Resources for Learning Visual Studio

This book assumes that you already know how to use Visual Studio and at least one supported language. Except as needed, I won't discuss the IDE or basic programming techniques. Of course, the chapter will discuss how to use Google Web Services in detail, but you still need to know the essentials of the IDE and language you want to use. The following sections provide some resources you can use learn Visual Studio (although these lists are by no means complete).

Using Visual Studio 6

Visual Studio is the last version of Microsoft's language product to provide full support for native applications ”those that run directly from the Win32 API. Developers who don't want to adopt Microsoft's .NET strategy have continued to use this version of Visual Studio and it will probably remain viable for a long time. This book discusses the two most popular languages included with Visual Studio 6: Visual Basic 6 and Visual C++ 6. I'm assuming that you have installed the latest service pack from Microsoft (SP5 at the time of this writing).

It helps if you have a good book when learning any computer language, but especially when working with the intricacies of Visual Studio. A good starting Visual C++ book is Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton (Wrox, 2003). Visual C++ developers will probably want to look at my books, Visual C++ 6 from the Ground Up, Second Edition (Osborne, 1998) or Windows 2000 Programming Bible (IDG, 1999) as their second book. Make sure you check out Mastering C++ 6 by Michael J. Young (Sybex, 1998) as well.

For Visual Basic 6 developers, one of the best books on the market is Visual Basic 6 for Dummies by Wallace Wang (IDG, 1998). Another good book once you understand a few of the basics is Mastering Visual Basic 6 by Evangelos Petroutsos (Sybex, 1998).

Make sure you also spend time looking at source code examples. For example, you can find great source code examples at Planet Source Code (http://www.pscode.com/). This site includes both Visual Basic and Visual C++ examples, along with helpful tutorials. Note that this site also caters to .NET users. Another good place to look for Visual Basic code is A1VBCode at http://www.a1vbcode.com/. The TutorGig site at http://www.tutorgig.com/ provides tutorials for both Visual Basic and Visual C++.

Normally, I recommend spending time on Microsoft's newsgroups such as microsoft.public.vb. bugs or microsoft.public.vc.database. However, if you're a Visual Basic developer, many online forums present great information without the usual Microsoft bias. For example, the Extreme Visual Basic Forum at http://visualbasicforum.com/ provides a number of message lists you can use to discuss issues such as adding a Windows XP interface to your application.

Using Visual Studio .NET

Visual Studio .NET promises to deliver a lot in the way of language functionality, so it's almost a shame that I only cover C# and Visual Basic in this chapter. You still have an option to use Visual C++ for development purposes. See my book Visual C++ .NET Developer's Guide (Osborne, 2002) for details on using this language. In fact, the inclusion of new designer tools for Visual C++ developers in Visual Studio .NET 2003 makes this language a viable choice (the first version of Visual Studio .NET didn't provide Visual C++ developers with designer support). However, I'm currently working with PERL in .NET (see http://www. activestate .com/Products/Visual_Perl/ for details) and there are other choices too. You can see a list of languages at http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/technologyinfo/Overview/default.aspx. It's also interesting to look at the language list at http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/lang/.

Tip  

Many of the books that you'll see online say they're for the novice, but the author has targeted them to a specific need. For example, you might see a book for database programming or using Crystal Reports. These books are helpful, but first try to find a .NET book that focuses on the language, rather than tasks you can perform with the language.

One of the best places to learn about C# is A Programmer's Introduction to C# , Second Edition, by Eric Gunnerson (Apress, 2001). Once you get a basic start, check out my book Visual C# .NET Developer's Handbook (Sybex, 2002). If you want a great .NET book that includes both Visual Basic and C#, check out .NET Programming 10-Minute Solutions by Russell Jones and Mike Gunderloy (Sybex, 2003).

Visual Basic .NET developers also have a wealth of information sources at their disposal. One book to try is Beginning VB.NET by Richard Blair, Jonathan Crossland, Matthew Reynolds, and Thearon Willis (Wrox, 2003). Many people also find Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Step by Step by Michael Halvorson (Microsoft Press, 2002) quite helpful. Finally, you might want to read The Ultimate VB.NET and ASP.NET Code Book by Karl Moore (Apress 2003).

As with any other language, seeing coding examples and trying them out on your machine is a good way to learn. One of the best places to obtain coding examples for Visual Basic .NET or Visual C++ .NET is GotDotNet (http://www.gotdotnet.com/). Some of the Microsoft developers frequent this site, as well as expert programmers who don't have any Microsoft affiliation . You can also learn a lot from my free .NET Tips, Trends & Technology eXTRA newsletter (sign up at http://www.freeenewsletters.com/). Send me your .NET questions and I'll answer them in the newsletter. I've also written a number of articles for InformIT (http://www.informit.com/isapi/authorid~{ 67CBE1B0-99DC-4A19-8BFB-5D224A0F34A7 }/ authors / author.asp ). Finally, Matthew Reynolds .NET 247 site at http://www.dotnet247.com/ is packed with helpful examples and other information.

Microsoft supports a number of .NET newsgroups. The important thing to remember is that most of these newsgroups have "dotnet" in the name . For example, if you want to learn about .NET Framework interoperability problems, you should visit the microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.interop newsgroup. When you need help with Visual Basic .NET, check the microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vb newsgroup. Likewise, you can visit the microsoft.public.dotnet.languages.vc newsgroup for help with Visual C++ .NET questions.