This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you will be up and running with Visual Basic 2008. Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds upon a real-world foundation forged in both technology and business matters, allowing you to learn the essentials of Visual Basic 2008 from the ground up. Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common questions, issues, and tasks. The Q&A section, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.

By the Way notes present interesting pieces of information. Did You Know? tips offer advice or teach an easier way to do something. Watch Out! cautions advise you about potential problems and help you steer clear of disaster.

Learn how to…

• Use the powerful design environment of Visual Studio 2008

• Design feature-rich interfaces using components such as tree views and tabs

• Create robust applications using modern error-handling

• Draw fast graphics using GDI+

• Build a database application using ADO.NET

• Distribute a Visual Basic 2008 Application

• Manipulate the Windows Registry

• Create, read, and write text files

• Use event-driven techniques to build responsive applications

DVD Includes: Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition

On the Web: Register your book at informit.com/title/9780672329845 for access to author code, examples, updates and corrections as they become available.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 14 Ratings

Same as the C# book with VB code/writing pasted in - 2009-05-19
Reviewer Rating:
This book seems to be word-for-word the same as Sams Teach Youself Visual C# 2008 in 24 Hours, with VB code substituted in the right places - although in that manual Basic appears instead of C# in at least one place.

I am not sure if this is a good thing or not - I wanted to learn something about VB and more about Visual Studio and .NET code in general, not merely how to create the same forms and apps I just created in 24 hours of C#!

eBook-Kindle-iPhone version is USELESS - 2009-09-19
Reviewer Rating:
Like the ANY Kindle-only downloaded eBook on an iPHONE, this eBook is USELESS for technical users who need to "mark" in the book or search text.

I can't SEARCH in it (for a phrase); I can't save Notes nor Highlights (yes, I can read them on the iPhone-version if I actually had a KINDLE!!!). All I can do with the iPhone version is READ it and add Page-bookmarks (not "bookmarks w a note"). I can't even Copy the Programming-Code-Sections to paste it into my Visual Basic programming environment (unlike a PDF file).

If you purchase the ACTUAL PDF version of this book elsewhere, at LEAST you could use Adobe Acrobat PDF reader to search in it (and add bookmarks). SO, either buy the book or buy the PDF version, NOT the Kindle-only version.

DO NOT BUY THE EBOOK-KINDLE-VERSION, if you are buying this for the iPhone.

Excellent Beginner VB.NET Book - 2009-09-10
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this book after trying to work through several other VB and C# books... I have a busy life and just can't be too dedicated to learning programming. This book is well written and presents programming VB in a logical and simple manner. There are a few chapters that are pretty slow, like how to customize and use VS 2008...

This is not a "crash course" in VB that you get through in 24 hours. It is 24 one hour lessons for the beginner. So this is for the beginner and not the professional.

VB 2008 in about a month! - 2009-09-08
Reviewer Rating:
VB 2008 in a month

Alright, 26ish hours divided into the span of 30-someodd days. Not bad for me!

I am a beginner, absolutely no programming history (well except for BASIC when I was a kid and made a G.I. Joe dB program that flashed "ACCESS DENIED" if you didn't enter the correct password). This book is for beginners. James Foxall takes you through the steps toward making your own functional, publishable windows form by taking a sometimes blah, but mostly humorous journey.

To start, the book comes with a DVD of VB 2008 Express. It's a simple install. The program is also available from Microsoft Developers Network as a free download (all express editions are free, but lack some advanced functionality from what I can tell). The biggest headache I had with this book is that it doesn't mention until page 16 that you need source files that are available from the Sams Publishing website. It would be nice to have, perhaps in the intro, all of the things laid out that one needs to do before starting the Hour 1--I know it may sound remedial to most, but like I said, I have NO programming experience and this book IS directed to an audience that has no experience.

Source files...oh man! It was absolutely frustrating trying to peruse Sams Publishing site to find this book, register it and then find where you're supposed to download these files that accompany the book. I literally couldn't find out the info from the Sams site. Then I noticed in the little by the way section of the book that James has a link to his site and POOF! The files were easily available and downloadable.

I have to say, that most of the time I was just going through the motions to achieve what needed to be done. After I'd finished I was thinking, "um, I have no idea what I just did, but it works!" Toward the middle, you've had a significant amount of repetition so things began to click for me.

At the end, I am NO expert. I was joking at how I would be the master of VB by the end of the book. Well, it certainly was a joke. I have a grasp of what is going on, but definitely need to practice and read a significant bit more to say I'm proficient.

Overall, I think the idea of laying out the "Hours" (chapters) so that they can be accomplished in about an hour is such a novel idea. I HATE reading, but it kept my interest because I knew I wouldn't be spending all night reading through it. This book is fun, definitely teaches and does a wonderful job at making sure you have some understanding of VB 2008. I would definitely recommend this book to a beginner. If you already know some VB, it might get a little frustrating to you because it is remedial. I am definitely going to look for more topics by James Foxall.

A big thanks to [...] for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Come out and join the fun!

Great way to learn VB 2008 - 2009-05-09
Reviewer Rating:
This is a very good book for learning Visual Basic. This is the third book I've tried on this subject, and it is the only one that has worked for me. The author starts out with the basics and builds his way up. He points out pitfalls, and even points out areas that are beyond the scope of the book. The other two books I tried had buggy examples and excercises, No solutions available for the problems recomended. One author even tried to belittle the reader. Not this book, in this book the author starts with the basics and builds up your confidence to tackle more. I come to this with extensive experience in old school program languages such as Borland Turbo Pascal and others, and this book was oriented in a logical step by step that kept me reading even if I thought I already understood it, and also rewarded me with insights into the language and programming techniques that I had not been exposed to before.
In the process you learn a lot about the .Net Framework, Visual Studio, and programming windows applications. Nothing is assumed already known, and there are no buggy or blank spots to get caught in.
Great book recommend it for getting your feet under you for Visual Basic programming.

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