Chapter 18. Applications and Events

Until now you have been creating console applications. Developing these simple programs has allowed you to focus on the fundamentals of the VB.NET language, rather than on the details of creating an interactive user interface. However, the principal purpose of Visual Basic .NET is to help you create Windows and web applications. Windows applications are desktop programs like Word, Excel, and others that you purchase and run on your computer. Web applications are accessed over the Web using a browser. Microsoft provides a set of classes and tools for building Windows applications, called Windows Forms. Windows applications can be very complex, and the details of Windows Forms are well beyond the scope of this book, but this chapter will introduce the fundamentals of creating Windows application, and will show some of the support Visual Studio .NET can provide.

Similarly, Microsoft provides ASP.NET for creating Web applications. The details of this powerful technology could also fill a book, but this chapter will show you how to get started.

Every Windows and web application is driven by program occurrences known as events . The current chapter introduces the concept of events in the context of developing Windows and web applications.

For pointers to more advanced books on developing Windows and web applications, as well as other available resources, see Chapter 19.