A Programmer’s Introduction to Visual Basic.NET
This
book is meant to give you a head start on the changes from Visual Basic
to Visual Basic.NET (VB.NET). Most of the book assumes that you are
comfortable with Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6), so the book endeavors to be a
quick introduction to the major differences between VB6 and the new
VB.NET.
I’ve been
using Visual Basic since version 1.0. The most dramatic shift had been
in the move from VB3 to VB4, when class modules were introduced, and VB
started on its long, slow path to becoming object oriented. For the
first time, you could build COM components in VB, leading to an
explosion in n-tier application development. VB4 brought COM development
to the average programmer, so it was no longer a technology known only
to a few C++ developers.
When
I first started looking at the differences between VB6 and VB.NET, I
realized that the change would be even more significant than it had been
from VB3 to VB4. I thought it would be good to put together a book that
helped VB6 developers transition to VB.NET. To that end, I pitched the
idea for a book named something like Migrating from VB to VB.NET to a
couple of different companies. Sams Publishing liked the idea, and one
day they called me and asked me about doing a miniature version of the
book…in three weeks.
I
don’t know who was crazier: Sams, for asking for the book in three
weeks, or me, for agreeing to do it. Then, Sams said they were giving
the book away, and I thought they had really lost it. Still, the mission
was clear: create a book that targets Visual Studio.NET, Beta 1. Then,
the day after I finished the book on Beta 1, Sams made the decision to
release a book based on Beta 2 instead. Although I can’t say I was
thrilled, I think it was the right decision. There were significant
changes between Beta 1 and Beta 2. Microsoft says there will be far
fewer changes between Beta 2 and the final product, so this book should
have a much longer shelf life than a book based on Beta 1.
There
is no doubt: VB.NET will be an exciting change for us all. There is so
much new material to learn that it can be somewhat daunting at first.
However, the benefits of the .NET Framework are significant, and in the
end can greatly reduce the effort required today to build
enterprise-ready distributed applications.
This book will be followed by a much more comprehensive book based on the final version of Visual Studio.NET (VS.NET). The good news is that, as previously mentioned, the changes between Beta 2 and the final product should be far less dramatic than those changes between Beta 1 and Beta 2. Having said that, however, realize that there will be changes before Visual Studio is released.
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