Introduction to Visual J# .Net

Introduction 

Visual J# is Microsoft implementation of the Java language with two goals. It is used to create applications for the Microsoft Windows operating systems and it is meant to assimilate with the .Net Framework.

The Visual Studio .Net IDE presents an impressive interface that allows you to start creating applications. It doesn't start with an application so you can decide what you want to do. This is because there are various types of applications you can create. The screen presents what is referred to an Integrated Development Environment or IDE.

The top section of the IDE is made of the title bar. You can use the title bar to close, move, minimize or maximize the application.

Under the title bar, the main menu presents a list of actions you can perform during the design of an application. The actions are organized in categories and each category is represented with a word. Examples are File, Edit, Tools, etc.

Creating a Project

An example of using the main menu consists of creating a new project. To do this:

1. On the main menu, click File -> New -> Project...

2. On the New Project dialog box, click the Visual J# Projects node in the Project Types tree list

3. On the Templates list, click Windows Application

4. In the Name edit box, you can type a name for the project or accept the one suggested. An example of a name would be WinForms1

   

5. After doing this, click OK. This creates a new application with a default form.

6. To execute the application, on the main menu, click Debug -> Start Without Debugging

7. When a dialog box asks you whether you want to save the project, click Yes
    
   

8. After using the form, close it by clicking its system close button and return to your programming environment.

Under the main menu, a long bar made of small pictures displays. This is a toolbar. This particular object is called the Standard toolbar.

On the left side of the screen, there is a bar with the word Toolbox in a vertical direction. If you position the mouse on it, it extracts to display items arranged by categories. Once you position your mouse away from it, the bar goes back to the way it previously was.

At first glance, the main and middle area of the screen appears blank. It will eventually be used to display code or a list of previous projects.

On the right side, the screen is divided in two sections. The top section includes various tabs such as the Class View, the Resource View, and the Solution Explorer. Once you start using Help, other tabs will be added.

In the lower section of the right side of the screen, there is window that displays things depending on what is selected in the top section.

The description we have just givens assumes that you are using the default arrangement of the Visual Studio IDE.