Microsoft Developer Network

The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) was the division of Microsoft responsible for managing the firm's relationship with developers and testers, such as hardware developers interested in the operating system (OS), and software developers developing on the various OS platforms or using the API or scripting languages of Microsoft's applications. Starting in January 2020, the website was fully integrated with Microsoft Docs (itself integrated into Microsoft Learn in 2022). MSDN's primary web presence at msdn.microsoft.com was a collection of sites for the developer community that provided information, documentation, and discussion that was authored both by Microsoft and by the community at large. Microsoft later began placing emphasis on incorporation of forums, blogs, library annotations and social bookmarking to make MSDN an open dialog with the developer community rather than a one-way service. The main website, and most of its constituent applications below were available in 56 or more languages. MSDN Library was a library of official technical documentation intended for independent developers of software for Microsoft Windows. MSDN Library documented the 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 CDs and DVDs 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 images. 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.