In this chapter, you'll get your first chance to write Visual Basic .NET code unencumbered with the coding practices and idioms of yesterday . We will use Visual Basic .NET code and only Visual Basic .NET code. Chapter 3 provides you with an opportunity to experiment and explore the basic programming concepts that are the molecules of every program.
This chapter looks at variable declaration and initialization, block scope, static variables, and more on arrays and abstract data types. I will also introduce you to the concept of shadow variables, and provide you with some more examples on defining procedures and structures. Near the end of this chapter, we will look at the new garbage collector and the impact it has on using objects. Finally, this chapter wraps up with comprehensive coverage of exception handling. Because you will use exception handling in all of the code you writethough perhaps not all proceduresyou need to master the concepts of exception handling early.
