[skyhawk133]

Microsoft announced a set of new tools recently at CodeMash that are aimed at making development with Microsoft technologies easier for beginners.

Quote

• ASP.NET MVC3 - The latest version of the MVC for ASP.NET. It includes a new view-engine option called "Razor," better tools for working with Javascript and HTML5 and several other improvements.
  
• IIS Express 7.5 - A developer focused version of IIS that does not require admin rights to run and debug code from Visual Studio.
  
• NuGet - An open source package manager designed to make it easier for ASP.NET developers to find, install, and use open source libraries for projects.
  
• Orchard 1.0 - The Orchard Project is Microsoft-sponsored project dedicated to creating open source applications and reusable components in .NET. Orchard 1.0, a .NET based CMS, is its first project.
  
• SQL Server Compact Edition 4 - A simple version of SQL Server for developers. It doesn't even require installation to work.
  
• WebMatrix - A starter-kit for ASP.NET developers. It includes: IIS Express, ASP.NET and SQL Server Compact. It also includes many open source code templates and an integrated SEO tool.

Credit: http://feedproxy.goo...new-tools-t.php

Will any of these tools be useful for you? Do you think they'll help get more new developers involved in .NET technologies instead of the usual PHP, Ruby, and Python a lot of new developers are trying first?

[Nakor]

I think adding open source support is definitely a step in the right direction for getting developer's more involved. Of course one reason php is popular for people new to development is that it's not that hard to find a web host that provides free hosting, the same can't be said for asp.net development. For someone who's wanting to learn, but not wanting to spend money to do it, that will make a big difference on which technology they may choose to go with.

[Curtis Rutland]

I think this might be a better link:
http://weblogs.asp.n...-webmatrix.aspx

It's Scott Guthrie's blog announcing the release. Also, it's got a lot of links explaining the MVC changes and new technologies. Razor looks awesome.

Personally, I don't think anyone should use WebForms at all anymore with MVC being as good as it is.

[SpeedisaVirus]

Definitely impressed with it being released open source.

[Curtis Rutland]

MS is a lot more open-source friendly than most people give them credit for. I mean, they made CodePlex.

[SpeedisaVirus]

Oh definitely but their own development efforts don't seem to go open source often. At least from what I can recall. Having a place for open source developers sponsored by Microsoft helps Microsoft grow, not quite the same as saying "Here is something we have been working on for a long time, here is the source, lets make it better."

[Nakor]

I wish my work would start using MVC but we're stuck with webforms for now.