Synopses & Reviews
Learn to program with Visual Basic from an expert
As a well-known authority on Microsoft programming, Rod Stephens has developed a clear and compelling approach to teaching programming languages. With this book-and-video package, he applies his skills by showing you how to use Visual Basic to build robust software applications. Assuming little or no programming experience, the self-paced lessons with step-by-step instructions teach you the concepts and techniques of programming with Visual Basic. The tutorials on the DVD reinforce learning, helping you to quickly master the skills required for effective Visual Basic programming.
Stephens' Visual Basic Programming 24-Hour Trainer:
Shows you how to read and write files and interact with databases
Explains how to write, debug, and run desktop applications that interact with the user and the computer
Looks at ways to perform calculations, manipulate files and strings, and produce printouts
Details how to use the Entity Framework to manipulate databases
Describes Visual Basic's most useful controls and explains how to add them to forms, set their properties, and interact with them in code
Shows you how to use LINQ to Objects to perform complex queries of data without a lot of complicated code
Wrox guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think. Written by programmers for programmers, they provide a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.
On the DVD
Don't just learndo!
The lessons within the book are each accompanied by an instructional demonstration on the DVDhours of video tutorials!
You'll learn to:
Get started with the Visual Studio integrated development environment
Use variables and perform calculations
Debug code and reuse code with procedures
Define class methods and events
Make menus, tool strips, and status strips
Create and display new forms
Build custom dialogs
Use arrays and collections
Handle errors and prevent bugs
Make generic classes
Use inheritance and polymorphism
Synopsis
This book is a self-paced guide to Visual Basic programming. Easy-to-follow lessons, reinforced by step-by-step instructions, screencasts, and supplemental exercises, allow readers of all learning styles to master Visual Basic programming quickly and painlessly. The book's scope is limited to an introduction to Visual Basic programming. It starts from scratch, assuming the reader has little or no programming experience, and provides an introduction to Visual Basic programming and to the Visual Studio development environment.
The book is divided into lessons that begin with a discussion of a particular concept or technique. After describing the main concept, the lesson includes a Try It section that invites the reader to perform a programming exercise to solidify the lesson's ideas.
The Try It has several subsections: Goals describes the exercise so the reader knows what should happen. Hints gives pointers about possible confusing aspects of the problem if they are needed. Step-by-Step provides a numbered series of steps that show how to solve the problem.
A screencast on the accompanying DVD shows the author working through the Try It problem. Additional commentary at the end of the screencast highlights extensions of the lesson's main concepts.
After the Try It's Step-by-Step section, the text concludes with a series of exercises that the reader can solve for further practice and to expand the lesson's main ideas.
Synopsis
Unique book-and-DVD package for novice Visual Basic programmersStart from scratch, and even if you don?t know a thing about Visual Basic, you soon will with this thorough introduction to Visual Basic programming. Using easy-to-follow lessons and step-by-step instruction, this practical book teaches you concepts and hands-on techniques, then reinforces your learning with video screencasts and supplemental materials. Follow the exercises, then access the Try It section on the DVD, and watch as well-known VB authority and author Rod Stephens works through programming problems.
- Introduces Visual Basic programming to beginning programmers; no prior experience is necessary
- Covers Visual Basic programming concepts and techniques, as well as the Visual Studio development environment
- Provides a series of easy-to-follow lessons, supplemented by instructional video on DVD
- Offers expert instruction from well-known VB authority and author Rod Stephens, who also provides supplemental instruction on the DVD, where he works through a series of Try It problems and demonstrates effective solutions
Stephens' Visual Basic Programming 24-Hour Trainer is an exceptional book-and-DVD package that will have you programming in Visual Basic in no time.
Note: As part of the print version of this title, video lessons are included on DVD. For e-book versions, video lessons can be accessed at wrox.com using a link provided in the interior of the e-book.
About the Author
Rod Stephens is a Microsoft MVP and the author of more than 20 books and 250 articles on Visual Basic, C#, Java, and other programming topics. He is a regular contributor to DevX and the author of the bestselling Visual Basic Programmer's Reference.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
Section I: The Visual Studio IDE and Controls.
Lesson 1: Getting Started with the Visual Studio IDE.
Lesson 2: Creating Controls.
Lesson 3: Making Controls Arrange Themselves.
Lesson 4: Handling Events.
Lesson 5: Making Menus.
Lesson 6: Making Tool Strips and Status Strips.
Lesson 7: Using RichTextBoxes.
Lesson 8: Using Standard Dialogs.
Lesson 9: Creating and Displaying New Forms.
Lesson 10: Building Custom Dialogs.
Section II : Variables and Calculations.
Lesson 11: Using Variables and Performing Calculations.
Lesson 12: Debugg ing Code.
Lesson 13: Understanding Scope.
Lesson 14: Working with Strings.
Lesson 15: Working with Dates and Times.
Lesson 16: Using Arrays and Collections.
Lesson 17: Using Enumerations and Structures.
Section III : Program Statements.
Lesson 18: Making Choices.
Lesson 19: Repeating Program Steps.
Lesson 20: Reusing Code with Procedures.
Lesson 21: Handling Errors.
Lesson 22: Preventing Bugs.
Section IV: Classes.
Lesson 23: Defining Classes and Their Properties.
Lesson 24: Defining Class Methods and Events.
Lesson 25: Using Inheritance and Polymorphism.
Lesson 26: Initializing Objects.
Lesson 27: Fine-Tuning Classes.
Lesson 28: Overloading Operators.
Lesson 29: Using Interfaces.
Lesson 30: Making Generic Classes.
Section V: System Interactions.
Lesson 31: Reading and Writing Files.
Lesson 32: Using File System Classes.
Lesson 33: Printing.
Lesson 34: Using the Clipboard.
Lesson 35: Providing Drag and Drop.
Section VI: Specialized topics.
Lesson 36: Using the My Namespace.
Lesson 37: Localizing Programs.
Lesson 38: Manipulating Data with LIN Q to Objects.
Lesson 39: Manipulating Databases with the Entity Framework.
Appendix A: Glossary.
Appendix B: Control Summary.
Appendix C: What's on the DVD?
Index.