SQL Server ISNULL function

Definition:

In SQL Server ISNULL() function is used to replace null value with other value. Basically ISNULL allows a display of the particular value as substitution for NULL.

Syntax:

ISNULL(Expression , replace_Value )

If Expression is null then replace_Value will be returned, otherwise Expression will be returned

Example:

SELECT ISNULL(1, 10) – Output is 1

SELECT ISNULL(NULL, 10) – Output is 10

Script: CREATE TABLE Student ( sub VARCHAR(10), marks INT ) --Insert stattements INSERT INTO Student VALUES('Maths',67) INSERT INTO Student VALUES('English',NULL) SELECT sub,isnull(marks,0) AS Marks FROM student

Output: Table data:   After applying ISNULL: For English the student marks are null so it returned 0. For Maths subject student marks is not null so orginal value is returned.

insert into Student values('English','s') --Error :Conversion failed when converting the varchar value 's' to data type int Because marks in int and replacement value is varchar.

In order to check column values as null, does not use ISNULL instead use IS NULL.

Welcome to DNM world

Hi,

Welcome to DotNetMirror world.
DotNETMirror is a place to reflect information on Microsoft Technologies. DNM objective is to help users on Microsoft technologies by providing Articles, snippets, Interview Questions.

Soon we are planning to release a site. Hope you enjoy our posts.

Thanks,
WebMaster,
DotNetMirror.

Required Hardware to install Visual Studio 2008

Requirements vary for different combinations of components within Visual Studio 2008. To install Visual Studio 2008, you need:

* Computer with a 1.6 GHz or faster processor
* Visual Studio 2008 can be installed on the following operating systems:
o Windows Vista® (x86 & x64) - all editions except Starter Edition
o Windows® XP (x86 & x64) with Service Pack 2 or later - all editions except Starter Edition
o Windows Server® 2003 (x86 & x64) with Service Pack 1 or later (all editions)
o Windows Server 2003 R2 (x86 and x64) or later (all editions)
* 384 MB of RAM or more (768 MB of RAM or more for Windows Vista)
* 2.2 GB of available hard-disk space
* 5400 RPM hard drive
* 1024 x 768 or higher-resolution display
* DVD-ROM Drive

FAQ's of SQL Server

What's the difference between a primary key and a unique key?

Both primary key and unique enforce uniqueness of the column on which they are defined. But by default primary key creates a clustered index on the column, where are unique creates a nonclustered index by default. Another major difference is that, primary key doesn't allow NULLs, but unique key allows one NULL only.

Define candidate key, alternate key, composite key.

A candidate key is one that can identify each row of a table uniquely. Generally a candidate key becomes the primary key of the table. If the table has more than one candidate key, one of them will become the primary key, and the rest are called alternate keys.

A key formed by combining at least two or more columns is called composite key.

What are defaults? Is there a column to which a default can't be bound?
A default is a value that will be used by a column, if no value is supplied to that column while inserting data. IDENTITY columns and timestamp columns can't have defaults bound to them. See CREATE DEFUALT in books online.

Whar is an index? What are the types of indexes? How many clustered indexes can be created on a table? I create a separate index on each column of a table. what are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach?

Indexes in SQL Server are similar to the indexes in books. They help SQL Server retrieve the data quicker.

Indexes are of two types. Clustered indexes and non-clustered indexes. When you craete a clustered index on a table, all the rows in the table are stored in the order of the clustered index key. So, there can be only one clustered index per table. Non-clustered indexes have their own storage separate from the table data storage. Non-clustered indexes are stored as B-tree structures (so do clustered indexes), with the leaf level nodes having the index key and it's row locater. The row located could be the RID or the Clustered index key, depending up on the absence or presence of clustered index on the table.

If you create an index on each column of a table, it improves the query performance, as the query optimizer can choose from all the existing indexes to come up with an efficient execution plan. At the same t ime, data modification operations (such as INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE) will become slow, as every time data changes in the table, all the indexes need to be updated. Another disadvantage is that, indexes need disk space, the more indexes you have, more disk space is used.

What are cursors? Explain different types of cursors. What are the disadvantages of cursors? How can you avoid cursors?

Cursors allow row-by-row prcessing of the resultsets.

Types of cursors: Static, Dynamic, Forward-only, Keyset-driven. See books online for more information.

Disadvantages of cursors: Each time you fetch a row from the cursor, it results in a network roundtrip, where as a normal SELECT query makes only one rowundtrip, however large the resultset is. Cursors are also costly because they require more resources and temporary storage (results in more IO operations). Furthere, there are restrictions on the SELECT statements that can be used with some types of cursors.

Most of the times, set based operations can be used instead of cursors. Here is an example:

If you have to give a flat hike to your employees using the following criteria:

Salary between 30000 and 40000 -- 5000 hike
Salary between 40000 and 55000 -- 7000 hike
Salary between 55000 and 65000 -- 9000 hike

In this situation many developers tend to use a cursor, determine each employee's salary and update his salary according to the above formula. But the same can be achieved by multiple update statements or can be combined in a single UPDATE statement as shown below:

UPDATE tbl_emp SET salary =
CASE WHEN salary BETWEEN 30000 AND 40000 THEN salary + 5000
WHEN salary BETWEEN 40000 AND 55000 THEN salary + 7000
WHEN salary BETWEEN 55000 AND 65000 THEN salary + 10000
END

Another situation in which developers tend to use cursors: You need to call a stored procedure when a column in a particular row meets certain condition. You don't have to use cursors for this. This can be achieved using WHILE loop, as long as there is a unique key to identify each row. For examples of using WHILE loop for row by row processing,

What is a join and explain different types of joins?

Joins are used in queries to explain how different tables are related. Joins also let you select data from a table depending upon data from another table.

Types of joins: INNER JOINs, OUTER JOINs, CROSS JOINs. OUTER JOINs are further classified as LEFT OUTER JOINS, RIGHT OUTER JOINS and FULL OUTER JOINS.

What is a Stored Procedure?

Its nothing but a set of T-SQL statements combined to perform a single task of several tasks. Its basically like a Macro so when you invoke the Stored procedure, you actually run a set of statements.

What is the basic difference between clustered and a non-clustered index?

The difference is that, Clustered index is unique for any given table and we can have only one clustered index on a table. The leaf level of a clustered index is the actual data and the data is resorted in case of clustered index. Whereas in case of non-clustered index the leaf level is actually a pointer to the data in rows so we can have as many non-clustered indexes as we can on the db.

What are cursors?

Well cursors help us to do an operation on a set of data that we retreive by commands such as Select columns from table. For example : If we have duplicate records in a table we can remove it by declaring a cursor which would check the records during retreival one by one and remove rows which have duplicate values.

Which TCP/IP port does SQL Server run on?

SQL Server runs on port 1433 but we can also change it for better security.

Can we use Truncate command on a table which is referenced by FOREIGN KEY?

No. We cannot use Truncate command on a table with Foreign Key because of referential integrity.

What is the use of DBCC commands?

DBCC stands for database consistency checker. We use these commands to check the consistency of the databases, i.e., maintenance, validation task and status checks.

What is the difference between a HAVING CLAUSE and a WHERE CLAUSE?

Having Clause is basically used only with the GROUP BY function in a query. WHERE Clause is applied to each row before they are part of the GROUP BY function in a query.

What is a Linked Server?

Linked Servers is a concept in SQL Server by which we can add other SQL Server to a Group and query both the SQL Server dbs using T-SQL Statements.

Can you link only other SQL Servers or any database servers such as Oracle?

We can link any server provided we have the OLE-DB provider from Microsoft to allow a link. For Oracle we have a OLE-DB provider for oracle that microsoft provides to add it as a linked server to the sql server group.

How do you troubleshoot SQL Server if its running very slow?

First check the processor and memory usage to see that processor is not above 80% utilization and memory not above 40-45% utilization then check the disk utilization using Performance Monitor, Secondly, use SQL Profiler to check for the users and current SQL activities and jobs running which might be a problem. Third would be to run UPDATE_STATISTICS command to update the indexes.

What is log shipping?

Can we do logshipping with SQL Server 7.0 - Logshipping is a new feature of SQL Server 2000. We should have two SQL Server - Enterprise Editions. From Enterprise Manager we can configure the logshipping. In logshipping the transactional log file from one server is automatically updated into the backup database on the other server. If one server fails, the other server will have the same db and we can use this as the DR (disaster recovery) plan.

Let us say the SQL Server crashed and you are rebuilding the databases including the master database what procedure to you follow?

For restoring the master db we have to stop the SQL Server first and then from command line we can type SQLSERVER .m which will basically bring it into the maintenance mode after which we can restore the master db.

What is BCP? When do we use it?

BulkCopy is a tool used to copy huge amount of data from tables and views. But it won’t copy the structures of the same.

Why is a UNION ALL faster than a UNION?

UNION ALL faster than a UNION because for union operation server needs to remove the duplicate values but for union all its not. Thats why the UNOIN ALL is fater than UNION Operation. It is recommended that if you know that the union set operation never returns duplicate values than you must use UNION ALL instead of UNION.

ASP.NET FAQ Interview Questions Websites

I would like share some best ASP.NET FAQ Interview Questions and Answers web sites.
Here Some best sites,
· http://www.syncfusion.com/faq/aspnet/default.aspx
· http://www.aspnetfaq.com
· http://www.planet-source-code.com/vb/scripts/ShowCode.asp?txtCodeId=4081&lngWId=10 ( Answers will be avilable in the downloadable document.-at bottom)
· http://blogs.crsw.com/mark/articles/254.aspx, & http://blog.daveranck.com/archive/2005/01/20/355.aspx
· http://www.techinterviews.com/?p=176 & http://www.techinterviews.com/?p=193
· ASP.NET Interview Questions
· C# Interview Questions
· DotNet Remoting Interview Questions (
· DotNet WindowsForms Interview Questions
· http://www.webhostforasp.net
· http://www.toqc.com/entropy/TheAnswers1.html
· http://www.toqc.com/entropy/TheAnswers2.html
· http://www.akaas.net/jobs/asp-net-interview-questions.htm
· http://www.akaas.net/dot-net-faqs.htm
· http://www.akaas.net/jobs/asp-net-interview-questions.htm
· http://moredotnet.googlepages.com
· http://www.interviewcorner.com/
· www.kyapoocha.com
· www.coolinte rview.com
· www.geekinterview.com
· http://aspnetinfo.googlepages.com
· http://dotnet-question-answer.blogspot.com/
· http://www.mytechsky.com
· http://www.dotnetquestion.info/dot_net/interview.htm
· http://www.coolinterview.com/

ADO.NET Transactions

A transaction is a group SQL statements to be executed as one unit to modify the state of database, a transaction requires a database connection and a transaction object. The crux of utilizing transactions with SQL Server and ADO.NET is the SqlTransaction class. This class name varies depending upon the database platform utilized. For instance, the transaction class for OLEDB databases is OleDbTransaction.

The System.Data.SqlClient namespace contains the SqlTransaction class. There are two properties in the class:
· Connection: Indicates the SqlConnection object associated with the transaction.
· IsolationLevel: Specifies the transaction's IsolationLevel.

The IsolationLevel property is an Enumeration object with the following members:
· Chaos: The pending changes from more highly isolated transactions cannot be overwritten.
· ReadCommitted: Shared locks are held while the data is read to avoid dirty reads, but the data can be changed before the end of the transaction, resulting in nonrepeatable reads or phantom data.
· ReadUncommitted: A dirty read is possible, meaning that no shared locks are issued and no exclusive locks are honored.
· RepeatableRead: Locks are placed on all data that is used in a query, preventing other users from updating the data. This prevents nonrepeatable reads, though phantom rows are still possible.
· Serializable: A range lock is placed on the DataSet, preventing other users from updating or inserting rows into the dataset until the transaction is complete.

The IsolationLevel allows a level of record locking, The SqlTransaction object provides methods as well. You may use the following methods to work with the transaction:
· Commit: The database transaction is committed.
· Rollback: A database transaction is rolled back from a pending state. A transaction may not be rolled back once it's committed.
· Save: Creates a savepoint in the transaction that can be used to roll back a portion of the transaction, and specifies the savepoint name.

Example on SqlTransaction:
SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString);
cmd1 = new SqlCommand();
cmd2=new SqlCommand();
cmd1.Connection = sqlConn;
cmd2.Connection = sqlConn;
cmd1.CommandText = "insert into Employee(EmpName,EmpSalary,deptid) values('A',1000,9)";
cmd2.CommandText = "Update Employee set EmpSalary=EmpSalary + 1000 where EmpName='A'"; // for commit
//cmd2.CommandText = "Update Employee set EmpSalary=EmpSalary = 1000 where EmpName='A'"; // for Rollback
SqlTransaction SqlTran;
sqlConn.Open();
SqlTran = sqlConn.BeginTransaction();
cmd1.Transaction = SqlTran;
cmd2.Transaction = SqlTran;
try
{
cmd1.ExecuteNonQuery();
cmd2.ExecuteNonQuery(); // if both command excuted sucessfully then will commit if any of command fails that is attched to sqltransaction then that will be roll backed.
SqlTran.Commit();
MessageBox.Show("Transcation Committed Sucessfully");
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
SqlTran.Rollback();
MessageBox.Show("Transaction Rollbacked");
}
finally
{
sqlConn.Close();
}
Note: Once a transaction has begin over a connection, a command without its transaction property set cannot be executed in that connection unless either the transaction is committed or roll backed.
Transactions help the database in satisfying all the ACID (Atomic, Consistent, Isolated, and Durable). Transaction processing has improved a lot in ADO.NET 2.0.

Stored Procedure in ADO.NET

It is a precompiled set of SQL statement which is compiled in native form and stored in the backend. They are very fast on their first execution also.

Benefits Using SP:
· They allow modular programming.
You can create the procedure once, store it in the database, and call it any number of times in your program. Stored procedures can be created by a person who specializes in database programming, and they can be modified independently of the program source code.
· They allow faster execution.
If the operation requires a large amount of Transact-SQL code or is performed repetitively, stored procedures can be faster than batches of Transact-SQL code. They are parsed and optimized when they are first executed, and a compiled version of the stored procedure remains in memory cache for later use. This means the stored procedure does not need to be reparsed and reoptimized with each use resulting in much faster execution times.
· They can reduce network traffic.
An operation requiring hundreds of lines of Transact-SQL code can be performed through a single statement that executes the code in a procedure, rather than by sending hundreds of lines of code over the network.
· They can be used as a security mechanism.
Users can be granted permission to execute a stored procedure even if they do not have permission to execute the procedure's statements directly.
· It’s easy to update logic/code in them because it stored at one place in the database.

Sample Stored Procedure:
Create proc GetSalary(@EmpID int,@EmpSal Money out) as
Begin
select @EmpSal=EmpSalary from Employee where EmpID=@EmpID
End

Example:
SqlConnection con=new SqlConnection();
con.ConnectionString = “your connection string”
SqlCommand cmd=new SqlCommand();
cmd.CommandText="GetSalary"; //SP name
cmd.CommandType=CommandType.StoredProcedure;
cmd.Connection=con;

SqlParameter ID=new SqlParameter("@EmpID",SqlDbType.Int);
SqlParameter sal=new SqlParameter("EmpSal",SqlDbType.Money);
sal.Direction=ParameterDirection.Output;
sal.Value = DBNull.Value;
// Parameter direction is enum it has the parameters
// Input - The parameter is an input parameter.
// InputOutput - The parameter is capable of both input and output.
// Output - The parameter is an output parameter.
// ReturnValue - The parameter represents a return value from an operation such as a stored procedure, built-in function, or user-defined function.

ID.Value= “provide employee id”;
cmd.Parameters.Add(ID);
cmd.Parameters.Add(sal);
con.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
con.Close();
MessageBox.Show(sal.Value.ToString());
Note:
· Every Input Parameter must have a value before the command is executed. If required we can set to DBNull.Value.
· As far as possible try to execute all SQL statements using SP.

MARS Concept in SqlDataReader

Note that while a DataReader is open, the Connection is in use exclusively by that DataReader. You will not be able to execute any commands for the Connection, including creating another DataReader, until the original DataReader is closed.
This is over come in .Net 2005 by a concept called MARS(MultipleActiveResources).
If MultipleActiveResources=True is added to connection string then more that one data reader can be opened at the same time in that single connection object. It’s a new feature in ADO.NET 2.0.

Example Data Reader with MARS Concept:
SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection("Data Source=Server1;Initial Catalog=XXXXDB;Persist Security Info=True;User ID=XXXXX;Password=XXXXX;MultipleActiveResultsets=True");

// In above connection string if you did not write MultipleActiveResultsets=True will get Exception as {There is already an open DataReader associated with this Command which must be closed first.}

SqlCommand cmdDept = new SqlCommand();
cmdDept.Connection=sqlConn;
cmdDept.CommandText="select DeptID,DeptName from Department";
sqlConn.Open();
SqlDataReader DRDept=cmdDept.ExecuteReader();
string tempStr=string.Empty ;

while (DRDept.Read())
{
SqlCommand cmdEmp=new SqlCommand("select * from Employee where Deptid=" + DRDept["DeptID"],sqlConn);
SqlDataReader DREmp = cmdEmp.ExecuteReader();

while (DREmp.Read())
{
tempStr = tempStr + DREmp["EmpID"] + "\t" + DREmp["EmpName"] + "\t" + DREmp["EmpSalary"] + "\t"+ DRDept["DeptName"] + "\n";
}

DREmp.Close();
}
DRDept.Close();
sqlConn.Close();

MessageBox.Show(tempStr);

Note: The result of one select statement should not overlap with the other result of another statement, Means both the select statements should not perform on Same Table.

Option in VB.Net

In VB Compiler has options like

1. Option Strict: on/off
Restricts implicit data type conversions to only widening conversions.
If used, the Option Strict statement must appear in a file before any other source code statements.
Visual Basic allows conversions of many data types to other data types. Data loss can occur when the value of one data type is converted to a data type with less precision or smaller capacity. A run-time error occurs if such a narrowing conversion fails. Option Strict ensures compile-time notification of these narrowing conversions so they can be avoided.
In addition to disallowing implicit narrowing conversions, Option Strict generates an error for late binding. An object is late bound when it is assigned to a variable that is declared to be of type Object.
Because Option Strict On provides strong typing, prevents unintended type conversions with data loss, disallows late binding, and improves performance, its use is strongly recommended.

2. Option Comapre: Binary/Text
Forces explicit declaration of all variables in a file.
Binary :Optional. Results in string comparisons based on a sort order derived from the internal binary representations of the characters.
Text :Optional. Results in string comparisons based on a case-insensitive text sort order determined by your system's locale.

3. Option Explicit: on/off
Forces explicit declaration of all variables in a file.

The options will not avaliable in C#.

VShost.exe in .NET:

If you are developing with Visual Studio 2005 you probably have seen the *.vshost.exe files inside of your bin folder or you saw the process running while debugging. The vshost.exe file is coming from Visual Studio and serves a very good purpose. The vshost.exe is a new Visual Studio 2005 feature and is actually a hosting process

Actually when you open the project in vs. express it copies this file vshost.exe from Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE and renames it to yourassemblyhost.vshost.exe
The hosting process is a feature in Visual Studio 2005 that improves debugging performance, enables partial trust debugging, and enables design time expression evaluation. The hosting process files contain vshost in the file name and are placed in the output folder of your project. For more information, see Debugging and the Hosting Process.

Improved Debugging Performance
The hosting process creates an application domain and associates the debugger with the application. Performing these tasks can introduce a noticeable delay between the time debugging is started and the time the application begins running. The hosting process helps increase performance by creating the application domain and associating the debugger in the background, and saving the application domain and debugger state between runs of the application. For more information on application domains, see Application Domains.

Partial Trust Debugging
An application can be specified as a partial trust application in the Security page of the Project Designer. Debugging a partial trust application requires special initialization of the application domain. This initialization is handled by the hosting process.

Design-Time Expression Evaluation
Design-time expression evaluation enables you to test code from the Immediate window without having to run the application. The hosting process executes this code during design time expression evaluation. For more information, see Immediate Window.
NOTE: Hosting process files (.vshost.exe) are for use by Visual Studio 2005 and should not be run directly or deployed with your application.

The *.vshost.exe files are exclusively used by the VS 2005 IDE, they serve no other purpose.
If you want to disable the generation of the vshost files you can do so under your projects settings.

In general, when the hosting process is disabled the time needed to begin debugging increases.

Note:Hosting process files (.vshost.exe) are for use by Visual Studio 2005 and should not be run directly or deployed with your application..

Window Based Application Creation

If you create a sample application in windows (E.g.: Practice) it will create following default files:
{} – Type
() – My Project Name as Practice
1) Project Name folder (Practice)
a) Bin folder
i) Debug Folder
(1) Project Name (Practice).vshost.exe

Hosting Process (vshost.exe)
The hosting process is a feature in Visual Studio 2005 that improves debugging performance, enables partial trust debugging, and enables design time expression evaluation. The hosting process files contain vshost in the file name and are placed in the output folder of your project. For more information, see Debugging and the Hosting Process.

b) My Project folder
i) Application.Designer.vb {VB Source File} – it will contain some code about application .This code was generated by a tool.
i i) Application.myapp{MYAPP File}
iii) AssemblyInfo.vb{VB Source File} –Assembly attributes Information
iv) Resources.Designer.vb - resource code generated by tool
v) Resources.resx{.NET Managed Source File}
vi) Settings.Designer.vb{VB Source File}
vii) Settings.settings{Visual Studio settings-Designer File}
c) Obj folder
i) Debug folder
(1) TempPE folder
d) Form1.Designer.vb {VB Source File} – Design code (location, controls info….)
e) Form1.resx{.Net Managed Source File}
f ) Form1.vb{VB Source File}
g) Project Name (Practice).vbproj{VB Project File} – contains project files info
2) Project Name (Practice).sln {Microsoft Visual Studio Solution}
3) Project Name (Practice).suo{Visual Studio Solution User Options}

After Build your Applcation it will create following new files:
Bin folder: Project Name(Practise)[.exe,.pdb,.xml
A program database (PDB) file holds debugging and project state information that allows incremental linking of a Debug configuration of your program. A PDB file is created when Visual Basic/C#/JScript .NET program with /debug mode.
Debugfolder:Practise.exe,Practise.pdb,Practise.xml,ResolveAssemblyReference.cache,Practise.Account.resources,Practise.Resources.resources,Practise.vbproj.GenerateResource.Cache,Practise.exe,Practise.xml,Practise.pdb
Default Added References:
1) System
2) System. Data
3) System. Deployment
4) System. Drawing
5) System. Windows. Forms
6) System. XML

.NET Compliant Languages

One of the imperative features of the .NET is the facility to program in multiple languages, which allows programmers to use their favorite languages. Right now, the Microsoft programming languages including Visual Basic .NET, Visual C#, Visual J# and Visual C++ with managed extensions are part of Visual Studio .NET 2003 and developers can make use of these languages for developing different applications.

The other few .NET compliant languages from other vendors are:

ASML for .NET [AsmL: Abstract State Machine Language]: AsmL is an executable specification language based on the theory of Abstract State Machines. The current version, AsmL 2 (AsmL for Microsoft .NET), is embedded into Microsoft Word and Microsoft Visual Studio.NET. It uses XML and Word for literate specifications. It is fully interoperable with other .NET languages. AsmL generates .NET assemblies which can either be executed from the command line, linked with other .NET assemblies, or packaged as COM components.

Mercury on .NET: The current release of the Mercury compiler includes preliminary support for generating code for .NET. It also includes a partial port of the Mercury library and runtime to .NET. This is still work in progress.

SmallScript and Smalltalk for .NET: The S# language implementation (pronounced s-sharp) is a complete modular redesign of the Smalltalk language, offering transparent cross-language integration and component based deployment.

Perl for .NET: Download a trial version of NetCOBOL for .NET V1.1 Now

Eiffel ENViSioN! 1.2 offers users an enhanced experience within VS .NET. It now supports both Visual Studio.NET 2002 & 2003, so developers can choose the version of Visual Studio most suited for their needs.

Fortran for .NET, download our Technology Preview. Lahey Computer Systems and Fujitsu are currently developing a new product called Fortran for .NET with a compiler that generates MSIL and has new language extensions for object-oriented features and interoperability with other .NET languages.

AVR for .NET: AVR for .NET is ASNA’s next-generation of Visual RPG. AVR for .NET “snaps” into Microsoft’s Visual Studio.NET 2003 and provides an RPG compiler that works with Visual Studio’s built-in debugger. AVR for .NET’s RPG compiles to native, managed code, Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) assemblies.

ActiveState PerlASPX enables professional Perl programmers to use Perl for dynamic content generation on ASP.NET Web servers. For more information or to download PerlASPX, click here. Perl for .NET Research is the result of a research project, creating a native code compiler for Perl to the Microsoft .NET Framework. The status of this compiler is experimental; it also supports just a subset of the language. The latest version of Perl for .NET Research is PerlForDotNet-5.6.0.613.msi.

Python: Perl for .Net and Python for .Net will provide programmers with easy interoperability between languages, cross-language inheritance and they will enable programmers to simply create, extend and consume .NET components.

Oberon for .net: Oberon is a member of the Pascal language family. From its ancestors Pascal and Modula-2 it inherits a compact, highly expressive and self-explanatory syntax, strictly enforced data types, and a concept of module in combination with public view.

NetCOBOL for .NET: Fujitsu NetCOBOL for .NET smoothly integrates with other languages such as Visual Basic, C#, and Eiffel. Fujitsu Software is the only COBOL vendor to announce support for Microsoft .NET and ASP.NET, including Web Services.

Delphi: Vendor: Borland

Mondrian for .NET: Mondrian is a functional language specifically designed for interoperating in OO environments.

F# is an implementation of the core of the Caml programming language for the .NET Framework, along with cross-language extensions. The aim is to have it work together seamlessly with C#, Visual Basic, SML.NET and other .NET programming languages.

Dyalog APL for .NET

Check the following links for more detials:
Visual Basic, C# , JScript , C++ , J# , APL , Cobol , Component Pascal , Delta Forth .NET compiler, Eiffel , Fortran , Haskell , Mercury , Oberon , PERL , Python , Salford FTN95 , Scheme SmallScript , Standard ML , TMT Pascal & F#

VB.NET and C# Comparison

Nice link to know differences between VB.NET and C#:
http://www.harding.edu/fmccown/vbnet_csharp_comparison.html

Differences Between Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET" white paper is available:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308470

Goals of Visual Studio 2005

Welcome to the Visual Studio 2005 Guided Tour:

Visual Studio 2005 provides developers with enhanced functionality across a wide range of areas allowing developers to build richer, more powerful applications with decreased development time.
With a single fully integrated development environment for all types of development including Windows, Office, Web, and Mobile applications, Visual Studio 2005 provides a wealth of benefit to the developer.
Visual Studio 2005 provides individual developers and development organizations a number of new and improved features:
A comprehensive tools platform - Visual Studio 2005 offers productive developer tools for customers of all stripes, from the novice programmer to the experienced enterprise development team. With Visual Studio 2005, developers enjoy comprehensive tools that offer a development experience tailored for their unique needs.
Reduced development complexity - Visual Studio 2005 enables customers to more easily deliver a broad range of .NET Framework-based solutions, including Windows, Office, Web, and mobile applications.
Improved team communication - Visual Studio 2005 Team System offers productive and integrated lifecycle tools that increase communication and collaboration among participants in the IT lifecycle.
A vibrant third-party ecosystem - Take advantage of over 300 products from over 150 Visual Studio Industry Partners program participants and enjoy a comprehensive array of third-party solutions that augment Visual Studio 2005.

Design Goals for VS2005:

Visual Studio 2005 - A Comprehensive Tools Platform
Microsoft will ship four different "levels" of products in Visual Studio 2005:
The Express products. Lightweight, easy to use, easy to learn tools for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and students who want to learn how to program or evaluate the .NET Framework.
Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition. The entry-point developer tool for professionals looking for a streamlined development experience and the ability to create robust client/server applications using the .NET Framework.
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition. The professional developer tool for individual programmers or those working in small teams who are building mission-critical, multi-tier smart client, Web, and mobile applications.
Visual Studio 2005 Team System. Productive, integrated lifecycle tools that help teams communicate and collaborate more effectively as they deliver modern, service-oriented solutions on the .NET Framework.

The Express products
Software development today is out of the reach of most beginning and hobbyist programmers. When they use most professional development tools, they often appear too complicated, too confusing, too disjointed, and with too many buttons, menu items, and choices to comprehend all at once. While every individual possesses the potential to master these tools, the tool's complexity is often a barrier to both understanding and enjoying programming.
The new Express products expand significantly on Microsoft's demonstrated successes in delivering highly productive tools, by offering hobbyists, enthusiasts, and students the lightweight, easy to use, easy to learn tools to build dynamic Windows applications and Web sites. With the Express products, users can:
Learn how to program using a streamlined, lightweight development environment with built in tutorial content
Evaluate the .NET Framework for Windows and Web development
Create fun and interesting applications for their personal enjoyment or to share with their friends

The Express products consist of:
Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, a lightweight tool for building dynamic Web sites and Web services
Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition, a streamlined programming tool for beginning programmers to learn how to build exciting Windows applications
Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition, and Visual J# 2005 Express Edition, targeted programming tools for students and enthusiasts who wish to learn the fundamentals of Computer Science
Microsoft also ships SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, an entry-level database for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and student developers

These products are only the beginning. Microsoft has also worked with a number of content providers and community groups to build out a healthy ecosystem of content, forums, and resources to enable users to be more successful, including:

Content providers, delivering plug-ins and Starter Kits to the Express products
Community resources, offering users, newsgroups and forums a place where they can congregate, exchange ideas and get assistance from fellow users
Training and learning partnerships with book publishers, training vendors, and more to assist users in taking the subsequent steps beyond being a tinkerer to becoming an IT professional

Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition:
Visual Studio Standard Edition is an entrypoint professional development tool that maintains the simplicity of the Express line but delivers access to the powerful development tools necessary to construct data-focused client applications, n-tier applications (Connected Systems) using Web services, and rich Web applications. Visual Basic 6.0 developers moving to the .NET Framework will find that Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition combines the productivity enhancements coming to Visual Basic 2005 such as My, IntelliSense, Code Snippets, and Edit and Continue with the power that they require for constructing line of business applications and migrating to a modern development environment.
Visual Studio Standard Edition also provides Web developers who are building line of business applications with a full-featured development environment for constructing advanced data-driven, dynamic applications, while still keeping a slimmed-down, Web focused IDE. Visual Studio Standard Edition includes advanced Web development features, such as pre-compilation of Web sites, full debugging tools, richer data-access, Section 507 and WCAG accessibility checking, and simplified support for site localization.
Visual Studio Standard Edition also includes support for extending the development environment with over 300 tools from over 175 Visual Studio Integration Partners (VSIP) program participants.

Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition:
Microsoft offers Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition for professional developers working alone or in small teams who build mission-critical, multi-tier applications. The Professional Edition expands on the Standard Edition feature set to include tools for remote server development and debugging, SQL Server 2005 development, and a full, unconstrained development environment.
Professional developers will enjoy unfettered access to the .NET Framework 2.0, a robust, fully functional development environment, that provides support for creating tools that extend the Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment, and tools for creating multi-tier Windows and Web applications.

Visual Studio 2005 Team System:
Today's software systems are comprised of numerous distributed services, spanning platforms, protocols, and programming languages, all with significant impact on the operations environment. Moreover, teams have become increasingly specialized and geographically distributed. Successful deployment of modern solutions depends on bridging the communication gap between development and operations so that the entire IT department is represented early and often throughout the software lifecycle.

The new Visual Studio Team System expands significantly on Microsoft's demonstrated successes in delivering highly productive tools, by offering businesses tightly integrated and extensible lifecycle tools to increase the predictability of their software development process. With Visual Studio Team System, organizations can:
Reduce the complexity of delivering modern service-oriented solutions that are designed for operations
Facilitate collaboration among all members of a software team, speeding development time and ensuring the predictability and reliability of the development process
Customize and extend the Team System with their own internal tools and process frameworks, or choose from over 450 supplemental products from over 190 partners

Visual Studio Team System consists of:
Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, an extensible team collaboration server that enables all members of the extended IT team to effortlessly manage and track the progress and health of projects
Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects, visual designers that enable architects, operations managers, and developers to design service-oriented solutions that can be validated against their operational environments
Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Developers, advanced development tools that enable teams to build reliable, mission-critical services and applications
Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Testers, advanced load testing tools that enable teams to verify the performance of applications prior to deployment
Visual Studio Team Suite, a bundle of Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects, Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Developers, and Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Testers
Proven process guidance, prescriptive architectural guidance, and solution accelerators that assist organizations in improving the predictability and reliability of delivering mission-critical solutions

Visual Studio 2005 Guided Tour

Visual Studio 2005 Guided Tour link:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/tour/vs2005_guided_tour/default.htm#

Good one