Sebastopol, CA--All Visual Basic .NET programmers have one thing in common--they're learning a new language. But those who have previous programming experience, especially with Visual Basic or an object-oriented language, will find the learning curve much more accessible than those who have chosen VB.NET for their first language. A dearth of good instructional books geared toward the novice has left the latter group feeling like outsiders--until now. Jesse Liberty, author of the best-selling books "Programming C#" and "Programming ASP.NET," has written Learning Visual Basic .NET (O'Reilly, US $34.95), an entry-level guide to learning the VB.NET language. Written in Liberty's characteristically warm and friendly style, this new book assumes no prior programming experience and provides an easy introduction to Microsoft's newest version of VB.
"This book is targeted at the novice programmer and provides an in-depth introduction not only to .NET programming and VB.NET syntax, but also to object-oriented programming," says Liberty. "I've written for programmers with very little object-oriented experience, script programmers, beginning VB6 programmers, or readers with no prior programming experience at all. But it's not intended for experienced C++, Java, or advanced VB6 programmers."
"Learning Visual Basic .NET" introduces the reader to fundamentals like Visual Studio .NET, object-oriented programming principles, and the Visual Basic .NET language itself. Readers will learn about the syntax and structure of the Visual Basic .NET language, including operators, classes and interfaces, structs, arrays, and strings. Liberty then demonstrates how to develop various kinds of applications--including those that work with databases--and web services. Among the topics covered are:
- Variables and constants
- Logging and branching
- Classes and objects
- Inheritance and polymorphism
- Structures and interfaces
- Arrays, indexers, and collections
- String objects and regular expressions
- Exceptions and debugging
This book also introduces the Virtual Studio .NET Integrated Development Environment (IDE), a tool designed to help in writing .NET applications.
Once they have mastered the subjects in "Learning Visual Basic .NET," readers will be ready to move on to more advanced books in VB.NET and .NET programming, with an aim to developing Windows and web applications. This book includes pointers to many print and online resources that will help readers in that pursuit. In the meantime, readers will find Liberty's book a lively and approachable introduction to Visual Basic .NET programming.
Additional Resources:
"Learning Visual Basic .NET" is also available on the O'Reilly Network Safari Bookshelf
Chapter 2, Getting Started with Visual Basic .NET is available free online
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples
Learning Visual Basic .NET
Jesse Liberty
ISBN 0-596-00386-2, 303 pages, $34.95 (US), $54.95 (CAN)
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
About O’Reilly
For over 40 years, O’Reilly has provided technology and business training, knowledge, and insight to help companies succeed. Our unique network of experts and innovators share their knowledge and expertise through the company’s SaaS-based training and learning platform. O’Reilly delivers highly topical and comprehensive technology and business learning solutions to millions of users across enterprise, consumer, and university channels. For more information, visit www.oreilly.com.