The .NET API for AutoCAD is far more powerful
than LISP or VBA/ActiveX. However that power
has a price, namely that it is far more difficult to
learn and use. It has a much steeper learning
curve, and is also far more volatile (its relatively
easy to crash AutoCAD with it) than LISP or VBA.
The more important thing is to understand that
what you are talking about when you say '.NET'
and developing with it, are several things, that
are all regarded as prerequisites to each other:
- Basic concepts of sofware engineering that
are not language specific (e.g., what is an
interface; What is an iterator; how to handle
exceptions; garbage collection; and so on).
- The development tools (C#, VB.NET, C++)
and IDEs - skills and experience with one
or more programming languages.
- The .NET framework, an extensive API for
general purpose development that addresses
a very broad range of needs, and which requires
years of experience in order for one to become
reasonably familiar with, and able to use.
- The AutoCAD .NET managed wrapper API
for ObjectARX.
Equally as important is the order they appear in.
They are listed in order of skills dependence, and
each one is a prerequisite to the preceeding ones,
and is the order in which one must learn them.
IOW, trying to do it backwards is just not going
to work 😉
--
http://www.caddzone.com
AcadXTabs: MDI Document Tabs for AutoCAD 2004/2005/2006/2007
http://www.acadxtabs.com
"James Maeding" wrote in message news:5506824@discussion.autodesk.com...
The nice thing is, the more you see about the .net API, the more it solves. You get a lot more than just managed C++
access to the database, you get nice access to the whole environment plus stuff VB needed win API calls for before.
It does command definitions, modeless dialogs, and other things that took hybrid approaches with other languages.
I'd be curious to hear what Tony likes most about .net development for acad. Not picking a fight here, I'm interested
in what experienced people like the most, since a C++ person could do it all along.
I sure wish there was a way to make the debug process with acad easier though.
I guess VSTA should help with that since acad is already running, no need to start new session with every debug.
Begrim <>
|>I believe what the important is not the conclusion but the course of conversation.
|>Thanks for sharing your time.
James Maeding
Civil Engineer and Programmer
jmaeding - at - hunsaker - dotcom