microsoft Visual J++, a Java programming system for creating cross-platform Java Applets and applications, and integrating Java with ActiveX(TM) technologies

* Microsoft Visual FoxPro, the award-winning relational database management system with a data-centric, object-oriented language

* Microsoft Visual lnterDev, the recently announced integrated development system for building and managing data-driven Web applications that generate HTML accessible from any browser on any platform

* Microsoft Developer Network Library, the complete source of product documentation and information

System Requirements and Availability

Microsoft Visual Studio 97 is scheduled to be available at the end of the first quarter of 1997. Visual Studio 97 requires a personal computer with a 486/66 MHz or higher processor and the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system or Windows NT(R) Workstation operating system version 4.0 or later. Sixteen MB of RAM is required for Windows 95; 24 MB is required for Windows NT Workstation. A CD-ROM drive and Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device are required. Disk space requirements vary depending on the number of the tools a developer wants to install. For more information, visit the Visual Studio Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/vstudio/.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

NOTE: Microsoft, Visual Studio, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual FoxPro, Visual lnterDev, Windows, ActiveX and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Inc.

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