4211  .NET Framework Essentials Using Visual Basic

Rev. 3.0

 

Microsoft .NET is an advance in programming technology that greatly simplifies application development, both for traditional, proprietary applications and for the emerging paradigm of Web-based services. .NET is a complete restructuring of Microsoft’s whole system infrastructure and represents a major learning challenge for programmers developing applications on Microsoft platforms. There is substantial change to the Visual Basic language, including its object-oriented features. But learning the new programming language is only part of the challenge. The much greater challenge is learning the .NET Framework and all its capabilities.

 

This three-day course covers the essentials of the .NET Framework for programmers who already know the Visual Basic language and the fundamentals of Windows Forms. It pairs with the course “Visual Basic Essentials” to form a five-day introduction to Visual Basic and the .NET Framework for experienced programmers.

 

It is current to .NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008. The course focuses on core portions of the .NET Framework that are common across many application areas. Separate courses are available in specific areas, such as ADO.NET, XML Programming, Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Framework, Windows Communications Framework, ASP.NET and Web services.

 

The course starts with an introduction to the architecture and key concepts of .NET. It then discusses class libraries, assemblies, versioning, configuration, and deployment, which constitute a major advance in the simplicity and robustness of deploying Windows applications, ending the notorious “DLL hell.” The next two chapters discuss important topics in the .NET programming model, including metadata, reflection, I/O, and serialization. The following chapter continues the discussion of the .NET programming model, covering memory management, threading, asynchronous programming, application domains, marshal by value, marshal by reference, and.NET remoting.

 

.NET Security is introduced in some detail, including both code access security and role-based security. The next chapter covers interoperability of .NET with COM and with Win32 applications. The course includes an introduction to database programming using ADO.NET and LINQ. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, bundled with Visual Studio 2008, is used in database examples.

 

The course is practical, with many examples and a case study. The goal is to equip you to begin building significant applications using the .NET Framework. The student will receive a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the programming examples.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

·         Gain a thorough understanding of the philosophy and architecture of .NET

·         Acquire a working knowledge of the .NET programming model and .NET Security

·         Learn how to implement database applications using ADO.NET and LINQ

 

Course Duration:  3 days

 

Prerequisites:  The student should be an experienced application developer or architect with a working knowledge of Visual Basic, including building simple GUIs with Windows Forms.

 

1.      .NET Fundamentals

What is Microsoft .NET?

Common Language Runtime

Attribute-Based Programming

Interface-Based Programming

Metadata

Common Type System

Framework Class Library

Language Interoperability

Managed Code

Assemblies and Deployment

Web Services

ASP.NET

 

2.      Class Libraries

Components in .NET

Building Class Libraries at the Command Line

Class Libraries Using Visual Studio 2008

Using References

 

3.      Assemblies, Deployment and Configuration

Assemblies

Private Assembly Deployment

Shared Assembly Deployment

Configuration Overview

Configuration Files

Programmatic Access to Configuration

Using SDK Tools for Signing and Deployment

Application Settings with .NET 2.0

 

4.      Metadata and Reflection

Metadata

Reflection

Late Binding

 

5.      I/O and Serialization

Directories

Files

Serialization

Attributes

 

6.      .NET Programming Model

Memory Management and Garbage Collection

Threading and Synchronization

Asynchronous Delegates

.NET 2.0 BackgroundWorker

Application Domains

Marshal by Value

Marshal by Reference

.NET Remoting

 

7.      .NET Security

Authentication and Authorization

Configuring Security

Code Access Security

Code Groups

Evidence

Permissions

Role-Based Security

Principals and Identities

 

8.      Interoperating with COM and Win32

.NET Client Calling a COM Server

PInvoke

 

9.      ADO.NET and LINQ

ADO.NET Overview

.NET Data Providers

Connections

Commands

DataReaders and Connected Access

Data Sets and Disconnected Access

Language Integrated Query

 

System Requirements

 

Course exercises require Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition or higher. The preferred operating system is Windows XP. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, bundled with Visual Studio 2005, is required for the database chapter. See the appropriate course Setup Guide for details.

 

A good minimal hardware profile for this course consists of a 2 GHz or better CPU, 512 MB of RAM, and at least 4 GB of free disk space for tools installation and courseware.