m3rc-
Not quite sure what kind of desciption/comparison your looking for. MSDN library over at http://msdn.microsoft.com has a wealth of info (if you've got the time to research, you would like to invest).

Are interested in attending seminars/lectures, developing software, shopping around for what best fits your (?)needs(?), or just want the quick and dirty rundown?

can't really compare the 2, it would be like comparing apples to oranges. vb.net is a programming language like fortran. vs.net is the latest IDE from Microsoft, you can use vs.net to program vb.net, but it also works for C#, J#, C++, Managed C++, plus a whole slew more, because of it's extendable architecture, so theoretically you could make vs.net be an IDE for any language that you had a compiler for.

And if you really want to still use fortran go right ahead, http://www.salfordsoftware.co.uk/com...tegration.html
(integrated into vs.net) :lol:

Although Steu's response was accurate, I'm not too sure how 'clear' it was.

Visual Basic .NET: A programming language that compilies to the Microsoft .NET Framework.

Visual Studio .NET: An Integrated Development Environment. Basically, a place to easily develop and compile your code. Visual Studio .NET supports writing in many languages; C++, C#, VB.NET, and PHP to name a few. There are different editions of VS.NET, just like there are different editions of Microsoft Office. Some only include VB.NET support, some only include C#, etc.

I do want to point out that there are alternitives to development in Visual Studio .NET. You could just download the Microsoft .NET SDK; which includes the full VB.NET and C# compilers, and just write your source in notepad (not very user friendly!). One of the best free/open-source alternitives to VS.NET is called #Develop. #Develop doesn't have all the bells and whistles included in VS.NET, but if you're begining to write .NET code, I think most people would find it hard to shell out all that money for VS.NET when they don't even know the language.

hehe yeah, sometimes I have too much running through my head, it comes out not exactly clear, kinda jumbled

Steu:

I typed my response three times because my first two weren't clear enough. I still don't like how it came out :-P. Then again.. I'm the only guy who writes drafts for a birthday card.

Thanks to all of you, everyone was helpful . My brother is actually a bit of a programming expert, so I finally got a hold of him and asked him, as well. He has all of these programs and told me I could try any of them (good for the budget). Since I am interested in regular old C++ it doesn't really matter (I guess, from what I gather???). I decided to start with visual basic .net. I bought a book, "Teach Yourself Visual C++ in 24 Hours," and am currently on chapter 3. the actual code is a bit different from fortran (haha), but it still takes the same type of thinking, planning and foresight.

I am still completely confused on all the differences between compilers, IDE's, librarys, etc. Maybe once I finish this book and move on to the next I'll have a better grasp of it all.

thanks again,

m3rc