About the Third Edition

The first two editions of Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell (which were both named VB.NET Language in a Nutshell) focused solely on the initial release of Visual Basic .NET (the 2002 release) and related .NET features (the .NET Framework, Version 1.0). This third edition incorporates all new and significant features added in both the 2003 and 2005 releases of Visual Basic. Part I, The Basics, has been reorganized to better support the learning process for programmers new to Visual Basic and .NET concepts in general. The largest change is the addition of two new chapters: Generics (Chapter 10) and The 'My' Reference (Chapter 13). Chapter 5, Operators, is also a new chapter, although it existed in the second edition as an appendix. While the third edition focuses on Visual Basic 2005, it is still useful with earlier releases of VB.NET; all feature differences between the various releases of Visual Basic for .NET are clearly marked throughout the book.

When the first release of Visual Basic for .NET appeared in 2002, the official name of the product was "Visual Basic .NET," a naming convention that was retained in the 2003 release. However, beginning with the 2005 release, the language name has officially reverted back to plain "Visual Basic." As this book focuses on the 2005 release of Visual Basic, this name change is reflected throughout the text. In most cases, the meaning of "Visual Basic" or "VB" will be clear through context, but in situations where confusion may exist, the text will specify the version discussed. Because Appendixes D and E specifically discuss the 2002 and 2003 releases of Visual Basic, they still include references to "Visual Basic .NET" and "VB.NET." There are also a few other places in the text where such usage is warranted.