The extensive changes to Visual Basic and the newness of the .NET platform call for a VB .NET reference guide oriented toward professional developers--those deeply experienced in Visual Basic and those adding VB .NET to their list of mastered languages. VB .NET Language in a Nutshell answers the call. As a reference book, it doesn't waste space on simple concepts, but documents, using practical examples, how language elements work, alternative approaches, optimal usage, and potential pitfalls. As a quick introduction, the first section of VB .NET Language in a Nutshell leads you through the important areas of programming VB .NET, including:

• Variables and Data Types

• Introduction to Object Oriented Programming

• The .NET Framework: General Concepts

• The .NET Framework Class Library

• Delegates and Events

• Error Handling

• What's New and Different in VB .NET

• Language Elements by category

• Operators

• Constants and Enumerations

• The VB .NET Command Line Compiler

• VB 6 Language Elements Not Supported by VB .NET

The meat of the book is the alphabetical reference to the functions, statements, directives, objects, and object members that make up the VB .NET language. As an experienced developer, you can quickly get the whole story on a language element that interests you or seems to be behaving unexpectedly in your code. To ease your transition to .NET, there's a "VB .NET/VB 6 Differences" section for each language element. A hefty appendix section includes: No matter how much experience you have programming with VB, this is the kind of book you'll want to have close by, both as your standard reference guide and as a tool for troubleshooting and identifying programming problems.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 15 Ratings

CD not for VS.NET 2003 - 2003-06-12
Reviewer Rating:
A very handy reference manual. Be aware that the included CD will not integrate the book into Visual Studio.NET 2003.

This is a "In a Nutshell" book - 2003-01-29
Reviewer Rating:
I think the book stands up to it's title. It's a quick tour of the VB.NET language for the pro(specially for VB6 users). After i took some courses in VB.NET i was looking for books to read further and this out of many i read has the most clarifying and to the point examples. Certainly has not detailed explanations but that's not it's purpose. It's an overview and i think a bright one.

A Fair Review - 2004-10-15
Reviewer Rating:
This is basically a reference book to VB.NEt Functions.

The book is divided into 2 parts.

Part 1: Gives you A very simplified introduction to VB.NET
and is only 143 small pages.(If you put them together it is only 71 normal page). So do not expect much from this book.

Part 2: about 400 pages is only a reference to the functions.


Button line:
Do not buy this if:
You want to learn VB.NET throughly.

Still I bought it, only because at $2.5(I bought it for that price) it is a good deal for an Index book.

Another Solid Reference by O'Reilly - 2002-11-26
Reviewer Rating:
Let me say this: THIS IS NOT A "HOW TO" BOOK. Aside from that, anyone who is using VB .NET will love and rely on this valuable and well-organized reference. The "In a Nutshell" series by O'Reilly is among the best out there.

Great reference book! - 2005-02-04
Reviewer Rating:
I absolutely highly recommend this book.

Having read through several .NET books with no rhyme or reason whatsoever as to how they're put together, I was hoping this book would become a concise _beginning_ point of reference for me.

Boy was I wrong! I use this book constantly. The first week I had it, I referenced it almost daily, and not just for the quick-fix-reminders (in which order do those stupid DateDiff arguments come?). There are nine chapters before the actual reference, which are a veritable tome of information not found anywhere else (at least, not by me). In fact, I'd venture to say that the chapter on OOP should be required reading before you can even download the framework. There are a lot of concepts in that chapter that are required even to build simple apps in ASP.NET (not to mention VB.NET) that in Classic ASP were not necessary.

So, who is VB.NET in a Nutshell good for? The book goes into great detail about the differences between VB 6 and VB.NET: each chapter includes the relevant differences to the topic at hand; and each reference entry includes a section on VB6/VB.NET differences. So if you're looking for a book to ease your transition to the .NET world, this is all you need. If you are new to programming, then you have several chapters on the major concepts, as well as a roughly 450-page section on the VB.NET Language. In fact, on page xi of the preface, it actually says (and I paraphrase): Developers who know Visual Basic; developers who know other programming languages; and developers who are new to programming. Well, shucks, that's pretty much anyone who's reading this review, isn't it?
Stop reading now. Buy it.

I said stop.

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