Foreword: Upgrading to Visual Basic .NET

Foreword: Upgrading to Visual Basic .NET

Just as the computing landscape has transformed itself over the last decade, so too has Microsoft Visual Basic. For more than ten years, Visual Basic has fueled the growth of client/server applications, 32-bit programming, and component development. It is the backbone of thousands if not millions of critical business systems throughout the world. Now, as the computing industry looks to address a new set of challenges focusing on Internet, mobile, and Web service development, a new version of Visual Basic Visual Basic .NET is once again at the forefront of technology, ready to fuel the growth of the next generation of application development.

Like Visual Basic 1, Visual Basic .NET is both evolutionary and revolutionary. It builds on the key strengths of previous versions of Visual Basic and extends rapid application development to the server and to the Web with XML Web services, Web Forms, trickle-down deployment of Windows applications, and the ability to write Windows services. Visual Basic .NET also delivers some of the most asked-for features: real inheritance and the ability to cleanly implement object-oriented designs, better integration with other languages, seamless deployment, and versioning.

These enhancements to the Visual Basic language, the shared Visual Studio .NET IDE, and the new underlying .NET Framework all introduce discontinuities between Visual Basic 6 and Visual Basic .NET. These discontinuities, while essential to the evolution and importance of Visual Basic as a programming tool, require you to use a particular set of technologies and strategies to facilitate a smooth upgrade to Visual Basic .NET.

In Upgrading Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 to Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Ed Robinson, Mike Bond, and Ian Oliver provide this vital information in clear, concise language. In addition to covering the many new concepts and constructs in the Visual Basic .NET language, they discuss the extensive capabilities of the Visual Basic .NET Upgrade Wizard as an essential instrument in your upgrade toolbox. Further, they describe strategies for addressing common upgrade issues, interoperating with existing Visual Basic 6 components, and adding value to your upgraded Visual Basic .NET applications. Finally, this book also serves as a handy reference guide, full of numerous before-and-after code and object model comparisons.

I ve had the pleasure of working with Ed, Mike, and Ian for the past year on Visual Basic .NET. In this book, they bring you their unsurpassed knowledge of both product and customer in a highly digestible format. Armed with this knowledge and Visual Basic .NET, you will be well on your way to upgrading and enhancing your existing Visual Basic applications and taking the next big evolutionary step in application development.

Ari Bixhorn

Product Manager

Visual Basic .NET