Microsoft Visual Studio Express

Note: Visual Studio Express 2017 is only available for Windows Desktop developers, as UWP or Web editions will not be released, and it is the final version of the Visual Studio Express product line. If you are looking for an updated alternative that is still in development, you may wish to try Visual Studio Community.

Visual Studio Express Edition is one of the most popular platforms designed for passionate programmers. It can be used to develop desktop apps, Metro style programs and hardware drivers.

The GUI looks very familiar for users with plenty of experience in the programming department, but rookies are likely to experience headaches when opening this application.

Fortunately, there is a very helpful online community that's ready to come to your aid with tips and tricks, but you still must have some basic skills in a programming language.

Visual Studio Express Edition comes with features like multi-monitor support (so you can drag and drop documents from one monitor to another), zoom (in editors or diagrams), navigation (through files, code, variables and methods; more efficient than the common search function), as well as Intellisense (Visual Studio's intuitive feature that simplifies your coding experience).

You can find C++ and MFC features, multi-targeting support, F# integration, as well as easily create Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) applications without having to code in XAML.

You can create individual web applications (that can be deployed by using the One Click Publish feature), and design amazing Silverlight applications for a website.

While Visual Studio Express Edition is running, CPU and memory resources are heavily used, so don't expect your computer to work in normal parameters. It's a complex program, after all.

The bottom line is that if you are a serious user who proudly calls himself a programmer, then Visual Studio Express Edition should be at your fingertips. It's a must-have tool.