Chapter 1. Introduction to a Managed Environment
In This Chapter
This revolution has been long in coming. Visual Basic programmers have known it for years. Java came along and converted many others. The fact of the matter is that it is hard to develop quality software that targets your market and is robust enough to be useable. It seems to be perfectly acceptable to allow the operating system and the related services to manage the memory space of your program. Talking about virtual memory and virtual devices seems perfectly natural.
All except the people who develop device drivers and real-time systems have come to realize that it is not in their best interest to try to develop software that handles what the operating system handles for them. It is also perfectly acceptable and recommended that you use a commercial database rather than developing your own. Unless you are in the business of developing databases, you cannot remain competitive for very long by spending precious resources on developing software that is not part of your core business.
When these technologies were new, many believed that they could do a better job, or because it was “not invented here,” it was not to be trusted. The revolution of today requires a similar shift in your thinking. The reason that you don't develop your own database or your own memory management techniques is that these problems have already been solved in a way that is probably better and certainly cheaper than developing solutions on your own. Adopting the .NET Framework requires a similar mindset.
The .NET Framework is a completely new way of developing software. It is interesting that many of the same objections that were heard when the last revolution occurred are again being voiced. The last revolution was when software development moved from physical memory, interrupts, and dedicated processing to virtual memory, events, and multiprocessing. This chapter is written to give you an idea of the benefits that a managed environment can provide you and your users. Although it is true that you will have to give up a certain amount of control, the additional functionality and flexibility more than makes up for the loss of control. This chapter focuses on some of the reasons that you should take advantage of the .NET Framework.