Programming Visual Basic .NET is the complete guide to application development using Visual Basic .NET. Targeted at programmers with some prior programming experience, the book covers the major areas of application development for Microsoft's new .NET platform. After starting with the traditional "hello world" application, the book discusses the two basic building blocks of any .NET application built with Visual Basic--the Visual Basic .NET programming language and the .NET Framework. Topics covered include:

• Visual Basic language elements

• Visual Basic's object-oriented language features

• Programming with attributes

• The Common Language Runtime

• Garbage Collection and the Finalize and Dispose methods

• Programmatically reading from and writing to .NET configuration files

• Developing Multiple Document Interface (MDI) Windows Forms applications.

• Handling form and control placement and resizing

• Working with Windows Forms menus

• Working with Windows Common Dialogs

• Taking advantage of .NET printer services programmatically

• Using ASP.NET HTML controls and Web controls

• Understanding security in ASP.NET

• Creating, discovering, and consuming web services

• Accessing data in your .NET applications using ADO.NET

The remainder of the book focuses on the three major kinds of applications that can be developed with the .NET Framework: Windows Forms applications, ASP.NET applications, and web services. In each case, the book shows you how to build an application using Visual Studio .NET as well as using a text editor and the Visual Basic command-line compiler. This gives you an "under the hood" look at what Visual Studio is doing and allows you to gain a greater understanding of how a .NET application works--an understanding that you can take advantage of in building your own applications. Individual development topics covered in these chapters include: Published just in time for the first release of Visual Studio .NET,Programming Visual Basic .NET is sure to become a key component of developers' .NET libraries.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 6 Ratings

Good book...not great - 2002-03-13
Reviewer Rating:
While this book does contain a little bit for everybody, it's not presented as well as in some other books. Some great explanations and examples, but most are at a very introductory level.

The chapter on ASP.NET is well organized, and everyone interested in using ASP.NET will learn something. There is a great section on data validation and a clear explanation on how to use the Application, Session, and Cookie objects. ASP developers should have little trouble ramping up to ASP.NET quickly. Be aware that the coverage of ADO.NET is sketchy at best.

All in all, Programming Visual Basic .NET is a good book. Not the best book you'll ever read on the subject, but a good beginning level book. If you've every had any experience with Visual Basic or ASP, most of the examples will be very easy to pick up on. However, you'll want to pick up at least one additional book to cover some of the gaps left by this book.

Great Comprehensive Book - 2002-04-04
Reviewer Rating:
Excellent book with a comprehensive view of using VB.NET to develop Windows-based and Web-based solutions, including Web services.

The second chapter in the book, "The Visual Basic .NET Language" was particularly helpful with an in-depth view of the VB.NET language constructs and keywords. The third chapter explains the .NET CLR, assemblies, garbage collection and other concepts new to .NET very clearly.

This book is excellent for programmers moving from classic VB to VB.NET, people new to the VB.NET language, and as a language reference for more advanced users.

An Excellent VB.NET Guide and Reference - 2002-04-20
Reviewer Rating:
Programming Visual Basic .NET does an excellent job of covering all of the language elements and associated .NET framework topics that a developer will need to become an effective VB.NET programmer. This book is successful by getting straight to the point and tackling the issues that programmers need to understand the new language, how it fits in with the .NET framework, and how it differs from Microsoft's previous incarnations of Visual Basic.

In the early chapters Dave covers all of the important VB.NET language constructs and the .NET framework with a clear tone and effective examples. The chapters on Windows Form development are particularly helpful in understanding GUI programming in the language, and how to take advantage of the many new features in .NET including control docking and anchoring, and menu programming. He covers both using the tools in Visual Studio.NET, as well as exploring the creation of Windows Forms through code. This type of in depth information is very helpful for any developer who really wishes to know and understand what's going on behind the scenes of Windows Forms.

The later chapters are similarly well presented and explain the important aspects of additional technologies of the .NET Platform that are central to successful application development. The chapter on ASP.NET does a great job of explaining user controls, form validation, and security in ASP.NET. I've found this information critical in designing solutions that target the web. While the chapter on ADO.NET is perhaps not as comprehensive as the rest, I found the information to be quite helpful and informative enough to implement complete data access solutions. Similarly, the chapter on programming web services in VB.NET has been a great help in understanding how web services function, and their importance in communications across the internet.

Overall I find this book to be a great introduction to the Visual Basic .NET language itself, as well as a great tool for understanding how to use Visual Basic .NET to harness many of the exciting features of the .NET platform.

Excellent Introduction to core .NET topics - 2006-02-13
Reviewer Rating:
I've only read the first 100 pages but I've seen a number of important examples where the author distills key concepts in a few pages or even paragraphs that would take other authors an entire chapter("Delegates" as one example) and yet the author's explanantion is still clearer. This book is not for programming beginners, its for intermediate or higher programmers making the transistion to .NET. This book is still useful in 2006 to explain some key concepts in VB .NET although there have been minor changes in the language since it was written.

Clear, comprehensive guide - 2002-03-12
Reviewer Rating:
This book does a great job helping existing programmers move into .NET quickly. The book's organization of topics and sample applications are also great. I'd recommend it highly.

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