The Microsoft Exchange Server Development Environment

The Microsoft Exchange Server system is a MAPI service provider built on the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server platform employing the Active Messaging Library. You can use Microsoft® Visual C++® or Visual Basic® to develop Microsoft Exchange Server applications. You can also use the interfaces included with Microsoft Exchange Server and the Microsoft Exchange Server SDK. Choosing the most appropriate tools depends on the application you plan to develop and the environment in which it will run.

The typical Microsoft Exchange Server SDK development environment includes the following components:

• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.51 or later as a base platform.
• Visual C++ version 4.0 or later (earlier versions are incompatible with the Microsoft Exchange Server SDK).
• Microsoft Exchange Client.
• Microsoft Exchange Server. For many applications, you must install the entire Microsoft Exchange Server product. Some applications require only the Administrator program.

After installing the above components, you can install the SDK itself. Also, you must ensure that the proper changes have been made to the system environment variables. Specific information regarding the correct setting of registry and environmental variables can be found in the Microsoft Exchange portion of the Microsoft BackOffice Resource Kit. To guide you through the development process, as well as illustrate the features of Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft has provided several sample applications in the Microsoft Exchange Server SDK.

For more information about the tools necessary for application development for Microsoft Exchange Server, see the Microsoft Exchange Server documentation in the "Database and Messaging Services" section of the Microsoft Platform SDK.