This book will help you acquire solid knowledge and many practical hands-on programming skills. It is intended for beginners. The selection of topics is designed to help you learn the fundamentals of Visual Basic .NET programming and Visual Studio .NET development tools. Each chapter in this book is accompanied by a relevant lab project that will allow you consolidate your knowledge and practice your new skills.

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Programming Chapter 2: Decision Making Chapter 3: Repetition and Arrays Chapter 4: Windows Applications and Function Procedures Appendices A: Flowcharting and Pseudocode B: Exploring the Visual Basic .NET IDE and Debugging C: General Forms of Common Visual Basic .NET Statements, Data Types, and Naming Conventions D: Programming Fundamentals Best Practices

This inexpensive--yet complete--Visual Basic resource includes something for everyone: tutorials, advanced tips and tricks, and a complete reference section to VB functions and commands. Chapters range from the basics of the development environment to interactive Web programming with ASP.NET and database programming with ADO.NET.

bull; Demystifies aspects of Visual Basic .NET that are difficult to master, such as remoting, multithreading, reflection, security, and COM interoperability. bull; Contains in-depth coverage of topics barely touched upon in other books. bull; Author is a well-known and respected guru in the Microsoft programming community.

Accelerate your productivity with Visual Basic® .NET—and quickly create powerful Win32® applications and high-performance, scalable applications for the Web—with this indispensable tutorial and reference. Building on the success of the author's popular programming book for Visual Basic 6.0, this new book teaches you the best practices for porting and reusing existing Visual Basic code in the .NET Framework as well as for exploiting the language's advanced new object-oriented capabilities. It covers the common language runtime (CLR), multithreaded programs, Windows® Forms applications, GDI+ graphic programming, Windows services, ADO.NET classes for database programs, ASP.NET Web Forms, and Web Services. It includes advanced optimization techniques and tips for leveraging the power of the Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET environment. Topics covered include: Getting started with Visual Basic .NET Modules, variables, and error handling Object-oriented features, including inheritance Delegates and attributes Arrays, lists, and collections Files, directories, and streams Object serialization Regular expressions Threading Assemblies and AppDomains Reflection Windows Forms applications and GDI+ Windows Forms custom control creation Windows services ADO.NET XML ASP.NET Web Forms applications User controls and custom controls XML Web services CD+DVD INSIDE! CD-ROM features: A fully searchable electronic copy of PROGRAMMING MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC 6.0 Sample applications written in Visual Basic .NET A Note Regarding the CD or DVD The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to [email protected].

Praise for The Visual Basic .NET Programming Language "There is no substitute to getting the inside scoop directly from a book written by the father of a programming language such as Bjarne Stroustrup for C++, James Gosling for Java and Alan Cooper for the original version of Visual Basic. Paul Vick, the father of Visual Basic .NET, explains the whys and hows of this exciting new language better than any other human being on the planet." --Ted Pattison, Barracuda.NET "The Visual Basic .NET Programming Language includes nuances that in all my use and study of VB .NET, I haven''t seen discussed anywhere else. For example, I learned that you can use the Imports statement to import an Enum name, so that you needn''t refer to the enum in all its uses. In addition, I learned that the dictionary lookup operator, ''!'', works in VB .NET--I thought this one had been retired. In any case, if you''re searching for a book that covers all the language syntax issues, and more, Paul Vick''s book is a great place to look." --Ken Getz, Senior Consultant, MCW Technologies, LLC "This book is an excellent stepping stone for Visual Basic developers wanting to get their toes wet in the .NET waters. Paul''s presentation of the core topics all VB developers should tackle first is clear, concise, and unlike other books in the genre, does not overwhelm the reader. The VB6 vs. VB.NET task-oriented approach guides you through the new language and OO features, and then moves to basic threading and other CLR topics--as well as to the key points in the COM to .NET transition--in a well thought-out sequence. If you''ve been holding out on VB .NET, this is a great book to get you started." --Klaus H. Probst, Sr. Consultant/Architect, Spherion Technology Services, Microsoft MVP "There is no shortage of VB .NET books in the market, but this is the only book straight from the creators. While that is an excellent reason in itself for reading this book, it is the brevity and clarity of the content, along with the examples, that makes this book a must-have." --Amit Kalani, Developer "Overall, I liked this book and it definitely benefited me. I learned new things I didn''t see anywhere else and I''ll certainly put these to good use in the future. Paul''s book makes a great reference manual for intermediate and advanced VB .NET developers." --Philip Williams, System Engineer, LDC Direct "This book contains a lot of great information I have seen nowhere else and addresses issues that other books do not." --Ethan Roberts, .NET Architect, General Casualty "This book is full of useful information and provides a good historical background for the Visual Basic .NET Language." --Dave Vitter, Technical Lead Developer and author of Designing Visual Basic .NET Applications (Coriolis, 2001) The definitive Microsoft Visual Basic .NET reference--authored by Visual Basic .NET''s lead architect If you want to leverage all of VB .NET''s immense power, get this book. It''s the definitive VB .NET reference and tutorial, and the first Visual Basic book written by one of VB .NET''s lead architects. No other book offers this much behind-the-scenes insight about why VB .NET works the way it does, how it evolved, and how you can make the most of it. The Visual Basic .NET Programming Language is a superb learning tool for new VB .NET programmers and a must-have reference for developers at every level. Paul Vick presents precise language descriptions, essential reference materials, practical insights, and hundreds of code samples, straight from Microsoft''s VB .NET design team. Just some of the features include: A history and overview of Visual Basic''s evolution into VB .NET Complete coverage of the language syntax Transitioning from COM to the CLR and leveraging the .NET platform Runtime functions Taking full advantage of VB .NET''s object-oriented features Notes on style, design, and compatibility throughout the text Notes for the advanced user throughout the text Vick exposes VB .NET''s most powerful capabilities with unprecedented depth and clarity, and packs this book with information you simply won''t find anywhere else. Whether you''re an experienced VB .NET programmer, upgrading from earlier versions of Visual Basic, or coming to Visual Basic and .NET for the first time, you''ll find this book indispensable.