Visual Basic.Net: A Beginner's Guide

by Jeff Kent

Overview

This work teaches readers how to implement visual basic .NET fundamentals with in-depth, real-world projects and examples. It explains the integrated development environment (IDE) and how it decreases the development cycle, and introduces the basics of object-oriented programming (OOP). The book also provides steps on how to build Web-based applications with Web forms and Web services and shows how to avoid development delays by implementing essential visual basic .NET debugging techniques.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780072131208
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media
Publication date:	02/26/2002
Series:	Beginner's Guides (Osborne)
Pages:	422
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.24(h) x 1.02(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction	xvii
Part 1	Introduction to Visual Basic .NET
1	What Is Visual Basic .NET?	3
	Visual Basic .NET Defined	5
	Visual Basic .NET Is a Programming Language	5
	Visual Basic .NET Is Used for Writing Windows Applications	8
	Windows Applications Are Gooey	9
	Windows Applications Are Event-Driven	11
	The Visual Basic .NET Programming Language Is Object-Oriented	13
	Properties	14
	Methods	15
	Events	15
	Programming with Class	16
	It's Not Just Visual Basic, It's Visual Basic .NET	17
	Summary	19
	Mastery Check	20
2	Create A Visual Basic .NET Program Without Writing Code	23
	The .NET Framework	25
	Before You Install Visual Studio .NET	26
	Visual Studio .NET Versions	27
	Visual Studio .NET System Requirements	27
Project 2-1	Installing Visual Studio .NET	28
	Starting and Customizing Visual Studio .NET	34
Project 2-2	Creating a Windows Application	38
	The Code Behind the Scenes	44
	Class and Inherits Statements	46
	New Method	47
	Initialize Component Method	48
	Dispose Method	50
	Region Directive	52
	Summary	53
	Mastery Check	54
3	Event Procedures, Properties, and Controls	57
	Event Procedures	58
	When Are Event Procedures Necessary?	59
	Using the IDE to Create an Event Procedure	61
	Writing Code Inside the Event Procedure	64
	Viewing and Changing Properties	70
	Using the Forms Designer to View and Change Properties	71
	Viewing and Changing Properties Through Code	75
	Adding Controls to the Form	76
	The Toolbox	76
	Copying the Control from the Toolbox to the Form	79
	Changing the Control's Size and Location Using the Forms Designer	80
	The Code Behind the Scenes	81
Project 3-1	Using the Label Control	82
	Summary	85
	Mastery Check	86
Part 2	Programming Building Blocks: Variables, Data Types, and Operators
4	Variables and Data Types	91
	Data Types	92
	Bits and Bytes	94
	Numeric Data Types	96
	Character Data Types	100
	Miscellaneous Data Types	100
	Default Values	101
	Variables	103
	Option Explicit	103
	Option Strict	105
	Scope	106
	Declaring a Variable	108
Project 4-1	Shared Variable	114
	Constants	118
	Summary	121
	Mastery Check	122
5	Assignment and Arithmetic Operators	125
	The Assignment Operator	126
	The Location of the Assignment Statement	127
	The Left Side of the Assignment Statement	127
	The Right Side of the Assignment Statement	128
	Type Conversions	130
	Widening Conversions	130
	Narrowing Conversions	131
	The Effect of Option Strict on Conversions	133
	Type Conversion Keywords	133
	Arithmetic Operators	136
	The Division Operators	137
	Concatenation Operators	138
	Type Conversions Revisited	139
	Operator Precedence	141
	Combining Arithmetic and Assignment Operators	142
Project 5-1	Change Machine Project	143
	The InputBox Function and Return Value	145
	The Algorithm	147
	Outputting the Result	148
	Summary	149
	Mastery Check	149
6	Comparison and Logical Operators	153
	Comparison Operators	155
	Comparing Objects	157
	Comparing Strings	158
	Precedence	162
	Logical Operators	163
	The And Operator	163
	The AndAlso Operator	164
	The Or Operator	165
	The OrElse Operator	166
	The Xor Operator	166
	The Not Operator	167
	Precedence	167
	Summary	168
	Mastery Check	170
Part 3	Controlling the Flow of the Program
7	Control Structures	175
	If Statements	176
	The If...Then Statement	177
	The If...Then...Else Statement	178
	The IIf Function	179
	The If...Elself Statement	180
	Controls Used for If Statements	182
	CheckBox Control	182
	RadioButton Control	182
Project 7-1	Tuition Calculator	183
	The Select Case Statement	190
Project 7-2	Arithmetic Calculator	193
	Summary	197
	Mastery Check	197
8	Loops and Arrays	201
	Loop Structures	202
	The For...Next Statement	202
	The While...End While Statement	206
	The Do Statement	208
	Arrays	211
	Declaring an Array	212
	Useful Array Functions, Properties, and Methods	215
	Resizing an Array	217
	The For Each...Next Statement	219
Project 8-1	Day of Week Calculator	222
	Summary	228
	Mastery Check	229
9	Procedures	231
	Types of Procedures	232
	Built-in vs. Programmer-defined Procedures	233
	Methods Contrasted	233
	Subroutines	235
	Declaring a Subroutine	235
	Calling the Subroutine	240
	Arguments	241
	Functions	245
	Declaring Functions	245
	Calling Functions	248
	More on Arguments	251
	Passing Arguments ByVal and ByRef	251
	Optional Arguments	255
	Parameter Arrays	258
	Procedure Overloading	261
Project 9-1	Calculator, Version 2	264
	Summary	267
	Mastery Check	268
Part 4	The User Interface
10	Helper Forms	275
	Message Boxes	277
Project 10-1	Message Boxes	278
	Dialog Boxes	285
Project 10-2	Dialog Box	285
	Owned Forms	296
Project 10-3	Owned Form	297
	Summary	306
	Mastery Check	308
11	Menus and Toolbars	311
	Menus	312
	Creating a Menu	312
	Add Functionality to the Menu Items	318
	Enhancing the Menu	320
	Disabling Items on Windows Forms Menus	323
	Context Menu	324
	Creating a Context Menu	326
	Adding Items to the Context Menu	328
	Add Functionality to the Menu Items	333
	Toolbars	335
	Adding the Toolbar and Buttons	335
	Defining an Icon for a Toolbar Button	339
	Adding Functionality to the Toolbar	343
Project 11-1	Text Editor	346
	Summary	348
	Mastery Check	349
Part 5	Error Handling and Prevention
12	Structured Exception Handling and Debugging	355
	Structured Exception Handling	357
	Exceptions	357
	Structured vs. Unstructured Exception Handling	358
	The Try...Catch...Finally Statement	358
Project 12-1	Illegal Division	360
	Exception Classes	362
	Debugging	364
	Break Mode	366
	Starting Debugging	366
	Controlling the Flow During Debugging	374
	Debugging Tools	379
	Summary	385
	Mastery Check	387
	Answers to Mastery Checks	389
Module 1	What Is Visual Basic .NET?	390
Module 2	Create A Visual Basic .NET Program Without Writing Code	391
Module 3	Event Procedures, Properties, and Controls	392
Module 4	Variables and Data Type	393
Module 5	Assignment and Arithmetic Operators	393
Module 6	Comparison and Logical Operators	394
Module 7	Control Structures	395
Module 8	Loops and Arrays	396
Module 9	Procedures	397
Module 10	Helper Forms	399
Module 11	Menus and Toolbars	400
Module 12	Structured Exception Handling and Debugging	401
	Index	403