Microsoft Visual Studio Express was a free, lightweight, feature-limited set of integrated development environments (IDEs) created by Microsoft. It was designed as an entry-level version of the professional Visual Studio suite, aimed primarily at hobbyists, students, and beginners who wanted to learn Windows and web development without purchasing a commercial license.
First introduced in 2005, Visual Studio Express served as a gateway for millions of new developers. Microsoft officially the Express line in 2017, replacing it with Visual Studio Community , which is a more fully-featured, free version for small teams, open-source contributors, and individual developers. Key Editions of Visual Studio Express Unlike the unified Visual Studio Community, Express was split into several product-specific editions . Each edition targeted a single programming paradigm or platform. visual studio express