Editing Microsoft Developer Network (section)

=== Library ===
'''MSDN Library''' was a library of official technical documentation intended for independent [[Software developer|developers]] of software for [[Microsoft Windows]]. MSDN Library documented the [[Application Programming Interface|APIs]] that ship with Microsoft products and also included sample code, technical articles, and other programming information. The library was freely available on the web, with [[Compact disc|CDs]] and [[DVD]]s of the most recent materials initially issued quarterly as part of an MSDN subscription. However, beginning in 2006, they were available to be freely downloaded from Microsoft Download Center in the form of [[ISO image]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nandal/archive/2006/07/27/free-download-of-msdn-library.aspx|title=MSDN Blogs|publisher=Microsoft}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B8704100-0127-4D88-9B5D-896B9B388313&displaylang=en|title=Microsoft Download Center: Windows, Office, Xbox & More|publisher=Microsoft}}</ref><ref name="MSDN2008SP1">{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7BBE5EDA-5062-4EBB-83C7-D3C5FF92A373|title=Download MSDN Library for Visual Studio 2008 SP1 from Official Microsoft Download Center|publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> 

[[Visual Studio Express]] edition integrated only with MSDN Express Library, which was a subset of the full MSDN Library, although either edition of the MSDN Library could be freely downloaded and installed standalone.

In [[Visual Studio 2010]] MSDN Library was replaced with the new Help System, which was installed as a part of Visual Studio 2010 installation. Help Library Manager was used to install Help Content books covering selected topics.

In 2016, Microsoft introduced the new technical documentation platform, Microsoft Docs, intended as a replacement of the TechNet and MSDN libraries.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=orkrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 Mark J. Price: C# 7 and .NET Core: Modern Cross-Platform Development] Packt Publishing Ltd, 2017, p. 126</ref><ref>[https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/05/docs-ms-com Jonathan Allen. MSDN/TechNet Being Replaced by Open Source Project docs.microsoft.com] InfoQ News</ref> Over the next two years, the content of the MSDN Library was gradually migrated into Microsoft Docs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/teamblog/dotnet-api-docs-migration|title=.NET API documentation moved from MSDN to docs.microsoft.com|publisher=Microsoft}}</ref> In 2022, Microsoft Docs was itself incorporated into [[Microsoft Learn]]. MSDN Library pages now redirect to the corresponding Microsoft Learn pages.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

==== Integration with Visual Studio ====
Each edition of MSDN Library could only be accessed with one help viewer (Microsoft Document Explorer or other help viewer), which was integrated with the ''then current'' single version or sometimes two versions of Visual Studio. In addition, each new version of Visual Studio did not integrate with an earlier version of MSDN. A compatible MSDN Library was released with each new version of Visual Studio and included on the Visual Studio DVD. As newer versions of Visual Studio were released, newer editions of MSDN Library did not integrate with older Visual Studio versions and did not even include old/obsolete documentation for deprecated or discontinued products. MSDN Library versions could be installed side-by-side, that is, both the older as well as the newer versions of MSDN Library could co-exist.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}