VB Web Review
VB.NET represents a major change in the way VB developers will work - it is
not a simple upgrade from VB 5 to 6! Microsoft is making some radical changes,
and betting its future on this project. Therefore, most developers would be
advised to take a close look at what is happening!
Wrox, has, once again led the pack - they have already published 6 books on
the .NET framework. VB.NET Programming is aimed squarely at developers with
experience in VB/VBScript/ASP who want to know the major changes in Visual Basic,
and how it will affect them.
Characteristic of Wrox, the book is well written, and code easy to follow.
The book is made up of 10 chapters. Chapter 1 covers installation of Visual
Studio.NET, and creates a very simple 'Hello World' application :- despite what
you may be thinking, the changes in VB.NET are significant enough to warrent
this - even for an experienced VB developer.
The next chapter outlines the .NET framework, its key ideas, structure and
the benefits it brings. As this book is aimed at existing VB developers, the
next few chapters focus on the new features of the IDE, as well as the new language,
UI and web features brought with VB.NET. These chapters cover the topic extensively,
including Inheritance, array functions, forms, new properties, error handling,
new object orientated features, and the extensive new web features. VB.NET Programming
covers these topics in a sensible amount of depth, whilst keeping enough breadth
to cover the wide range of topics it needs to make the book worthwhile.
Next, the book covers an existing major area of VB; Data Access, and the changes
brought about with the introduction of ADO.NET. We then move on to more advanced
topics such as middle-tier components, console applications, .NET threading
(and the consequences of using multiple threads - something VB developers have
not needed to worry about until now), printing and deployment.
The next chapter covers interoperability and migration; a particularly crucial
area, as .NET is going to take some time to become widespread due simply to
the extent of change it brings. The last two chapters then give you more development
examples in VB, and describes what changes should be made to your current VB
6 projects to make life easier if and when migration comes.1861004915
As with all the Wrox books that I have reviewed, this is extremely well thought
out and easy to comprehend. This book is an excellent introduction to the .NET
framework, with good coding examples to hammer down points! Some errors have
crept into the book, but they are only minor, and have been included as errata
on the Wrox website. If you want to get to grips with VB.NET ahead of the
programming, then this book is for you.
One thing to bear in mind; this book was published before the release of the
BETA 2, and therefore Microsoft have made some futher changes not mentioned
in this book. Fortunately, Wrox have published updated
chapters here; so buying this book will not be a waste of money! Finally,
Wrox will be publishing 'Professional
VB.NET' in a few weeks, which will probably be worth a look too.