4201.  Object-Oriented Programming in Visual Basic

Rev. 4.0

 

.NET is a revolutionary advance in programming technology that greatly simplifies application development. Microsoft’s popular Visual Basic programming language has been upgraded to take advantage of the new .NET features. Visual Basic has become a fully object-oriented programming language with capabilities comparable to C++, Java, and Microsoft’s new language C#.

 

This course is a practical introduction to programming in Visual Basic and the use of services provided by .NET. It emphasizes the Visual Basic language and how to build Visual Basic applications from an object-oriented perspective. Knowledge of the earlier version of the language, Visual Basic 6, is not required. It is current to Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0, which continues the introduction of new features in the language, making Visual Basic increasingly parallel to C#.

 

One of the strengths of Visual Basic, and the reason it has enjoyed such widespread use, is the ease with which Windows application can be developed. Microsoft has revamped the way that Windows applications are built under .NET. Windows Forms, used by .NET languages, represents a class library that brings uniformity to the components of a Windows application. The course includes substantial coverage of using Windows Forms in Visual Basic, including creating database applications with ADO.NET.

 

The first part of the course covers the fundamentals of Microsoft’s Visual Basic programming language. It starts with a brief chapter, “.NET:  What You Need To Know,” which gets you up and running in the .NET environment with a minimum of fuss. The next five chapters cover the Visual Basic language essentials.

 

The second part of the course discusses object-oriented programming in Visual Basic. It contains three chapters that focus on developing classes using Visual Basic and then extending them via Visual Basic’s inheritance capabilities. Interface-based programming and collection classes are also introduced.

 

The final part of the course introduces Windows Forms. Programmers familiar with previous versions of VB will notice that this significantly changes the programming model, yet also introduces flexibility not previously available. The chapters in this part evolve from building simple form-based applications to ones with dialogs and menus. It includes an introduction to database programming using ADO.NET. The course concludes with a chapter covering the newer features in Visual Basic. An appendix provides a tutorial on Visual Studio 2010.

 

The course is practical, with many example programs and a progressively developed case study. The student will receive a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the programming examples.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

·         Gain an understanding of the .NET architecture

·         Gain a working knowledge of the Visual Basic programming language

·         Learn how to build object-oriented applications using Visual Basic

·         Learn how to implement Windows desktop applications using Windows Forms, including programs that interact with databases

·         Gain a working knowledge of auto-implemented properties, local type inference, object initializers, anonymous types, extension methods, collection initializers, LINQ, and other newer features in Visual Basic

 

Course Duration:  5 days

 

Prerequisites:  The student should have some programming experience.

 

1.      .NET: What You Need To Know

.NET Executables and the CLR

A .NET Testbed for Visual Basic Programming

Visual Studio 2010

 

2.      Fundamentals of Visual Basic Programming

Program Structure

Namespaces

Data Types

Variables

Conversions

Operators and Expressions

Console I/O

 

3.      Control Structures

If Statement

Select Case Statement

Do/Loop Statement

For/Next Statement

Exit and Continue

 

4.      Procedures

Subroutines

Functions

Pass-by-value Versus Pass-by-reference

Access modifiers

Overloading

Optional Parameters

 

5.      Advanced Data Types

Arrays

Enumerations

Structures

 

6.      Exception Handling

Error Detection

Exception Handling

 

7.      Object-Oriented Programming

Object-Oriented Concepts

Defining Classes

Methods and Properties

Auto-Implemented Properties

Shared Data and Methods

Constructors

 

8.      Inheritance

Inheritance

Controlling Base Class Construction

Access Control

Polymorphism

Events

Abstract and Not Inheritable Classes

Type Conversion in Inheritance

 

9.      Interfaces and Collections

Interface Fundamentals

Programming with Interfaces

Using Interfaces at Runtime

Resolving Ambiguities

Collections

Generic Types

Type-Safe Collections

 

10. Introduction to Windows Forms

Creating Windows Applications Using Visual Studio 2010

Partial Classes

Handling Events

Common Controls

 

11. Windows Forms Controls

Buttons, Labels and Textboxes

Radio Buttons and Group Boxes

Check Boxes

List Boxes and Combo Boxes

Timer Control

Flexible Event Handling

 

12. User Interface Features

Message Boxes

Custom Dialogs

Modeless Dialogs

Common Dialogs

Menus

Context Menus

 

13. Database Programming

ADO.NET

.NET Data Providers

Using Data Readers

Using Data Sets

Data Binding

 

14. Newer Features in Visual Basic

Local Type Inference

Object Initializers

Array Initializers

Anonymous Types

Partial Methods

Extension Methods

Collection Initializers

Variance in Generic Interfaces

Language Integrated Query (LINQ)

 

Appendix A.  Using Visual Studio 2010

 

Overview of Visual Studio 2010

Creating a Console Application

Project Configurations

Debugging

Multiple-Project Solutions

 

Appendix B.  Learning Resources

 

System Requirements

 

Course exercises require Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and a Windows operating system, XP or more recent. See the appropriate course Setup Guide for details.

 

A good minimal hardware profile for this course consists of a 2 GHz or better CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and at least 4 GB of free disk space for tools installation and courseware.