VB .NET Language in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference - Softcover

Steven Roman, PhD; Petrusha, Ron; Lomax, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0596000928 ISBN 13: 9780596000929

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 2001

Synopsis

The extensive changes to Visual Basic and the newness of the .NET platform call for a VB .NET reference guide oriented toward professional developers--those deeply experienced in Visual Basic and those adding VB .NET to their list of mastered languages. VB .NET Language in a Nutshell answers the call. As a reference book, it doesn't waste space on simple concepts, but documents, using practical examples, how language elements work, alternative approaches, optimal usage, and potential pitfalls.As a quick introduction, the first section of VB .NET Language in a Nutshell leads you through the important areas of programming VB .NET, including:

• Variables and Data Types
• Introduction to Object Oriented Programming
• The .NET Framework: General Concepts
• The .NET Framework Class Library
• Delegates and Events
• Error Handling

The meat of the book is the alphabetical reference to the functions, statements, directives, objects, and object members that make up the VB .NET language. As an experienced developer, you can quickly get the whole story on a language element that interests you or seems to be behaving unexpectedly in your code. To ease your transition to .NET, there's a "VB .NET/VB 6 Differences" section for each language element.A hefty appendix section includes:

• What's New and Different in VB .NET
• Language Elements by category
• Operators
• Constants and Enumerations
• The VB .NET Command Line Compiler
• VB 6 Language Elements Not Supported by VB .NET

No matter how much experience you have programming with VB, this is the kind of book you'll want to have close by, both as your standard reference guide and as a tool for troubleshooting and identifying programming problems.

About this title

Review

Written especially for those readers coming to VB.NET from an earlier version of Visual Basic, VB.NET in a Nutshell offers a quick language tour as well as a nicely thorough reference to all standard VB objects, methods, and properties. Even if you are a raw beginner, this concise reference is really all you need to get onboard with the new version of the world's most popular programming language.

The first sections of this text zero in on what's new and different in VB.NET. From the basics of the language, centering on data types and object-oriented features, this quick-start guide highlights essential language features that every VB.NET programmer needs to know. There's also material here on the underlying .NET framework, from deployment basics (like .NET assemblies) to built-in namespaces. Coverage of delegates and event handling shows how to process events. The substantially different exception handling model of VB.NET is contrasted with the older ways of handling errors.

The heart of this title has to be its reference material (over 400 pages), primarily on the built-in core VB classes in the new .NET version. While there were rumors that VB.NET changed VB completely, this material should reassure you. By providing APIs that resemble older versions, VB programmers still can leverage common string, date, and time and other functions. Every object, method, and property is described, along with sample code, and differences with VB6. A standout here are "gotchas" when using the new APIs compared to VB6. Besides objects and APIs, there is also coverage of language keywords (for logical, looping, and branching statements), too.

The book closes with several useful reference sections, one of which details all the new features to be found in VB.NET. This is almost a must-read for anyone facing the new VB.NET for the first time. Another appendix here lists VB.NET language APIs. While it's true that you can use many languages with .NET, VB.NET Language in a Nutshell covers the APIs that will give VB.NET its real flavor as a new programming language. Both a quick-start guide and a worthwhile reference to use everyday at your desk, this title is a great way to start using VB.NET in real projects quickly. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to VB.NET
• Variables and data types (including arrays, collections and parameter, and arguments)
• Object-oriented programming in VB.NET (classes, inheritance, polymorphism and overloading)
• Overview of the .NET Framework
• The Common Language Runtime (CLR)
• Managed execution
• Assemblies and VB.NET
• .NET namespaces (including the system namespace)
• Delegates and events
• Error handling in VB.NET (including exception handling techniques)
• Comprehensive language reference to VB.NET objects
• Methods and properties (including sample code, programming tips/gotchas, VB.NET vs. VB6 differences)
• Reference to what's new in VB.NET
• Language elements and operators in VB.NET
• Using the VB.NET command-line compiler
• Unsupported VB 6 language elements

From the Publisher

The second edition is based on Version 1.0 of Visual Studio .NET. Many of the existing reader reviews are from the first edition and have been addressed in the second edition.

For more information on the CD that integrates the book with Visual Studio .NET, please visit the oreilly.com website.

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0596000928
• ISBN 13: 9780596000929
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 656