0808vsm_RdrsChoice_C2_final 8/14/08 11:55 AM Page 1 SPECIAL SECTION: 2008 BUYERS GUIDE 2008 Buyers Guide Readers Choice Awards 4 Product Listings 6 Third-Party Tools Put the “Rapid” in RAD 2 Project3 7/10/08 1:32 PM Page 1 Project3 7/10/08 1:33 PM Page 2 0808vsm_BGEdNote_2.final 7/24/08 2:05 PM Page 2 Editor’s Note THIRD-PARTY TOOLS BY PATRICK MEADER PUT THE “RAPID” IN RAD editor in chief Welcome to the Visual Studio Magazine 2008 Buyers Guide supplement! Every year, the editors of Visual Studio Magazine survey include anything that covers DVD- or online-based training. the third-party market of tools and services for Visual Studio We think K-Source is intriguing for several reasons, not least and compile a list of relevant products in areas that are of the because it brings the notion of suites of controls that have most interest to Visual Studio developers. This year we com- proven so popular in the VS market to the area of training. K- piled a list of more than 400 products and services across 22 cat- Source gives you the ability to package together a wide range egories (these begin on p.6).Note that you won’t see any prod- of online training subjects for your entire development team ucts from Microsoft listed in the categories; this is a survey of (see VSM’s review of K-Source on p.12 of the August issue). third-party solution providers, which by definition excludes The listings in the print version of this supplement provide Microsoft’s offerings.When compiling the list,we allow a prod- the product name,company,and a Web site for each of the prod- uct to be listed in only one category.In cases where a product fits ucts within a given category.You can find a more detailed version more than one category (and this is frequently the case), we of these listings at VisualStudioMagazine.com (Locator+ attempt to choose the closest category fit for that product. code VS08BG). There, the listings also include the version Once we compile a list of categories and products,we ask number of the product at the time we created the listing, readers to vote for the best product in each category (see p. 4). pricing information on the various products, and phone Unlike many awards programs,VSM takes significant precau- numbers, where available, for contacting the companies that tions to prevent ballot stuffing and to ensure that it’s the mag- make the products listed. You can also download the azine’s readers who determine the winners.For example,VSM PDF version of this Buyer’s Guide by going to VisualStudio randomly selects a subset of its readers and invites them to Magazine.com/buyersguide/pdf. vote on the awards. Only people who receive this special e- We at VSM congratulate all the winners; it is a special mail invitation are able to vote on the awards, and there are honor to have your products voted as the best of their respec- mechanisms in place to ensure that each person votes only tive classes by the people who use them day in and day out.We once. More than 500 developers took us up on our invitation also want to salute all the vendors who create products for the to vote on the best VS third-party products and services. The Visual Studio marketplace. Visual Studio’s C# and VB.NET products that received the most votes in a given category are both highly productive languages for creating business receive the Readers Choice Award (RCA); runner-ups receive apps, but it is the contributions of the third parties you see the Readers Choice Merit Award. covered in this supplement’s pages that put the “rapid” in The safeguards we take help ensure that companies can’t rapid application development (RAD). stack the vote by posting a link to the awards and begging or We also want to take a moment to acknowledge the con- otherwise encouraging their customers to vote for their prod- tribution ofMicrosoft in creating a healthy third-party mar- ucts. It also means companies can’t stack the results by spam- ket.From Visual Basic’s inception all the way up to the current ming votes for their own company’s products. Visual Studio 2008,Microsoft has built in the ability to extend Readers determine the winners in every category but the core functionality of its RAD development tools. Credit one, the Editors Choice Award. Each year, we single out a for that probably goes to a lot of people at Microsoft, but that product or two for special mention that otherwise wouldn’t decision continues to pay off for both Microsoft and those qualify to be listed in the listings. who use its Visual Studio development products. This year’s Editors Choice is AppDev’s K-Source Online, Finally, we wish to thank Nicole Abramowitz for her which doesn’t neatly fit any of the existing categories. Yes, invaluable assistance in compiling this list of products and there is a category for Instructor-Led Training, but we don’t fact-checking each and every entry. VSM PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREW GRANT BY PHOTO 2 VSM: Buyers Guide & Product Directory · August 2008 · VisualStudioMagazine.com/buyersguide/pdf Project1 7/14/08 2:53 PM Page 1 0808vsm_RdrsChoiceAwards_4.final 7/24/08 2:21 PM Page 4 SPECIAL SECTION Readers Choice Awards Editors Choice Award Development Tools Instructor-Led Training Software Design, • K-Source (AppDev) Frameworks, & Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Award Modeling Tools Bug and Feature Tracking • VMware Workstation (VMware) • AppDev Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Merit Award • CA ERwin Data Modeler (CA) • IBM Rational ClearQuest • ReSharper (JetBrains) • Global Knowledge Network • Rational Rose Developer for (IBM Rational) Visual Studio (IBM Rational) Grid Components – Desktop Middleware & Server-Based Readers Choice Merit Awards Tools Readers Choice Merit Award • DevTrack (TechExcel) Readers Choice Award • PowerBuilder (Sybase) • FogBugz (Fog Creek Software) • Spread for Windows Forms Readers Choice Award (FarPoint Technologies) • Crystal Reports Server UI Components – Desktop Charting & Multimedia (Business Objects) Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Award • Xceed Grid for .NET Readers Choice Merit Awards • NetAdvantage for Windows Forms • ChartFX Gauges for .NET (Xceed Software) • StarTeam (Borland) (Infragistics) (SoftwareFX) • XtraGrid Suite (Developer Express) • Dundas Chart for .NET Mobility Tools & Frameworks Readers Choice Merit Award (Dundas Software) Grid Components – Web Forms • ComponentOne Studio for Readers Choice Award WinForms (ComponentOne) Readers Choice Merit Awards Readers Choice Award • ComponentOne Studio for Mobile • WebChart for ASP.NET • Grid FX (Software FX) (ComponentOne) UI Components – Web Forms (ComponentArt) Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Award Component Suites for .NET – • ASPxGridView and Editor’s Suite • Pocket Chart FX for .NET • NetAdvantage for ASP.NET Desktop and Web (Developer Express) (Software FX) (Infragistics) Readers Choice Award Help Authoring PDF Tools Readers Choice Merit Award • NetAdvantage for .NET • RadControls for ASP.NET (telerik) (Infragistics) Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Award • RoboHelp (Adobe) • activePDF Toolkit (activePDF) Web Design & Development Readers Choice Merit Award • PDF Creator (Amyuni Technologies) Tools • ComponentOne Studio Enterprise Readers Choice Merit Award (ComponentOne) • ComponentOne Doc-to-Help Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Award • RadControls for ASP.NET + Enterprise (ComponentOne) • PDFXpress (Pegasus Imaging) • Dreamweaver (Adobe) WinForms + Telerik Reporting (telerik) Imaging & Graphics Performance, Profiling, & Readers Choice Merit Award Debugging Tools • Altova XMLSpy (Altova) Readers Choice Award Data Editing, Reporting, & • Dundas Gauge for .NET Analysis Tools Readers Choice Award Web Hosting (Dundas Software) • ANTS Profiler (Red Gate Software) • LEADTOOLS Document Imaging Readers Choice Award • DevPartner Studio Professional Readers Choice Award Suite (LEAD Technologies) • Crystal Reports for Visual Studio Edition (Compuware) • 1&1 Internet (1&1) (Business Objects) Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Merit Award Readers Choice Merit Awards • ImagXpress (Pegasus Imaging) Readers Choice Merit Award • IBM Rational PurifyPlus • DiscountASP.NET • Active Reports for .NET for Windows (IBM Rational) (DiscountASP.NET) (Data Dynamics) Installation, Setup, & • GoDaddy (GoDaddy) Deployment Tools Security & Copy Protection Data, Network and Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Award Web Connectivity • InstallShield (Acresso Software) • Dotfuscator (PreEmptive Solutions) Readers Choice Award Readers Choice Merit Award • IP*Works! (/n software) Readers Choice Merit Award • Wise Package Studio (Altiris) • VMware ACE (VMware) Readers Choice Merit Award • .NET Internet Component Suite (ComponentSpace) 4 VSM: Buyers Guide & Product Directory · August 2008 · VisualStudioMagazine.com/buyersguide/pdf Project4 5/8/08 10:46 AM Page 1 Chart FX is campaigning to be your data visualization Solution in 2008. Keep up with the campaign and download more info about the candidate at www.chartfx.com The ‘Under Pressure’ Remedy. Chart FX provides platform independent and server agnostic components to allow developers to focus on developing applications rather than battling compatibility issues. This makes Chart FX the only commercial data visualization component capable of being deployed in disparate IT architectures that natively adapt to the platforms being used on both the server and the client. Developers can easily leverage their Chart FX knowledge from one platform to another. Choose the less stress charting solution. www.chartfx.com Paid for by Software FX and the Committee to Elect Chart FX SPECIAL SECTION Page Category 6 Bug & Feature Tracking Product Listings 6 Charting & Multimedia 10 Component Suites for .NET—Desktop and Web his section comprises a comprehensive list of available products 10 Data Editing, Reporting, & Analysis Tools and resources for the Visual Studio .NET developer. We provide 14 Data, Network, & Web Connectivity T 14 Development Tools contact information for each vendor—how to reach them on the 17 Grid Components—Desktop Internet, and more often than not, by phone as well.