Visual Basic 2005

When Microsoft remade Visual Basic into an object-oriented programming language similar to Java, millions of VB developers resisted the change. But after integrating feedback from these customers, Microsoft has returned with Visual Basic 2005, a version that includes the compile-and- run feature and dozens of interactive tools and controls that made earlier versions of Visual Basic such a popular rapid application development language. Now, developers can have the power of the .NET platform and the speed and convenience of Visual Basic. Co-author, Steven Roman, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the California State University, Fullerton. Ron Petrusha is an editor for O'Reilly and is the author/co-author of many books, including VBScript in a Nutshell. Paul Lomax is an experienced VB programmer with a passion for sharing his knowledge and experiences.

Tim Patrick is Senior Software Architect at TiMaki Services developing custom client/server and multi-tier software solutions targeting Microsoft Windows client workstations and Internet/Intranet/Extranet users. Tim has over twenty years experience in software development and software architecture. He is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD). He wrote The Visual Basic Style Guide and its successor, The Visual Basic .NET Style Guide. He has also published many magazine articles on topics related to Visual Basic development.

Steven Roman, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the California State University, Fullerton. His previous books with O'Reilly include "Access Database Design and Programming", "Writing Excel Macros with VBA", and "Win32 API Programming with Visual Basic".

Ron Petrusha is an editor for O'Reilly and is the author/coauthor of many books, including VBScript in a Nutshell. Ron has a background in quantitative labor history, specializing in Russian labor history, and holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Columbia University. He began working with computers in the mid 1970s, programming in SPSS (a programmable statistical package) and FORTRAN on the IBM 370 family. Since then, he has been a computer book buyer, an editor of a number of books on Windows and Unix, and a consultant on projects written in dBASE, Clipper, and Visual Basic.

Paul Lomax, author of O'Reilly's VB & VBA in a Nutshell and a coauthor of VBScript in a Nutshell, is an experienced VB programmer with a passion for sharing his knowledge--and his collection of programming tips and techniques gathered from real-world experience.

Preface

ix

Part I. The Basics

1. Introduction

3

(14)

Why Visual Basic .NET?

4

(4)

What Is Visual Basic .NET?

8

(6)

What Can You Do with Visual Basic .NET?

14

(1)

Versions of Visual Basic for .NET

14

(3)

2. The .NET Framework: General Concepts

17

(7)

Common Language Runtime

17

(1)

Managed Code

18

(1)

Namespaces

19

(1)

Types and Objects

20

(1)

Assemblies

21

(1)

The Framework Class Library

22

(1)

Application Deployment

23

(1)

The .NET Framework and Visual Basic

23

(1)

3. Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming

24

(23)

Principles of Object-Oriented Programming

24

(4)

OOP Development in Visual Basic

28

(19)

4. Variables and Data Types

47

(26)

Data Types

47

(14)

Variables

61

(4)

Constants

65

(1)

Enumerations

66

(1)

Arrays

66

(1)

Collections

67

(1)

Parameters and Arguments

68

(5)

5. Operators

73

(15)

Arithmetic Operators

73

(2)

Concatenation Operators

75

(1)

Logical and Bitwise Operators

75

(4)

Assignment Operators

79

(2)

Comparison Operators

81

(1)

Object Operators

82

(1)

Operator Overloading

83

(3)

Operator Precedence

86

(2)

6. Program Structure

88

(12)

Visual Studio Application Types

88

(1)

Referencing Components and Classes

89

(1)

Application Entry Points

90

(2)

Code File Contents

92

(1)

The Structure of a Visual Basic Program

93

(7)

7. The .NET Framework Class Library

100

(12)

The System Namespace

101

(5)

The System. Collections Namespace

106

(1)

The System.Data Namespace

107

(1)

The System.IO Namespace

108

(1)

The System.Text.RegularExpressions Namespace

109

(1)

The System.Windows.Forms Namespace

110

(1)

Other Namespaces

110

(2)

8. Delegates and Events

112

(9)

Delegates

113

(3)

Events and Event Binding

116

(5)

9. Attributes

121

(13)

Syntax and Use

122

(2)

Defining a Custom Attribute

124

(4)

Using a Custom Attribute

128

(6)

10. Generics

134

(7)

What Are Generics?

134

(1)

Type Parameters

135

(1)

Multiple Type Parameters

136

(1)

Constraints

136

(1)

Multiple Constraints

137

(1)

Accessing Type Parameter Members

138

(1)

Generic Methods

139

(1)

Nested Generic Types

139

(1)

Overloaded Types and Members

140

(1)

11. Error Handling in Visual Basic

141

(16)

Error Detection and Error Handling

141

(1)

Runtime Error Handling

142

(8)

Dealing with Logic Errors

150

(3)

Error Constants

153

Part II. Reference

12. The Language Reference

157

(339)

13. The 'My' Reference

496

(163)

Part III. Appendixes

A. Language Elements by Category

659

(14)

B. Namespace Hierarchy

673

(7)

C. Constants and Enumerations

680

(10)

D. What's New and Different in Visual Basic .NET 2002

690

(14)

E. What's New and Different in Visual Basic .NET 2003

704

(2)

F. What's New and Different in Visual Basic 2005

706

(8)

G. VB 6 Language Elements No Longer Supported

714

(4)

H. The Visual Basic Command-Line Compiler

718

(9)

Index

727

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials