Visual C# and C#

Suthish Nair

Hi,

Is there any difference in between Visual C# and C# language?

During article/blog submission, we have the option to select Visual C# and C# language under Minor Categories.

11 Replies

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Mahesh Chand15y ago
Accepted answer
Yes. Visual is anything to do with building visual applications like forms, controls etc with c#. C# language means raw non library c# language syntaxes, loops etc
Suthish Nair15y ago
msdn:

Visual C# is an implementation of the C# language by Microsoft.
Visual Studio supports Visual C# with a full-featured code editor, compiler, project templates, designers,
code wizards, a powerful and easy-to-use debugger, and other tools.

Thanks guys for participating.
Sam Hobbs15y ago
Mahesh, did you do as Vulpes said? You will understand what I said if you do but if you don't execute csc then you are likely to reply the way you did.
Mahesh Chand15y ago
csc.exe is the C# compiler. It is not Visual C# ;)

Visual C# = IDE + C# Compiler
Sam Hobbs15y ago
So Microsoft calls csc Visual C#. So I think the answer is that there is no good answer because Microsoft is intentionally confusing.
Mahesh Chand15y ago
Yes, visual is actually related to IDE.

Visual C++ was the IDE that is used to build C++ applications using IDE while using C++ compiler behind the scene to compile the code.

Visual C# is the IDE that uses C# language under the hood to build various (Windows, Web, WPF, Silverlight, Windows Phone, DLL etc) applications but under the hood it is using C# compiler to compile C# language.

That said, when I think of C#, I think as a pure C# code written in a notepad like editor and compiled using CSC compiler from command line. Mostly, work we do in school to learn logic and problem solving.
Vulpes15y ago
Sam,

Try typing the following at the command line:

csc /?
Sam Hobbs15y ago
I think it is intentionally confusing; it is not clear whether "Visual" refers to the IDE or to the applications it produces. I assume that Visual in Visual Studio refers to the IDE, but Microsoft had an interactive editor for C++ and VB before Visual Studio. I think that Visual is a marketing term for making the product sound more interesting. I don't see anything that makes Visual Studio more Visual than any other IDE.

It seems clear to me that Visual C# refers to the IDE, not the compiler and not the language. Does Microsoft ever use the name "Visual C#" in a manner inconsistent with that? The C# compiler is provided free with .Net. It is the same compiler used in VS and it is available for use by any other IDE. Does Microsoft ever call the compiler Visual C#?
Vulpes15y ago
I wonder if they'll still call it Visual C# when Windows 8 comes along or they'll change it to WinC# to match with WinC++?

They might even rename Visual Studio itself!
Suthish Nair15y ago
Ok, Thank You!
Vulpes15y ago
Technically, Visual C# is Microsoft's implementation of the C# Language though as they invented it themselves and got it standardized by ECMA and ISO (up to version 2.0) you could say it is the definitive version.

The only other version of C# which is comparable with Visual C# is Mono.

I guess if you're writing an article which includes snap-shots or descriptions of creating a program using the Microsoft compiler and/or IDE, then you should classify it under Visual C#, otherwise under the C# language. I think that's more or less what Mahesh said :)