Learn visual basic step by step

Learn visual basic step by step

Introduction

Visual Basic 2008 is Microsoft’s latest incarnation of the enormously popular Visual Basic language, and it’s fundamentally different from the versions that came before it. Visual Basic 2008 is now more powerful and more capable than ever before, and its features and functionality are on par with “higher-level” languages such as C++. One consequence of this newfound power is added complexity. Gone are the days when you could sit down with Visual Basic and the online Help and teach yourself what you needed to know to create a functional program.


This book is targeted toward those who have little or no programming experience or who might be picking up Visual Basic as a second language. The book has been structured and written with a purpose: to get you productive as quickly as possible. I’ve used my experiences in writing large commercial applications with Visual Basic and teaching Visual Basic to create a book that I hope cuts through the fluff and teaches you what you need to know.

All too often, authors fall into the trap of focusing on the technology rather than on the practical application of the technology. I’ve worked hard to keep this book focused on teaching you practical skills that you can apply immediately toward a development project.



This book is divided into five parts, each of which focuses on a different aspect of developing applications with Visual Basic 2008. These parts generally follow the flow of tasks you’ll perform as you begin creating your own programs using Visual Basic 2008. I recommend that you read them in the order in which they appear.

• . Part I, “The Visual Basic 2008 Environment,” teaches you about the Visual Basic environment, including how to navigate and access Visual Basic’s numerous tools. In addition, you’ll learn about some key development concepts such as objects, collections, and events.

• . Part II, “Building a User Interface,” shows you how to build attractive and functional user interfaces. In this part, you’ll learn about forms and controls—the user interface elements such as text boxes and list boxes.

• . Part III, “Making Things Happen: Programming,” teaches you the nuts and bolts of Visual Basic 2008 programming—and there’s a lot to learn. You’ll discover how to create modules and procedures, as well as how to store data, perform loops, and make decisions in code. After you’ve learned the core programming skills, you’ll move into object-oriented programming and debugging applications.

• . Part IV, “Working with Data,” introduces you to working with graphics, text files, and programming databases and shows you how to automate external applications such as Word and Excel. In addition, this part teaches you how to manipulate a user’s file system and the Windows Registry.

• . Part V, “Deploying Solutions and Beyond,” shows you how to distribute an application that you’ve created to an end user’s computer. In Hour 24, “The 10,000-Foot View,” you’ll learn about Microsoft’s .NET initiative from a higher, less-technical level.

Many readers of previous editions have taken the time to give me input on how to make

this book better. Overwhelmingly, I was asked to have examples that build on the examples

in the previous chapters. In this book, I have done that as much as possible. Now, instead

of learning concepts in isolated bits, you’ll be building a feature-rich Picture Viewer program

throughout the course of this book. You’ll begin by building the basic application. As

you progress through the chapters, you’ll add menus and toolbars to the program, build an

Options dialog box, modify the program to use the Windows Registry and a text file, and

even build a setup program to distribute the application to other users. I hope you find this

approach beneficial in that it allows you to learn the material in the context of building a

real program.

Learn visual basic step by step