Programming Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition, is a tutorial, both on the VB.NET language and on writing .NET applications with VB.NET. If you are already proficient in a programming language, you may be able to skim a number of the early chapters, but be sure to read through Chapter 1, which provides an overview of the language and the .NET platform. If you are new to programming, you'll want to read the book as the King of Hearts instructed the White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

Programming Visual Basic .NET is a comprehensive guide to the .NET version of the Visual Basic language and its use as a tool for programming on MS's .NET platform. One learns VB.NET specifically to create .NET applications; pretending otherwise would miss the point of the language. Thus, this book does not consider VB.NET in a vacuum but places the language firmly in the context of MS's .NET platform and in the development of desktop and Internet applications.

The extensive changes to the language and the introduction of the .NET platform make a reference guide to the Visual Basic language more essential than ever. At the same time, they make it easy to delineate this book's subject matter. This is a book that focuses on the language elements of Visual Basic .NET? on its statements, functions, procedures, directives, and objects (notably the Err and Collection objects).

There are literally hundreds of books lining the shelves on how to program using Visual Basic, and they will no doubt be joined by a flood of books on how to program in VB .NET. The majority of these books assume that you're a complete novice and slowly introduce you to such concepts as variables, arrays, and looping structures.

This is a different kind of book, however. It is a detailed, professional reference to the VB .NET language?a reference that you can turn to if you want to jog your memory about a particular language element or a particular parameter. You're also looking for a reference that you can turn to when you're having difficulty programming and need to review the rules for using a particular language element, or when you want to check that there isn't some "gotcha" you've overlooked that is associated with a particular language element.

Next time you hit the wall with a tough Visual Basic .NET problem, get the code behind the solution—and solve it the right way. This Programmer’s Cookbook provides at-a-glance reference to hundreds of Visual Basic .NET programming scenarios using a concise problem/solution format. The book’s organized so you can quickly zero in on the topics and answers you need—with practical examples, code snippets, best practices, and shortcuts to get the job done.

The MS Visual Basic .NET language now spans more programming tools, concepts, and application programming interfaces (APIs) than ever before. With the MS .NET Framework, your Visual Basic code can go to work in a MS Windows service, a Web application, an XML Web service, a Windows client, or a remote component. It can use robust multithreading, manipulate relational data and XML, harness COM+ services, and more. With all this functionality comes a price— even the most experienced developer can have trouble isolating a useful feature buried somewhere in the enormous .NET class library!

Visual Basic is the most popular programming language in existence. At the present time, it is estimated that there are over three million programmers using Visual Basic. It is also the most popular introductory programming language at most colleges and universities. This is going to become even more widespread with Visual Basic .NET. From the outset, this book is designed to teach an individual with no prior programming experience the art of object-oriented programming. The reader is carefully led through a thoughtful sequence of chapters that builds a solid foundation of programming knowledge and skills. Whether the reader is seeking general programming knowledge or specific skills in Web or database programming, this book provides the knowledge to gain those expertise.

Obviously, I think you should read this book. Whether you are a seasoned programmer or just beginning to explore computer programming, this book will be helpful to you. Embodied in this text are decades of teaching experience that have helped me to understand the learning process. I understand some of the major stumbling blocks students face while learning computer programming and how to get around them.

With ADO.NET, you can build database-enabled applications and Web services with more speed, flexibility, and power than ever before. ADO.NET Programming in Visual Basic .NET teaches you all you'll need to know to make the most of ADO.NET - whether you're an experienced Visual Basic database programmer or not. The authors' realistic code examples and practical insights illuminate ADO.NET from its foundations to state-of-the-art data binding and application optimization.

If this book is titled ADO .NET Programming in Visual Basic .NET, why do I keep referring to Visual Studio? Well, in the past, VB (and its variants, VBScript and VB For Applications) was the most natural environment for ADO database programming. The other Visual Studio tools (Visual C++, Visual Interdev, Visual FoxPro) could all use ADO, but since ADO was designed around the COM (Component Object Model) architecture, VB was the easiest way to use the package. With the advent of Visual Studio .NET, this has all changed.

Many articles have appeared in the press about Visual Basic .NET being radically different from prior versions of Visual Basic. Unfortunately, most of the articles leave you with more questions than answers. What exactly are the changes in Visual Basic .NET? Will it be possible to upgrade existing applications? Why does it break compatibility with Visual Basic 6? Visual Basic .NET includes an Upgrade Wizard, which upgrades up to 95 percent of your project’s code, but what about the other 5 percent? What are the common upgrade issues? How do you resolve them and get your project working in Visual Basic .NET? What about XML Web services and ADO.NET data access—how can existing programs take advantage of these new features?

In this book, we answer these questions and more. We provide a complete guide to upgrading, with both technical and conceptual information. To upgrade your applications, you will need to learn some new skills. We teach these skills and discuss the hows, whats, and whys of upgrading: how to recognize the micro-issues that need a one-line fix, what to do about macro-issues that involve redesign of your application, and why MS made the changes to Visual Basic.

Learn essential security techniques for designing, developing, and deploying applications for MS Windows and the Web. Visual Basic .NET experts Ed Robinson and Michael Bond introduce critical security concepts using straightforward language and step-by-step examples. You get clear, end-to-end guidance—covering application design, coding techniques, testing methods, and deployment strategies, along with direction on how to help secure the operating system and related infrastructure and services.

For many programmers, security has been something to avoid—because they don’t understand security concepts, they shy away from implementing security features for fear of making a mistake. Above all else, we hope this book will spark your interest in security. This is a fascinating and rapidly evolving area of computing, and the techniques we discuss in this book are no longer simply for security specialists; they are essential for every programmer.

All software is based on the principle of manipulating data. Whether it's the code that runs inside your VCR to start recording at a specific time, or air traffic control software, code is always working with data in one form or another.

Today, we find that sophisticated applications store their data in a "database", a central repository of data overseen by a Database Management System, or DBMS. A DBMS does two things. Firstly, it handles the storage of the data. Secondly, it provides mechanisms for retrieving data as well as adding, removing, and changing data. A DBMS endeavors to do this in the most efficient way possible.

Over the years, the DBMS market has grown into a mature sophisticated industry in its own right, offering products designed for use in large enterprise environments like Oracle 9i or MS SQL Server 2000, down to products designed for use on the desktop like MS Access. In some cases, you even find that software packages include their own DBMS software for managing their own proprietary databases.

This book provides a hands-on approach to learning Visual Basic.NET, one of the most popular and easy-to-learn language provided by the .NET framework. The book is aimed at readers with programming knowledge of earlier versions of Visual Basic. These readers are assumed to be experienced application developers who have knowledge of developing applications using any of the earlier versions of Visual Basic.

The book starts with a few overview chapters that cover the key concepts of Visual Basic.NET. These chapters act as an information store for readers and provide a concrete idea about the concepts. After that follows a chapter on how to migrate existing Visual Basic applications to the .NET platform. A major part of the book revolves around professional projects that are based on real-life situations. They follow a simple-tocomplex approach to cover specific subject areas and to guide the readers in implementing their learning in practical scenarios. The projects range from a simple project to create a Windows application using ADO.NET as the data access model to a complex project to create a Web application using a Web service. In addition, there are projects that will introduce how to create a Word-to-XML converter application and how to create a mobile Web application. These projects help readers accomplish their goals by understanding the practical and real-life application of Visual Basic.NET.

MS Visual Basic .NET Step by Step—Version 2003 is a comprehensive introduction to Visual Basic programming using the MS Visual Basic .NET 2003 software. I’ve designed this course with a variety of skill levels in mind so that new programmers can learn software development fundamentals in the context of useful, real-world applications and experienced Visual Basic programmers can quickly master the essential tools and programming techniques offered in the Visual Basic .NET upgrade. Complementing this comprehensive approach is the book’s structure—six topically organized parts, 22 chapters, and more than 65 step-by-step exercises and sample programs. By using this book, you’ll quickly learn how to create professional-quality Visual Basic .NET applications for the MS Windows operating system and a variety of Web browsers. You’ll also have fun!