101 Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Applications [Paperback]

3 Leaf Solutions (Author), Sean Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2003

Explore 101 of the most useful Visual Basic .NET applications in action—and jumpstart your own Microsoft .NET Framework-based development projects. This guide provides expert, behind-the-code commentary on 101 fully executable code samples—distilling more than 700 hours of programming time into best practices for Microsoft Windows Forms development. Each code sample demonstrates core features and functions of Visual Basic .NET and the .NET Framework, explains the underlying programming concepts, and provides a complete code walkthrough. From creating basic data entry forms to drilling deep into the .NET Framework, you’ll learn the techniques that Microsoft’s own developers use to write real-world applications with Visual Basic .NET.

Get code, comments, and instruction to help you:

• Build smart client applications using Windows Forms
• Use Microsoft ADO.NET to build data-centric applications
• Master advanced .NET-based techniques: threading, remoting, and serialization
• Use GDI+ to manipulate images and animate your solutions
• Use performance counters and the Event Log to monitor the OS and instrument your applications
• Exploit COM+ features such as transactions and role-based security
• Implement application security features such as encryption and authentication
• Automate Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer using COM Interop
• Create and deploy add-ins for Microsoft Visual Studio
• Enable application messaging via MSMQ
• Create and consume Web services

Plus:

• See how to use what’s new in Visual Studio .NET 2003 and .NET Framework 1.1
• Learn how Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 impacts application development and support
• Get guidelines for applying the coding conventions described in the book

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (July 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735618917
• ISBN-13: 978-0735618916
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #803,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sean has built two different business in the broad arena of technology industry focused marketing and consulting. The first, 3 Leaf, was a technical consultancy which consistently worked for some of the largest companies in the software and hardware field such as Microsoft and Intel. While at 3 Leaf Sean also authored three books, two with Microsoft Press and one with Intel Press on best practices in the technology industry. After growing 3 Leaf over a period of six years, Sean sold the company and moved on to co-found Cascade Insights. Cascade Insights focuses on providing competitive intelligence, qualitative market research, and strategic marketing services for our clients in the hardware and software industry.

Sean frequently delivers public presentations and authors articles on qualitative research and competitive intelligence related topics. Recent presentations or articles have been hosted by organizations such as SoftwareCEO, the Association of International Product Marketing and Management, MarketingProfs, Willamette University's Graduate School of Business, SCIP, Quirks magazine, Rain Today, and the MRA. Sean is also the Chair of the Oregon SCIP chapter and he has a Master's degree from Purdue University. He currently resides in Portland along with his wife Kim, and his two young children, Ryan and Joshua.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Available for free download at msdn.microsoft.com, June 5, 2004

By 

J Bucknoff, PMP (Fort Lee, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Applications (Paperback)

These are 101 code examples, provided by Microsoft, offering various "how-to"'s in the form of code samples. Some of the topics are:
* creating menus
* validating listboxes
* how to use reflection
* receiving and processing data using a SQLDataReader
* comparing data binding in winforms and webforms
* creating a Windows Service
* how to use role-based security
* the try / catch / finally block for exception handling
* understanding the garbage collector
as well as dozens others (101 in all, right?) including several examples of using GDI+ in Winforms.

Code, documentation and, where needed, support files (e.g., .txt or .xml files) are provided.

This is good stuff but the fact is, you can down the entire set of code and documentation for free at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/downloads/default.aspx

In fact, Microsoft has updated these 101 Code examples (originally designed for VS.NET 2002 and originally released in early 2003) for release 1.1 of the .NET Framework and VS.NET 2003. Both the original and updated 101 Samples are available for download along with 101 Samples for C#.

I recommend these code examples, but I suggest you just download them rather than buy the physical book.

The code, itself, get 4 stars for usuability. If the book was free (or the material was not already free), then the book would get 4 stars, too. I won't take stars away just because you can get the material for free.

Why not 5 stars? Some of the explanations could be clearer. Some of the code examples are more like snippets than fully usuable components, programs or apps, so you will need to study the code, but customize it for your own use.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book is more than just the code, October 1, 2004

By 

John S (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Applications (Paperback)

Jerry Bucknoff wrote a review where he says skip the book because you can just download the code. I don't get this. I buy a book for more than just the CD stuffed in the back. This book has 500+ pages that taught me how to do in VB.NET, the things I knew how to do in VB6. Maybe if you're a rocket scientist, you can just stare at the code and learn everything, but those 500 pages really got me up to speed on .NET.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only this book came out two years ago..., November 15, 2003

By 

William G. Ryan "Uber Book Nerd" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 101 Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET Applications (Paperback)

I've been developing .NET apps for just about two years since beta 1 and really wish this book was around when I first started. The only thing I can say bad about it is that I would have liked it before I spent a lot of time trial-and-erroring my way through things. I can't blame the authors though, books this cool take a while to write!

It's really a cool layout and and you feel yourself caught in the momentum. Example after example and very concise and to the point. Few books make their point(s) so quickly and succinctly. Not a lot of fluff or general comments (which certainly belong in many books), but it really gets to the point on each and every example. I found it very easy to read, it made me want to read on, it was very well written and all of the code worked flawlessly.

If you are starting out in .NET, this book will save you HOURS, and in many instances, DAYS and perhaps weeks. If you are an experienced developer, there is still a lot that you may have not come across yet and this book will certainly have some great information for you.

I've never purchased anything by Sean or Campbell, but if this is any indication of their work, I'll definitely be buying whatever else they write.