Learning VB.NET

Description

Most Visual Basic .NET books are written for experienced object-oriented programmers, but many programmers jumping on the .NET bandwagon are coming from non-object-oriented languages, such as Visual Basic 6.0 or from script programming, such as JavaScript. These programmers, and those who are adopting VB.NET as their first programming language, have been out of luck when it comes to finding a high-quality introduction to the language that helps them get started.

That's why Jesse Liberty, author of the best-selling books Programming C# and Programming ASP.NET, has written an entry-level guide to Visual Basic .NET. Written in a warm and friendly manner, this book assumes no prior programming experience, and provides an easy introduction to Microsoft's most popular .NET language.

Learning Visual Basic .NET is a complete introduction to VB.NET and object-oriented programming. This book will help you build a solid foundation in .NET, and show how to apply your skills by using hundreds of examples to help you become productive quickly. Learning Visual Basic .NET introduces fundamentals like Visual Studio .NET, a tool set for building Windows and Web applications. You'll learn about the syntax and structure of the Visual Basic .NET language, including operators, classes and interfaces, structs, arrays, and strings. Liberty then demonstrates how to develop various kinds of applications--including those that work with databases--and web services.

By the time you've finished Learning Visual Basic .NET, you'll be ready to move on to a more advanced programming guide that will help you create large-scale web and Windows applications.

Whether you have a little object-oriented programming experience or you are new to programming altogether, Visual Basic .NET will set you firmly on your way to mastering the essentials of the VB.NET language

Table of Contents:

Preface

1. Visual Basic .NET and .NET Programming
      Visual Basic and .NET
      The .NET Platform
      The .NET Framework
      The VB.NET Language
      The Structure of VB.NET Applications
      The Development Environment

2. Getting Started with VB.NET
      What's in a Program?
      Your First Program: Hello World
      Examining Your First Program

3. Object-Oriented Programming
      Creating Models
      Classes and Objects
      Defining a Class
      Class Relationships
      The Three Pillars of Object-Oriented Programming
      Encapsulation
      Specialization
      Polymorphism
      Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

4. Visual Studio .NET
      Start Page
      Inside the Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
      IntelliSense
      Building and Running
      For More Information

5. VB.NET Language Fundamentals
      Types
      Variables
      Constants
      Strings
      Statements
      Whitespace

6. Branching
      Unconditional Branching Statements
      Conditional Branching Statements
      Iteration (Looping) Statements

7. Operators
      The Assignment Operator (=)
      Mathematical Operators
      Relational Operators
      Logical Operators Within Conditionals
      Operator Precedence

8. Classes and Objects
      Defining Classes
      Method Arguments
      Constructors
      Initializers
      Copy Constructors
      The Me Keyword
      Using Shared Members
      Destroying Objects

9. Inside Methods
      Overloading Methods
      Encapsulating Data with Properties
      Passing by Value and by Reference

10. Basic Debugging
      Setting a Breakpoint
      The Call Stack

11. Inheritance and Polymorphism
      Specialization and Generalization
      Inheritance
      Polymorphism
      Abstract Classes
      NotInheritable Classes
      The Root of All Classes: Object
      Boxing and Unboxing Types

12. Structures
      Defining a Structure

13. Interfaces
      Defining an Interface
      Implementing an Interface
      Implementing More Than One Interface
      Casting to an Interface
      Extending Interfaces
      Combining Interfaces
      Overriding Interface Implementations

14. Arrays
      Arrays
      Multidimensional Arrays
      System.Array
      Indexers and the Default Property

15. Collection Interfaces and Types
      The Collection Interfaces
      Array Lists
      The Collection Class
      Queues
      Stacks
      Copying from a Collection Type to an Array

16. Strings
      Creating Strings
      Manipulating Strings
      Regular Expressions
      The Regex Class

17. Throwing and Catching Exceptions
      Throwing Exceptions
      Searching for an Exception Handler
      The Throw Statement
      The Try and Catch Statements
      How the Call Stack Works
      Creating Dedicated Catch Statements
      The Finally Statement
      Exception Class Methods and Properties
      Custom Exceptions

18. Applications and Events
      Creating a Windows Application
      Events
      Server-Side Code

19. Afterword
      Where to Go from Here
      Advanced Topics in VB.NET
      Web (ASP.NET) Programming
      Windows Forms Programming
      Other Resources

Index