| Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell is divided into three parts. Part I, The Basics, is an introduction to the main features and concepts of Visual Basic programming. If you are new to Visual Basic or .NET, this part of the book is essential reading. It is divided into the following chapters:
Chapter 1, Introduction In this chapter, you will read how Visual Basic has been transformed into its .NET variation and get some sense of how and why the .NET version is different from previous editions of Visual Basic.
Chapter 2, The .NET Framework: General Concepts This chapter surveys some of the features of the .NET Framework that most impact the VB developer. These include namespaces, the Common Language Runtime (CLR), and assemblies.
Chapter 3, Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming This chapter discusses the basic concepts of object-oriented programming and shows how to implement VB's object-oriented features in your code.
Chapter 4, Variables and Data Types This chapter looks at the standard Visual Basic data types and how to use them. Behind the scenes, VB takes advantage of the .NET Framework's Common Type System, so the chapter also examines the .NET data types and the way in which VB wraps these data types.
Chapter 5, Operators This chapter surveys the operators you use to manipulate data in VB. It also introduces operator overloading, a new feature with the 2005 release.
Chapter 6, Program Structure This chapter discusses the entry points that allow the .NET runtime to execute your code and shows how to structure the code in a Visual Basic program.
Chapter 7, The .NET Framework Class Library The .NET Framework Class Library (FCL) replaces portions of the Win32 API, as well as many of the individual object models familiar to pre-.NET VB programmers. This chapter offers a fast-paced overview of the Framework Class Library and some of its features.
Chapter 8, Delegates and Events While handling events was more or less automatic in previous versions of VB, events in .NET are "wired" through the source code itself. This chapter shows how events work and what they mean to you as a programmer.
Chapter 9, Attributes The .NET Framework supports attributes, an extensible mechanism that lets you "decorate" program elements (such as classes and class members) with tags that describe or alter the use of those elements. Attributes are stored in the assembly's "metadata" and can be used to influence the compiler, the design time environment, or the runtime environment. This chapter explains attributes and shows you how to use and define them.
Chapter 10, Generics Visual Basic 2005 includes a new feature called "generics" that lets you better control the objects managed by other general-use classes. This chapter describes the feature and provides examples for its use.
Chapter 11, Error Handling in Visual Basic Visual Basic now offers two techniques for error handling. The first, which uses the OnError statement, is termed unstructured error handling and is a traditional part of VB. The second, which uses the try...Catch...Finally construct, is termed structured exception handling and is new to the .NET implementation. In this chapter, we'll show you how to use both.
Part II of the book thoroughly details all the functions, statements, directives, objects, and object members that make up the Visual Basic language.
Chapter 12, The Language Reference This chapter provides syntax and usage information for all major VB language features, plus information on some of the more useful .NET Framework features that are not officially part of the VB language.
Chapter 13, The 'My' Reference This chapter fully documents the My Namespace feature, a convenient new library introduced with Visual Basic 2005.
The third and final section, Part III, consists of the following appendixes:
Appendix A, Language Elements by Category A listing of all VB functions, statements, and major keywords, grouped by category.
Appendix B, Namespace Hierarchy A hierarchical listing of the .NET namespaces from System on down, plus the hierarchy of the Visual Basic My Namespace feature.
Appendix C, Constants and Enumerations A list of VB intrinsic constants, as well as VB enumerations and their members.
Appendix D, What's New and Different in Visual Basic .NET 2002 A discussion of language changes from VB 6 to Visual Basic .NET 2002.
Appendix E, What's New and Different in Visual Basic .NET 2003 A discussion of language changes introduced with Visual Basic .NET 2003 and the .NET Framework, Version 1.1.
Appendix F, What's New and Different in Visual Basic 2005 A discussion of language changes introduced with Visual Basic 2005 and the .NET Framework, Version 2.0.
Appendix G, VB 6 Language Elements No Longer Supported A list of the language elements that have dropped out of the Visual Basic language as a result of its transition to the .NET Framework.
Appendix H, The Visual Basic Command-Line Compiler Visual Basic includes a command-line compileryou can actually use Notepad as your primary "development environment" for Visual Basic and use the compiler to compile your code. This Appendix documents the operation of the Visual Basic command-line compiler and its options.
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