Tools needed for C#

[Ijack]

I think you confuse the tools with the language. As for the IDE "breaking down" you might as well ask what happens when the compiler breaks down. IDEs, like compilers, don't break down.

Great advances have been made in computer science, both in languages and in the tools to use. I wouldn't advise a user to learn COBOL (or, God help us, BASIC), and I wouldn't advise them to use edlin and a command-line compiler. The important thing is to learn the algorithms and the syntax of the language; anything that helps with that is to be applauded.

Using a command-line compiler teaches you neither of these things. At best it gives you a false sense of superiority over those who embrace the appropriate tools. I can use "vi" with the best of them, and do when absolutely forced to, but I use Eclipse to do my programming. I'd be a fool not to let the computer do what it is good at. The program is the important thing to me not the particular mechanism that converts it into assember instructions.

There are times when you do need to delve in lower-level details. In my experience, when writing an Operating System you need to be aware of the compiler and the linker and how they work. But this is not a concern for someone learning programming. When you are competent and need to delve into lower-level details by all means do so. But don't deny a beginner the framework that will teach him good algorithms and syntax without having to worry about the nuts and bolts of a particular compiler and processor.

 

[majestic1805]

I think you confuse the tools with the language. As for the IDE "breaking down" you might as well ask what happens when the compiler breaks down. IDEs, like compilers, don't break down.

My experience tells me otherwise. In several places on separate machines and different domains, getting "studio'd" is common place and you should know how to roll with the punches in these cases. In the worst cases this requires a re-installation of VS which can take at least couple hours depending on the environment and various things you need to install with it.

Your last comment of "But don't deny a beginner the framework that will teach him good algorithms and syntax without having to worry about the nuts and bolts of a particular compiler and processor" makes me question your experience with .net, though. The .net compiler does not care about the platform you're on and is a very straightforward and easy thing to deal with. All it cares about is converting your code to IL. The JIT compiler in the .net runtime does the final conversion to assembler based on local machine conditions based on this IL (intermediate language) and is seamless.