How the Book Is Organized

Chapter 1 introduces you to the VB.NET language and the .NET platform.

Chapter 2 presents a simple application that prints the words "Hello World" to a console window and gives a line-by-line analysis of the code.

Chapter 3 explains the principles behind and goals of this programming methodology, including the three pillars of object-oriented programming: encapsulation, specialization, and polymorphism.

Chapter 4 introduces the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) designed specifically for .NET; using the IDE can greatly simplify how you write applications.

Chapter 5 introduces the basic syntax and structure of the VB.NET language, including the intrinsic types, variables , statements, and expressions.

Chapter 6 describes some of the ways you can change the order in which methods are called within a program. Statements such as If , ElseIf , and Select Case will be considered , along with the concept of loops , which are created using such keywords as Do , Do While , and Loop While .

Chapter 7 describes some of the symbols that cause VB.NET to take an action, such as assigning a value to a variable and arithmetically operating on values (adding, subtracting, etc.).

Chapter 8 introduces the key concepts of programmer-defined types (classes) and instances of those types (objects). Classes and objects are the building blocks of object-oriented programming.

Chapter 9 delves into the specific programming instructions you'll write to define the behavior of objects.

Chapter 10 introduces the debugger integrated into the Visual Studio .NET Integrated Development Environment.

Chapter 11 explores two of the key concepts behind object-oriented programming and demonstrates how you might implement them in your code.

Chapter 12 introduces the structure or struct, a programmer-defined type similar to a class, but with specific and more limited functionality.

Chapter 13 explains how you can define a set of behaviors (an interface) that any number of classes might implement.

Chapter 14 introduces the array, an indexed collection of objects, all of the same type. Arrays are one of the collection types recognized by VB.NET.

Chapter 15 describes some of the other VB.NET collections, including stacks and queues.

Chapter 16 discusses the manipulation of strings of characters , the VB.NET String class, and regular expression syntax.

Chapter 17 explains how to handle errors and abnormal conditions that may arise in relation to your programs.

Chapter 18 discusses how to write code to respond to programming occurrences like mouse clicks, keystrokes, and other events. The chapter also introduces some of the basic concepts of application programming.

Building serious commercial applications is beyond the scope of a primer like Learning Visual Basic .NET . But Chapter 19 describes where you might go to learn more about VB.NET and .NET programming, including other books, web sites, newsgroups, and so forth.