Congratulations! You have decided to embark on learning Visual Basic .NET. This is an exciting time for Visual Basic programmers. Visual Basic .NET is a different animal from its predecessors. Even if you have been programming with Visual Basic for years, there is suddenly a lot of new stuff to learn. From a totally redesigned user interface to new language features and architectural changes, Visual Basic .NET represents an evolutionary step forward. Visual Basic has always made it easy to develop Windows programs, and Visual Basic .NET continues that tradition. However, the .NET framework was created clearly with Internet application development in mind. With the latest version of VB, you can create Web applications using the Visual Basic forms programming model and deploy them, all from within the Visual Studio .NET environment. The Visual Basic language has been improved as well. Not only does it support new programming features (such as inheritance), but the language itself also shares a common foundation with other Visual Studio .NET languages. This fact, along with the wealth of new programming functionality provided by the .NET framework, really levels the playing field between the capabilities of Visual Basic and C++. Okay, so now you are excited about learning Visual Basic. Your next question is, "What will this book do for me?" |