Tell me where to go.

[gtb]

Feel free to tell me where to go if I am off topic, or even you think
my plea so pathetic as to make me unredeemable. ;>)

My background is test software, instrument drivers, C/C++, assembly,
Tcl/tk, python, primarily Unix, a very little VS C++. Nowadays I see
many job chits that speak of .net and MFC so I wish to broaden my
background.

Are C# and VB the .net languages and are there others? Where would I
find an overview of .net? When would one use them instead of PHP,
scalability?

Could you recommend a good place to find an overview and/or definition
of the Microsoft Foundation Classes?

I know my questions are pretty broad but I am not a GUI guy and thus
don't know exactly how to get a handle on these topics.
Thanx,

gtb

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

On Nov 6, 3:42 pm, gtb <[e-mail]:

Feel free to tell me where to go if I am off topic, or even you think
my plea so pathetic as to make me unredeemable. ;>)

My background is test software, instrument drivers, C/C++, assembly,
Tcl/tk, python, primarily Unix, a very little VS C++. Nowadays I see
many job chits that speak of .net and MFC so I wish to broaden my
background.

Are C# and VB the .net languages and are there others? Where would I
find an overview of .net? When would one use them instead of PHP,
scalability?

There are lots of .NET languages. Off the top of my head:
C#, VB.NET, C++/CLI, Cobol.NET, F#, Boo, IronPython, IronRuby.

C# and VB.NET are the most popular ones though.

Overview of .NET is kinda tricky, because it's such a broad topic. I
don't know any pages offhand.

As for where you'd use .NET instead of PHP - well, it's "horses for
courses" really; corporate environments tend to prefer ASP.NET, but a
lot of personal sites are done with PHP. There are pros and cons to
each of them.

Could you recommend a good place to find an overview and/or definition
of the Microsoft Foundation Classes?

MFC is somewhat old hat now - it's not used (directly) within .NET.
Windows Forms is the closest equivalent.

I know my questions are pretty broad but I am not a GUI guy and thus
don't know exactly how to get a handle on these topics.

Well, personally I wouldn't bother learning MFC - I'd jump straight
into C# and WinForms or even Windows Presentation Foundation.

Jon

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?=]

Jon Skeet [C# MVP] wrote:

On Nov 6, 3:42 pm, gtb <[e-mail]:

> When would one use them instead of PHP,
scalability?

As for where you'd use .NET instead of PHP - well, it's "horses for
courses" really; corporate environments tend to prefer ASP.NET, but a
lot of personal sites are done with PHP. There are pros and cons to
each of them.

There are significant more ASP.NET than PHP in corporate web sites,
but don't underestimate PHP.

PHP is increasingly being used commercially.

Apps like Xoops, Drupal and Typo3 has become widely used.

Arne

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?=]

gtb wrote:

My background is test software, instrument drivers, C/C++, assembly,
Tcl/tk, python, primarily Unix, a very little VS C++. Nowadays I see
many job chits that speak of .net and MFC so I wish to broaden my
background.

Are C# and VB the .net languages and are there others? Where would I
find an overview of .net? When would one use them instead of PHP,
scalability?

The choice between ASP.NET and PHP depends more on external factors
than the technologies itself. Platform to run on, integration with
backend systems, skill sets available etc..

If you like C++ you will probably like ASP.NET/C# - if you like Python
you will probably like PHP.

Could you recommend a good place to find an overview and/or definition
of the Microsoft Foundation Classes?

You could buy Jeff Prosise's book.

But 1997 would have been a good time to learn MFC. Not 2007. In 2007
you should go for .NET !

Arne