From Book News, Inc.
This tutorial text demonstrates the use of Visual Basic .NET for developing business applications. After developing basic object- oriented programs, the text discusses the development of graphical user interfaces; working with dates, strings, arrays, collections, structures, files, and XML; building database applications with bound controls, queries, and parameterized queries; and the development of web applications.Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR


Book Description
With this book, you can learn the skills of a professional programmer in just 692 pages. Because of its self-paced approach in the first 7 chapters, you can do that whether you're new to Visual Basic.NET or you're upgranding from Visual Basic 6. From that point on, you're ready for rapid progress as you learn how to develop sophisticated GUIs, how to use the .NET classes for a wide variety of purposes, how to work with XML, how to develop database appplications with ADO.NET, and how to develop web applications with ASP.NET. To insure success, this book includes 18 complete business applications so you can see how the forms, controls, and code of Visual Basic applications work together. Applications like these should be a standard part of all programming books. BUT NO OTHER VB BOOK DOES THIS.


From the Publisher
Here are 4 ways that our instructional approach insures your success: To help you learn how to develop applications at a professional level, this book presents 18 business applications as examples. That way, you can see the relationships between the Visual Basic code, objects, properties, methods, and events that an application requires, which is essential to your understanding. In contrast, most competing books present trivial applications that have little resemblance to applications in the real world, and that limits your learning potential. To solidify your skills, the exercises at the end of each chapter guide you through the development of some of the book’s applications. They also encourage you to experiment and challenge you to apply what you’ve learned in new ways. To give you a maximum amount of practice in a minimum amount of time, you start many of these exercises from partial applications that you download from our web site. To help you learn more by reading less, all of the information in this book is presented in "paired pages" with the essential syntax, guidelines, and examples on the righthand page and the perspective and extra explanation on the left. Programmers tell us how much they like this approach because it lets them quickly find what they’re looking for. This is particularly useful for a language like Visual Basic because you simply can’t remember the hundreds of details that are required for effective programming. After you read the first section of this book plus chapter 8, you can read the chapters in section 2, 3, 4, or 5. In other words, you don’t have to read all 20 chapters in sequence. We refer to this as "modular organization," and it lets you get the training you need when you need it. Yes, there are some contingencies between some of the chapters, but we let you know about them whenever they’re critical.


From the Author
When we started this book, our goals were (1) to teach you Visual Basic as quickly and easily as possible; (2) to teach you a set of professional Visual Basic skills that you can use for developing real-world business applications; and (3) to introduce you to all of the major features of Visual Basic .NET so you’re prepared to learn more on your own. Now, we sincerely hope that we’ve succeeded. So if you have any comments about this book, we would appreciate hearing from you. In particular, we would like to know whether this book has lived up to your expectation

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This book is for anyone who wants to learn how to use VisualBasic .NET for developing business applications.

5 WAYS THE CONTENT GIVES YOU A PROFESSIONAL START

If you're a beginner, you'll learn how to code, test, and debugobject-oriented Visual Basic programs in the first seven chapters. That'ssection 1 of this book, and no other book gets you started that fast withsuch a wide range of skills.

In section 2, you'll learn how to develop graphical user interfaces at aprofessional level. This includes the use of common controls, multi-documentinterfaces, and GUI enhancements like menus, toolbars, and help information.

In section 3, you'll learn how to use the .NET classes to work with dates,strings, arrays, collections, structures, files, and XML. You'll also learnthe skills you need for object-oriented programming. These are theprogramming skills that every professional should have.

In section 4, you'll learn how to use ADO.NET and the disconnected dataarchitecture of the .NET platform to develop database applications withbound controls, queries, and parameterized queries. Although there's a lotmore to database programming than that, this will get you off to a terrificstart.

In section 5, you'll learn how to develop web applications and create anduse web services. Here again, there's a lot more to web programming thanthat, but this will get you started right.

4 WAYS OUR INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH INSURES YOUR SUCCESS

To help you learn how to develop applications at a professional level, thisbook presents 18 business applications as examples. That way, you can seethe relationships between the Visual Basic code, objects, properties,methods, and events that an application requires, which is essential to yourunderstanding. In contrast, most competing books present trivialapplications that have little resemblance to applications in the real world,and that limits your learning potential.

To solidify your skills, the exercises at the end of each chapter guide youthrough the development of some of the book's applications. They alsoencourage you to experiment and challenge you to apply what you've learnedin new ways. To give you a maximum amount of practice in a minimum amount oftime, you start many of these exercises from partial applications that youdownload from our web site.

To help you learn more by reading less, all of the information in this bookis presented in "paired pages" with the essential syntax, guidelines, andexamples on the righthand page and the perspective and extra explanation onthe left. Programmers tell us how much they like this approach because itlets them quickly find what they're looking for. This is particularly usefulfor a language like Visual Basic because you simply can't remember thehundreds of details that are required for effective programming.

After you read the first section of this book plus chapter 8, you can readthe chapters in section 2, 3, 4, or 5. In other words, you don't have toread all 20 chapters in sequence. We refer to this as "modularorganization," and it lets you get the training you need when you need it.Yes, there are some contingencies between some of the chapters, but we letyou know about them whenever they're critical.

SYNOPSIS

If you're new to Visual Basic .NET, this book gets you startedright. By chapter 3, you'll be developing simple but complete businessapplications. By chapter 5, you'll be doing some serious programming. And bychapter 7, you'll be able to code, test, and debug object-oriented programswith Visual Basic .NET.

But that's just the start. By the time you finish this book, you'll know howto develop multi-form applications; how to develop database applications;and how to develop web applications. You'll also have an entry-level set ofprofessional programming skills that you can use for developing real-worldbusiness applications.

Of course, there's a lot more to Visual Basic .NET than one beginning bookcan cover. But this book gets you started with all of the important featuresand capabilities of Visual Basic .NET and prepares you for learning moreabout them on your own. That's why we say that no other book or course willget you started faster or better than this book.

FROM THE CRITICS

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