Question on future compatibility between VB.NET and the .NET framework

[Clark Stevens]

Hi group,
I will be getting VB.NET 2003 Standard which uses V1.1 of the .NET
framework. When another version of .NET is released, can I use it with
VB.NET 2003 with out upgrading VB.NET? For example, when .NET 2.0 is
released, will I be able to just download the new framework and continue to
use VB.NET 2003 with it?

[Sven Groot]

Clark Stevens wrote:

Hi group,
I will be getting VB.NET 2003 Standard which uses V1.1 of the .NET
framework. When another version of .NET is released, can I use it
with VB.NET 2003 with out upgrading VB.NET? For example, when .NET
2.0 is released, will I be able to just download the new framework
and continue to use VB.NET 2003 with it?

No. This wasn't the case with VS.NET 2002 and .Net 1.1, and afaik won't be
the case with 2003 and 2.0. Just like you must have VS.NET 2003 to develop
for 1.1 you must have VS2005 to develop for 2.0.

That said, the different .Net Framework versions can be installed side by
side, and to an extent at least 1.1 apps will probably run on 2.0, so
there's nothing to stop you from continuing to use VS.NET 2003.

--
Sven Groot

http://unforgiven.bloghorn.com

[Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]]

Clark,
In addition to Sven's comments.

You will (should) be able to run v1.1 programs under v2.0 without
recompiling, just as you can run v1.0 programs under v1.1.

For an explaination of how Versioning, Compatibility and Side-by-Side
Execution works in .NET see:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframewo...n/default.aspx

Hope this helps
Jay

"Clark Stevens" <sc******@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message
news:RS*******************@twister.nyroc.rr.com...

Hi group,
I will be getting VB.NET 2003 Standard which uses V1.1 of the .NET
framework. When another version of .NET is released, can I use it with
VB.NET 2003 with out upgrading VB.NET? For example, when .NET 2.0 is
released, will I be able to just download the new framework and continue to use VB.NET 2003 with it?

[Clark Stevens]

"Sven Groot" <sv*******@gmx.net> wrote in message
news:%2***************@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

No. This wasn't the case with VS.NET 2002 and .Net 1.1, and afaik won't be
the case with 2003 and 2.0. Just like you must have VS.NET 2003 to develop
for 1.1 you must have VS2005 to develop for 2.0.
Thanks. That's exactly what I was afraid of.
That said, the different .Net Framework versions can be installed side by
side, and to an extent at least 1.1 apps will probably run on 2.0, so
there's nothing to stop you from continuing to use VS.NET 2003.

Why do I get the feeling that .NET versioning is going to create even more
of a nightmare then "DLL hell"? I understand that MS plans on maintaining
backwards compatibility with the .NET framework, but how can you insure that
anything you write today will be 100% compatible with all past and future
..NET versions? It's not so much of a problem for the developer, but I'm
thinking more in terms of the end user. Are they going to be required to
have every version of the framework installed to make sure that all of their
programs run correctly? How is this going to work?

[Clark Stevens]

"Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]" <Ja************@msn.com> wrote in message
news:eb**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

For an explaination of how Versioning, Compatibility and Side-by-Side
Execution works in .NET see:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframewo...n/default.aspx

Thanks for the helpful link. It answered a lot of my questions.