Visual Basic^® Programming for .NET:
Hands-On

What is this course about?

This course is about building robust, advanced .NET applications using Visual Basic. This course also provides the building blocks to create multitier applications that include relational database access.

What are the differences between the versions of Visual Basic?

Visual Basic 6 produces applications designed to run on Windows platform using COM and native code. It has moved beyond mainstream support. Visual Basic .NET 2003 succeeded VB 6 and targets the .NET Framework versions 1.0 and 1.1. Each successive version of Visual Basic has targeted new versions of the .NET Framework.

The current version is sometimes called Visual Basic 2010 and includes fully object-oriented constructs, exceptions and cross-language support. Visual Basic now targets .NET versions 2.0 to 4, a feature known as multi-targeting. While similar to earlier versions, Visual Basic has continued to be updated with new features and capabilities. Visual Basic compiles code to Microsoft's Intermediate Language (MSIL), which can run on any platform that supports the .NET Framework.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is designed for those with Visual Basic 6, VBScript, VBA, Java, Pascal or C/C++ programming experience who want to learn about .NET programming using Visual Basic. Topics covered include working with the object-oriented programming features of Visual Basic for .NET, creating Windows and ASP.NET Web Application user interfaces, and writing database code that uses the Entity Framework.

Typical participants include:

• Windows application developers who plan to use .NET for desktop or client/server programs
• Web developers who want to use ASP.NET with Visual Basic
• Enterprise developers who plan to use Visual Basic in broadly distributed database applications

What background do I need?

Experience with any programming language, such as Visual Basic 6 or earlier, VBScript, VBA, C or Pascal is assumed. For example, you should know how to:

For example, you should know how to:

• Create a forms-based application
• Write a loop to iterate through the strings in a list box
• Define a variable that will hold floating point values
• Program If statements, While and For loops
• Write functions

This experience may be gained in Course 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction.

How do I know if I should take this course or Course 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction?

Course 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, provides a broad introduction to programming using .NET and is designed for those new to programming and others who want a broad overview of creating applications using .NET and Visual Studio. If you know how to declare variables, code statements, work with branches and loops, and write functions, then you can take this course without taking Course 502 first. Course 503 provides more in-depth coverage of the object-oriented programming features of Visual Basic than Course 502 and is more focused on creating a typical business application with a backend database, and either a Web-based or desktop application user interface.

What version of Visual Studio is used in this course?

This course uses Visual Studio 2010.

Does the course cover LINQ, HTML and XML?

This course covers how to integrate a SQL database backend into your .NET Windows or Web application, including the use of parameterized SQL queries or stored procedures. Further, the use of the ADO.NET Entity Framework to automate the process of working with databases, and integrating with LINQ to allow queries to be written with the Visual Basic LINQ syntax is covered. This course also covers extending HTML with ASP.NET Web applications using specific server-side tags and markup. The use of XML in the .NET Framework for configuration and for creating documentation comments is also explored.

How much time is spent on each topic?

What kind of hands-on exercises will I do?

Approximately 50 percent of this course is spent on hands-on exercises. Participants build a series of programs that teach the many features of Visual Basic. In particular, you learn about object-oriented and component-based programming as well as creating user interfaces for Windows and Web programming in order to build multitier applications.

I need to use an earlier version of Visual Basic back at work. Will this course be valuable for me?

Absolutely! As long as you are using Visual Basic .NET or later, this course will provide you with a solid foundation in the skills you need to program in Visual Basic .NET, 2005, 2008 or 2010. All of the core topics in this course are identical in Visual Basic 2005 and later. Some new language features of Visual Basic 2010 are introduced in this class.

I use Visual Basic .NET 2003. Will this course be valuable for me?

Yes. Although this course covers some new information introduced in and unique to later versions of VB, you should still find a lot of value in the content.

When I've finished this course, what types of applications will I be able to create?

In this course, you use Visual Basic and the .NET Framework 4 to create a wide variety of applications, including Windows forms for desktop applications, ASP.NET Web applications and console applications for tools and utilities.

Will I learn to convert existing Visual Basic 6 applications to Visual Basic with .NET?

No. This course does not cover migration issues for existing VB 6 code. In general, Visual Basic in .NET has so many new features that porting VB 6 applications is usually not optimal compared to re-architecting a new solution.

Does this course cover Web application development?

While in the course you build a full-featured ASP.NET application, this course does not focus on ASP.NET for Web application development. If you need to learn specifically about Web application development, you may be interested in Course 512, ASP.NET WebForms: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

While the emphasis of this course is on building robust, advanced .NET applications using Visual Basic, Learning Tree offers a series of .NET development courses to further your knowledge base, including:

• 419, C# Programming: Hands-On provides the skills to exploit the capabilities of C# and of the .NET Framework to develop programs useful for a broad range of desktop and Web applications.
• 506, Building Web Applications with ASP.NET and Ajax: Hands-On shows you how to create a multitier Web site using Visual Studio and .NET.
• 511, .NET Best Practices and Design Patterns: Hands-On provides the skills needed to solve real-world software development problems and deliver fast, reliable applications.
• 512, ASP.NET WebForms: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction provides the knowledge and skills needed to develop and deploy Web applications with ASP.NET and Visual Studio.
• 2601, Programming WCF Web Services for .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction shows you how to make effective use of Web services in .NET and employ five distinct Web service frameworks that are supported with versions 2.0 to 4 of .NET.
• 2615, Programming SharePoint® 2010 Applications with .NET: Hands-On provides you with the knowledge and skills to build custom SharePoint applications and simplify application development using SharePoint 2010 and Visual Studio 2010.