422.  .NET Framework Using VB.NET

Rev. 1.1

 

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 entire 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 is designed to provide a sound introduction to the .NET Framework for programmers who already know the VB.NET language and the fundamentals of Windows Forms. 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 ASP.NET and Web services. It is part of the Object Innovations series of .NET courses, which are based on The Integrated .NET Series of books from Object Innovations and Prentice Hall PTR.

 

The course starts with an introduction to the architecture and key concepts of .NET. It then discusses class libraries, assemblies, versioning, 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 threading, contexts, application domains, marshal by value, marshal by reference, and memory management.

 

.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 concludes with an introduction to database programming using ADO.NET.

 

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. The book Application Development Using Visual Basic and .NET is recommended as a supplement to the course.

 

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 .NET

 

Course Duration:  3 days

 

Prerequisites:  The student should be an experienced application developer or architect with a working knowledge of Visual Basic .NET, 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 .NET

Using References

 

3.      Assemblies and Deployment

Assemblies

Private Assembly Deployment

Shared Assembly Deployment

Assembly Configuration

Multi-Course Assemblies

 

4.      Metadata and Reflection

Metadata

Reflection

Late Binding

 

5.      I/O and Serialization

Directories

Files

Serialization

Attributes

 

6.      .NET Programming Model

Threading and Synchronization

Contexts

Application Domains

Marshal by Value

Marshal by Reference

Memory Management and Garbage Collection

 

7.      Security

Authentication and Authorization

Internet Security

Configuring Security

Code Access Security

Permissions

Role-Based Security

Principals and Identities

 

8.      Interoperating with COM and Win32

.NET Client Calling a COM Server

COM Client Calling a .NET Server

PInvoke

 

9.      Database Programming Using ADO.NET

ADO.NET Overview

.NET Data Providers

Using DataReaders

Using DataSets

Interacting with XML Data

 

Appendix A. A Visual Studio .NET Database Testbed

 

Server Explorer

Query Analyzer

OSQL

 

Appendix B. Learning Resources

 

System Requirements

 

Course exercises require Microsoft .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET on Windows 2000. SQL Server 2000 is recommended for the database chapter, but Access can also be used. See the appropriate course Setup Guide for details.

 

A good minimal hardware profile for this course would have a Pentium 500-MHz or equivalent CPU, 256 MB of RAM, and at least 500 MB of free disk space for tools installation and courseware.