Does Learning C#/.NET Require An MSDN Subscription? [closed]

Answer 1

Well, MSDN is free on the web so your reference isn't a problem.

The .NET Framework and compiler are free too.

Visual Studio is not free but that is just a development environment. You can write code with just notepad and some of the books out there do just that as they are teaching c# and not how to use the VS IDE.

So you sure can but it is much easier with Visual Studio.

EDIT Ack! I forgot c# Express - Show how easy you can get hooked to 'Da Man!'

Answer 2

No subscription is required. You can even download the free Visual Studio Express Edition, and also access to the MSDN library is free. And there is also Sql Server Express edition which is also free.

Add to this all the great free online resources, like stackoverflow, asp.net, codeproject, blogs etc. and you are ready to go.

Answer 3

http://www.microsoft.com/Express/ - Express IDE's are lighter weight free IDE's meant for students or hobbyists. They do not include all the bells and whistles but should be sufficent to learn how to code anything.

The compiler for .Net is distributed with the framework so you could actually code in Notepad (Although I'd just get the free IDE)

Also if your a new company (less then 3 years old), have less then 1 million in revenue a year and are privatley you should checkout http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/. With Bizspark you can get a full featured license of MSDN with VSTS. You only pay $100.00 when you leave the program.

Had we known about this eight months ago we'd have saved ourselves tons of cash.

Answer 4

Get the "Express" version of Visual Studio (which includes the compiler and libraries), and the Microsoft Windows SDK (which includes the help files), both of which are free ... and the express version of SQL Server if you want that.

Answer 5

With the huge amount of information available online these days you do not need an MSDN subscription to make a useful start with .NET/C#.

1. Read about and then download the express editions of the tools you're interested in
2. Browse the MSDN Developer Centre
3. Read some of the many getting started guides available online
4. Wish you'd done it sooner

Answer 6

The best way to learn would be just to download the Microsoft Visual Studio Express for C#. This has all, or almost all, of the features of the full/pro versions, but is great for just hobby/learning.


You can access the MSDN help online. The MSDN subscription I think you are referring to is for software, etc, and isn't necessary to develop code.