Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

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By Tim Patrick, Steven Roman, PhD, Ron Petrusha, Paul Lomax

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Released: January 2006

Pages: 768

When Microsoft made Visual Basic into an object-oriented programming language, millions of VB developers resisted the change to the .NET platform. Now, after integrating feedback from their customers and creating Visual Basic 2005, Microsoft finally has the right carrot. Visual Basic 2005 offers the power of the .NET platform, yet restores the speed and convenience of Visual Basic. Accordingly, we've revised the classic in a Nutshell guide to the Visual Basic language to cover the Visual Basic 2005 version and all of its new features.

Unlike other books on the subject, Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition doesn't assume you're a novice. It's a detailed, professional reference to the Visual Basic language-a reference that you can use to jog your memory about a particular language element or parameter. It'll also come in handy when you want to make sure that there isn't some "gotcha" you've overlooked with a particular language feature.

The book is divided into three major parts: Part I introduces the main features and concepts behind Visual Basic programming; Part II thoroughly details all the functions, statements, directives, objects, and object members that make up the Visual Basic language; and Part III contains a series of helpful appendices. Some of the new features covered include Generics, a convenient new library called My Namespace, and the operators used to manipulate data in Visual Basic.

No matter how much experience you have programming with Visual Basic, you want Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition close by, both as a standard reference guide and as a tool for troubleshooting and identifying programming problems.

The Basics
1. Chapter 1 Introduction
  1. Why Visual Basic .NET?
  2. What Is Visual Basic .NET?
  3. What Can You Do with Visual Basic .NET?
  4. Versions of Visual Basic for .NET
2. Chapter 2 The .NET Framework: General Concepts
  1. Common Language Runtime
  2. Managed Code
  3. Namespaces
  4. Types and Objects
  5. Assemblies
  6. The Framework Class Library
  7. Application Deployment
  8. The .NET Framework and Visual Basic
3. Chapter 3 Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming
  1. Principles of Object-Oriented Programming
  2. OOP Development in Visual Basic
4. Chapter 4 Variables and Data Types
  1. Data Types
  2. Variables
  3. Constants
  4. Enumerations
  5. Arrays
  6. Collections
  7. Parameters and Arguments
5. Chapter 5 Operators
  1. Arithmetic Operators
  2. Concatenation Operators
  3. Logical and Bitwise Operators
  4. Assignment Operators
  5. Comparison Operators
  6. Object Operators
  7. Operator Overloading
  8. Operator Precedence
6. Chapter 6 Program Structure
  1. Visual Studio Application Types
  2. Referencing Components and Classes
  3. Application Entry Points
  4. Code File Contents
  5. The Structure of a Visual Basic Program
7. Chapter 7 The .NET Framework Class Library
  1. The System Namespace
  2. The System.Collections Namespace
  3. The System.Data Namespace
  4. The System.IO Namespace
  5. The System.Text.RegularExpressions Namespace
  6. The System.Windows.Forms Namespace
  7. Other Namespaces
8. Chapter 8 Delegates and Events
  1. Delegates
  2. Events and Event Binding
9. Chapter 9 Attributes
  1. Syntax and Use
  2. Defining a Custom Attribute
  3. Using a Custom Attribute
10. Chapter 10 Generics
  1. What Are Generics?
  2. Type Parameters
  3. Multiple Type Parameters
  4. Constraints
  5. Multiple Constraints
  6. Accessing Type Parameter Members
  7. Generic Methods
  8. Nested Generic Types
  9. Overloaded Types and Members
11. Chapter 11 Error Handling in Visual Basic
  1. Error Detection and Error Handling
  2. Runtime Error Handling
  3. Dealing with Logic Errors
  4. Error Constants
Reference
1. Chapter 12 The Language Reference
2. Chapter 13 The 'My' Reference
Appendixes
1. Appendix A Language Elements by Category
  1. Array Handling
  2. Clipboard
  3. Collection Objects
  4. Common Dialogs
  5. Conditional Compilation
  6. Conversion
  7. Date and Time
  8. Debugging
  9. Declaration
  10. Error Handling
  11. File System
  12. Financial
  13. Information
  14. Input/Output
  15. Integrated Development Environment
  16. Interaction
  17. Mathematics
  18. Program Structure and Flow
  19. Programming
  20. Registry
  21. String Manipulation
2. Appendix B Namespace Hierarchy
  1. 'My' Namespace Hierarchy
  2. System Namespace Hierarchy
3. Appendix C Constants and Enumerations
  1. Visual Basic Intrinsic Constants
  2. ControlChars Class
  3. Visual Basic Enumerations
4. Appendix D What's New and Different in Visual Basic .NET 2002
  1. Language Changes in VB.NET 2002
  2. Changes to Programming Elements
  3. Obsolete Programming Elements
  4. Structured Exception Handling
  5. Changes in Object Orientation
5. Appendix E What's New and Different in Visual Basic .NET 2003
  1. Language Changes in VB.NET 2003
6. Appendix F What's New and Different in Visual Basic 2005
  1. Enhancements of Existing Functionality
  2. The 'My' Namespace
  3. Other New Features
7. Appendix G VB 6 Language Elements No Longer Supported
8. Appendix H The Visual Basic Command-Line Compiler
  1. Compiler Basics
  2. Command-Line Switches
  3. Using a Response File
  4. Conditional Compilation Constants

Colophon

Title:

Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

By:

Tim Patrick, Steven Roman, PhD, Ron Petrusha, Paul Lomax

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Ebook
Safari Books Online

Print:

January 2006

Ebook:

June 2009

Pages:

768

Print ISBN:

978-0-596-10152-7

| ISBN 10:

0-596-10152-X

Ebook ISBN:

978-0-596-15965-8

| ISBN 10:

0-596-15965-X

Tim Patrick

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.

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Steven Roman, PhD

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".

View Steven Roman, PhD's full profile page.
Ron Petrusha

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.

View Ron Petrusha's full profile page.
Paul Lomax

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.

View Paul Lomax's full profile page.