Preface

[Page xi]

Since its introduction in 1991, Visual Basic has been the most widely used programming language in the world. The latest incarnation of Visual Basic is called Visual Basic 2005. Visual Basic programmers are enthusiastically embracing the new features of the language. Likewise, students learning their first programming language will find Visual Basic 2005 the ideal tool to understand the development of computer programs.

My objectives when writing this text were as follows:

1. To develop focused chapters. Rather than covering many topics superficially, I concentrate on important subjects and cover them thoroughly.

2. To use examples and exercises that students can appreciate and with which they can relate, and feel comfortable. I frequently use real data. Examples do not have so many embellishments that students are distracted from the programming techniques illustrated.

3. To produce compactly written text that students will find both readable and informative. The main points of each topic are discussed first, and then the peripheral details are presented as comments.

4. To teach good programming practices that are in step with modern programming methodology. Problem-solving techniques and structured programming are discussed early and used throughout the book. The style follows object-oriented programming principles.

5. To provide insights into the major applications of computers.

[Page xi (continued)]

Unique and Distinguishing Features

Exercises for Most Sections

Each section that teaches programming has an exercise set. The exercises both reinforce the understanding of the key ideas of the section and challenge the student to explore applications. Most of the exercise sets require the student to trace programs, find errors, and write programs. The answers to all the odd-numbered exercises in Chapters 1 through 8 and selected odd-numbered exercises from Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are given at the end of the text.

Practice Problems

Practice Problems are carefully selected exercises located at the end of a section, just before the exercise set. Complete solutions are given following the exercise set. The practice problems often focus on points that are potentially confusing or are best appreciated after the student has worked on them. The reader should seriously attempt the practice problems and study their solutions before moving on to the exercises.

Programming Projects

Beginning with Chapter 3, chapters contain programming projects. The programming projects not only reflect the variety of ways that computers are used in the business community, but also present some games and general-interest topics. The large number and range of difficulty of the programming projects provide the flexibility to adapt the course to the interests and abilities of the students. Some programming projects in later chapters can be assigned as end-of-the-semester projects.

---

[Page xii]

Comments

Extensions and fine points of new topics are deferred to the "Comments" portion at the end of each section so that they will not interfere with the flow of the presentation.

Case Studies

Each of the four case studies focuses on an important programming application. The problems are analyzed and the programs are developed with top-down charts and pseudocode. The programs can be found on the companion website at www.prenhall.com/schneider.

Chapter Summaries

In Chapters 3 through 11, the key results are stated and the important terms are summarized at the end of the chapter.

Procedures

The early introduction of procedures in Chapter 4 allows structured programming to be used in simple situations before being applied to complex problems. However, the text is written so that the presentation of procedures easily can be postponed until decision and repetition structures have been presented. In Chapters 5 and 6 (and Sections 7.1 and 7.2), all programs using procedures appear at the ends of sections and can be deferred or omitted.

Arrays

Arrays are introduced gently in two sections. The first section presents the basic definitions and avoids procedures. The second section presents the techniques for manipulating arrays and shows how to pass arrays to procedures.

How To Appendix

Appendix B provides a compact, step-by-step reference on how to carry out standard tasks in the Visual Basic environment.

Appendix on Debugging

Placing of the discussion of Visual Basic's sophisticated debugger in Appendix D allows the instructor flexibility in deciding when to cover this topic.

Companion Website

The companion website contains all the examples, case studies, and data files referenced in the book as well as additional NetSearch terms, Destination Links, online study guide with additional exercises and learning resources for students.

Instructor Resource Center

The Instructor Resource Center contains solutions to every exercise and programming project, a test item file for each chapter, PowerPoint lecture slides, and data files for all the examples and programs featured in the book. Contact your local Prentice Hall Sales Representative for information on how to download these resources.

[Page xii (continued)]

What's New in the Sixth Edition

1. Suggestions from students and reviewers have been incorporated as much as possible.

2. The real-life data in the examples and exercises have been updated and revised.

3. The version of Visual Basic has been upgraded from VB.NET to Visual Basic 2005 and the relevant new features of Visual Basic 2005 have been explained.

4. A section on graphics has been added

5. Nine programming projects have been added.