Sebastopol, CA--While many Visual Basic 6 programmers have so far avoided the switch to Visual Basic .NET, the fact that Microsoft has demonstrated its commitment to .NET as the development platform of the future argues that it is only a matter of time before some such transition must take place. The VB programmer's choice then is either Visual Basic .NET or C#, the two .NET programming languages. Both are equally worthy and the choice is primarily one of personal taste, but because of its familiar syntax, many VB6 programmers will turn naturally to VB.NET. When they do, Programming Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition by Jesse Liberty (O'Reilly, US $39.95) will help them make the transition as smoothly and painlessly as possible.
"It is my guess that hundreds of thousands of VB6 programmers will be making the transition to Visual Basic .NET over the next few years when they begin new development projects," explains Liberty. "It would be irresponsible to begin a new Windows or web application in VB, in view of Microsoft's clear commitment to .NET."
Liberty adds, "The thing that new .NET programmers must understand when choosing a .NET language is this: the real .NET language is called Intermediate Language or IL. C# and VB.NET are just 'synthetic sugar' layered on top of IL to make programming easier. Whether you program in C# or VB.NET is no longer a technical choice, but Microsoft urges you to choose the syntax you are most familiar with."
"Programming Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition" is the complete guide to application development using Visual Basic .NET. Entirely rewritten by .NET expert Jesse Liberty, the new edition of this tutorial will be essential reading for millions of Visual Basic programmers. The book covers topics of greatest concern to VB6 programmers who must learn to straddle two worlds--that of traditional Visual Basic Windows programming, and the new object-oriented, component-based world of .NET Framework programming. Thorough, entertaining, and easy to follow, this book provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the language, object-oriented programming, and framework, and goes even further--readers will learn how to create their own applications using VB.NET.
The first part of the book introduces Visual Basic .NET fundamentals, then goes on to explain:
- Classes and objects
- Inheritance and polymorphism
- Structures and interfaces
- Arrays, indexers, and collections
- String objects and regular expressions
- Exceptions and bug handling
- Delegates and events
The second part of "Programming Visual Basic .NET" focuses on the development of desktop and internet applications, using such tools as Windows Forms, ASP.NET, and ADO.NET. ASP.NET includes both Web Forms, for rapid development of web applications, and Web Services, for creating web objects without user interfaces to provide services over the Internet.
The third part gets to the heart of the .NET Framework, focusing on attributes and reflection, remoting, and threads and synchronization.
Jesse Liberty's books have successfully guided thousands of new and experienced programmers alike into the world of .NET programming, and "Programming Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition" will be no exception. This book is sure to become a key component of developers' .NET libraries.
Additional Resources:
- Chapter 15, "Building Web Applications and Web Forms"
- More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples
- A cover graphic in JPEG format
Programming Visual Basic .NET, Second Edition
Jesse Liberty
ISBN 0-596-00438-9, 541 pages, $39.95 (US), $61.95 (CAN), 28.50 (UK)
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