Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic (DV-MPS General) - Softcover

Foxall, James D

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735607338 ISBN 13: 9780735607330

Publisher: Microsoft Press, 2000

Synopsis

The same attributes that make the Visual Basic development system exceptionally productive and easy to use can also inadvertently lead to sloppy programming. But ""Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic"" introduces developers to the proven practices that allow them to exploit the power of rapid development -- without creating hidden land mines in performance and maintainability. Designed for the recreational as well as the professional programmer, this book uses illustrative code samples -- many from real-world commercial projects -- to demonstrate practical solutions to programming just about any process -- with better, more reliable code!

About this title

Review

It's no secret that Visual Basic is a popular choice for today's developers, but it's also true that there is a lot of bad code out there. Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic seeks to remedy this situation with a compilation of dozens of useful hints for writing clearer, faster, and more maintainable code. Presented in a simple, easy-to-understand style, this is a book that can benefit any VB programmer, regardless of expertise level.

The most important suggestions in the book have to do with naming and coding style. The author recommends using Hungarian Notation, in which prefixes are used with variable names to describe the scope and data type of all variables. Tables and sample code show you how to get going.

There are many suggestions for writing more maintainable code. A chapter on writing effective comments is a standout. Throughout this book, the author provides examples of correct and incorrect code practices. (This edition makes good use of two-color presentation and highlighted text to illustrate key concepts effectively.) A final section looks at the importance of source version control with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

While more expert programmers may quibble with some of the ideas presented, there's much to mine in Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic. Whether or not your shop adopts all of them, there's little doubt that you'll benefit from this compilation. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Problems with Visual Basic code today, advantages of coding standards, using custom object and project templates, effective module design (cohesion, fan-in, and fan-out), naming conventions and Hungarian Notation, creating descriptive names, constants vs. magic numbers, enumerations, error-handling tips and techniques, indenting code, using white space, a guide to writing effective comments, end-of-line comments, flow control statements, user interface design hints, form and menu design, consistency, using system colors, user input, mouse and keyboard interaction, version control, using readme files, and installing and using Visual SourceSafe.

About the Author

James Foxall is vice president of development and support for Tigerpaw Software, Inc. (http: //www.tigerpawsoftware.com)--a Microsoft Certified Partner in Omaha, Nebraska, specializing in commercial database applications. James manages the Tigerpaw Business Suite, an award-winning CRM product designed to automate contact management, marketing, service and repair, proposal generation, inventory control, and purchasing. James's experience in creating certified Office-compatible software has made him an authority on application interface and behavior standards of applications for the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office environments.

James has personally written more than 200,000 lines of commercial production code in both single-programmer and multiple-programmer environments. He is the author of numerous books, including Sams Teach Yourself C# in 24 Hours and Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, and he has written articles for Access-Office-VBA Advisor and Visual Basic Programmer's Journal. James has a bachelor's degree in management of information systems (MIS), is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, and is an international speaker on Microsoft Visual Basic. When not programming or writing about programming, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing guitar, doing battle over the chess board, listening to Pink Floyd, playing computer games (Raven Shield multiplayer), and (believe it or not) programming! You can reach James at http: //www.jamesfoxall.com/forums. ) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Microsoft Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0735607338
• ISBN 13: 9780735607330
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 450