Chapter 01 : Introduction to the .NET Framework

Overview

Many authors and speakers refer to the .NET Framework and its related technologies ”particularly XML and XML Web services ”as a revolution in computing practices and note Microsoft s total commitment to the .NET Framework. When I think about the possibilities, I am amazed at the opportunities that the .NET Framework brings to Microsoft Access developers. Yet, in spite of this consensus, Access developers will find a paucity of books that specifically target their special interests and requirements.

This book is for them: developers who create applications for Access (Jet) databases using classic Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). If you don t want to be left behind, this is your chance to learn the .NET Framework with databases and coding samples that relate to your experience. While I promise to make this book relevant to the needs of Access developers, I believe the best way to learn a new technology is to use it ”to focus on how to exploit the new technology. This book is designed to help you do just that.

The first chapter starts with an overview of the .NET Framework and then drills down in longer sections about why Access developers should learn Microsoft Visual Basic .NET. It introduces selected .NET Framework architecture and programming elements and .NET Framework data processing capabilities. Many of the topics covered in this chapter are presented in more detail later in the book. Practically every database sample application in the book illustrates how to apply the .NET Framework to Access databases. Along with the emphasis on Access databases is a corresponding focus on Visual Basic .NET. My goal is to equip you with concepts and techniques so that you can become productive at coding solutions for your Access databases with Visual Basic .NET. This chapter presents the concepts, and later chapters will illustrate the techniques. Furthermore, this chapter s presentation regularly points out the significance of .NET Framework innovations for Access developers. In addition, I occasionally comment on Access technologies, such as data access pages, when they offer parallel features to .NET Framework technologies, such as ASP.NET.

Many Access developers are creating solutions for Microsoft SQL Server databases. However, this book uses Access and Jet interchangeably. Therefore, I devote little attention to programming SQL Server databases with Visual Basic .NET. For those who want more content on that topic, consult my other book: Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (Microsoft Press, 2002).