Summary

You bit off quite a chunk of the elephant in this chapter. You should pat yourself on the back because you now have a pretty good understanding of what OOP is about and how Visual Basic .NET uses objects in a simple program. I encourage you to experiment with the FirstProgram code and try changing different properties to see what effect they have on the program when it runs. Keep in mind that you can change the properties by using the Design and Properties windows (design-time changes), or you can do it by actually adding new lines of code to the program (runtime changes), as shown in Figure 2.24.

Believe me when I tell you that you will learn more if you use runtime changes. Using runtime changes forces you to think about what you're doing more than using design-time changes does ”and that's what learning is all about. Sometimes, the long way is the better way. Furthermore, if one of your changes doesn't work as expected, you shouldn't get discouraged. It's great experience to try to figure out on your own what has gone went wrong and why. Ferreting things out on your own is a terrific way to learn. Doing this now will prevent a lot of problems later on. We've all had the kind of problems that make us say, "How could I make such a stupid mistake?!" Trust me, we've all been there and, alas, most of us still visit there from time to time.

You should experiment and have some fun making changes to the program before you move on to the next chapter. If any program change doesn't work, so much the better. If you learn to be a good detective, you'll enjoy programming that much more.