Stephen R.G. Fraser Pro Visual C++/CLI and the .NET 2.0 Platform

Annotation

In the first edition of this book, I said .NET is the future. I need to correct that-C++/CLI is the future. Microsoft seems to have a set pattern when it comes to releasing their products. It takes them three versions to come out with a superior and polished product. Well, true to form, even though they call it .NET 2.0, this is version three and, to put it bluntly, Microsoft has hit the nail on the head once again. Don't get me wrong; C# and Visual Basic .NET are still great development languages (and version three is as well), but neither have the flexibility or the pedal-to-the-metal power of C++/CLI. With .NET 2.0's version of C++/CLI, you no longer have a forced kludge of .NET concepts and C++. Instead, C++/CLI is now a true implementation of the C++ language from which you can implement .NET applications. If you're one of the legions of established C++ developers out there, this is a godsend, as you no longer have to learn a completely new language to get the benefits of .NET.