Beginning Visual Basic 2015

Bryan Newsome

• Publisher: Wrox
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781119092117
• eBook ISBN: 9781119092087
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Languages
• Index: Computer Science

Learn Visual Basic step by step and start programming right away

Beginning Visual Basic 2015 is the ideal guide for new programmers, especially those learning their first language. This new edition has been updated to align with Visual Studio 2015, and also refocused to concentrate on key beginner topics. Precise, step-by-step instructions walk you through important tasks, and clear explanations targeted to beginners will have you writing your first Visual Basic application quickly. You'll start from the absolute beginning, assuming no prior programming experience, and then gradually build your skills to write Visual Basic applications for Windows and the Web. Coverage includes objects, class libraries, graphics, databases, and much more, with explicit instructions on using ASP.NET, SQL Server, ADO.NET, and XML.

Visual Studio is the usual environment for Visual Basic programming, and the latest upgrade has made Visual Basic more feature compatible with C# to allow programmers to move fluidly between the two languages. Don't know C#? Don't worry! This book starts from the very beginning of Visual Basic programming to help you build your skills from the ground-up.

• Understand flow control and data structure
• Debug Windows applications, dialog boxes, and menus
• Master objects and object-oriented techniques
• Access databases, program graphics, and program for the Web

Over three million programmers use Visual Basic, and many of them learned it as their first language. It's beginner-friendly, versatile, and visually oriented, making it an ideal introduction to the programming mindset, workflow, and hard skills. Beginning Visual Basic 2015 gets you started on the right foot, with clear, patient instruction and plenty of hands-on practice.

1
Welcome to Visual Basic 2015

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:

• Using event-driven programming
• Installing Visual Basic 2015
• Touring the Visual Basic 2015 integrated development environment (IDE)
• Creating a simple Windows program
• Using the integrated Help system

WROX.COM CODE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS CHAPTER

The wrox.com code downloads for this chapter are found at www.wrox.com/begvisualbasic2015 on the Download Code tab. The code is in the 092117 C01.zip download.

This is an exciting time to enter the world of programming with Visual Basic 2015 and Windows 8 and the new Windows 10. The new Windows operating systems represent the latest from Microsoft and are packed with a lot of new features to make Windows programming fun. Much has changed in the Windows user interface, and Visual Basic 2015 makes it easy to write professional-looking Windows applications as well as web applications and web services. Haven’t upgraded to Windows 8 or 10 yet? No worries; Visual Basic 2015 also enables you to write professional-looking applications for previous versions of Windows as well.

The goal of this book is to help you use the Visual Basic 2015 programming language, even if you have never programmed before. You start slowly and build on what you have learned in subsequent chapters. So take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and tell yourself you can do this. No sweat! No kidding!

Programming a computer is a lot like teaching a child to tie his shoes. Until you find the correct way of giving the instructions, not much is accomplished. Visual Basic 2015 is a language you can use to tell your computer how to do things; but like a child, the computer will understand only if you explain things very clearly. If you have never programmed before, this sounds like an arduous task, and sometimes it can be. However, Visual Basic 2015 offers an easy-to-use language to explain some complex tasks. Although it never hurts to have an understanding of what is happening at the lowest levels, Visual Basic 2015 frees the programmer from having to deal with the mundane complexities of writing Windows applications. You are free to concentrate on solving real problems.

Visual Basic 2015 helps you create solutions that run on the Microsoft Windows operating systems, such as Windows 7, 8, or 10, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Phone. If you are looking at this book, you might have already felt the need or desire to create such programs. Even if you have never written a computer program before, as you progress through the Try It Out exercises in this book, you will become familiar with the various aspects of the Visual Basic 2015 language, as well as its foundations in the Microsoft .NET Framework. You will find that it is not nearly as difficult as you imagined. Before you know it, you will feel quite comfortable creating a variety of different types of programs with Visual Basic 2015.

Visual Basic 2015 can also be used to create web applications and web services, as well as mobile applications that can run on Tablet PCs or smartphones. However, you will begin by focusing on Windows applications before extending your boundaries to other platforms.

IMPLEMENTING EVENT-DRIVEN PROGRAMMING

A Windows program is quite different from yesteryear’s MS-DOS program. A DOS program follows a relatively strict path from beginning to end. Although this does not necessarily limit the functionality of the program, it does limit the road the user has to take to get to it. A DOS program is like walking down a hallway; to get to the end you have to walk down the entire hallway, passing any obstacles that you may encounter. A DOS program would let you open only certain doors along your stroll.

Windows, on the other hand, opened up the world of event-driven programming. Events in this context include clicking a button, resizing a window, or changing an entry in a text box. The code that you write responds to these events. In terms of the hallway analogy: In a Windows program, to get to the end of the hall you just click the end of the hall. The hallway itself can be ignored. If you get to the end and realize that is not where you wanted to be, you can just set off for the new destination without returning to your starting point. The program reacts to your movements and takes the necessary actions to complete your desired tasks.

Another big advantage in a Windows program is the abstraction of the hardware, which means that Windows takes care of communicating with the hardware for you. You do not need to know the inner workings of every laser printer on the market just to create output. You do not need to study the schematics for graphics cards to write your own game. Windows wraps up this functionality by providing generic routines that communicate with the drivers written by hardware manufacturers. This is probably the main reason why Windows has been so successful. The generic routines are referred to as the Windows application programming interface (API), and most of th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• ABOUT THE TECHNICAL EDITOR
• CREDITS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 WELCOME TO VISUAL BASIC 2015
• 2 THE MICROSOFT .NET FRAMEWORK
• 3 WRITING SOFTWARE
• 4 CONTROLLING THE FLOW
• 5 WORKING WITH DATA STRUCTURES
• 6 BUILDING WINDOWS APPLICATIONS
• 7 DISPLAYING DIALOGS
• 8 CREATING MENUS
• 9 DEBUGGING AND ERROR HANDLING
• 10 BUILDING OBJECTS
• 11 ADVANCED OBJECT-ORIENTED TECHNIQUES
• 12 ACCESSING DATA USING STRUCTURED QUERY LANGUAGE
• 13 DATABASE PROGRAMMING WITH SQL SERVER AND ADO.NET
• 14 ASP.NET
• 15 DEPLOYING YOUR APPLICATION
• 16 WINDOWS 8 APPS
• APPENDIX EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
• ADVERT
• EULA