Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies [Paperback]

Bill Sempf (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470182385 | ISBN-13: 978-0470182383 | Publication Date: March 31, 2008 | Edition: 1

Visual Basic is a favorite programming language, so if you’re new to programming, it’s a great place to start. Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies is the fun and easy way to begin creating applications right away while you get the hang of using the Visual Studio environment. Soon you’ll be building all sorts of useful stuff with VB 2008!

This step-by-step guide walks you through a logical series of tasks that build your skills as you get comfortable with .Net terminology, theory, tools, and design principles. You’ll learn how to build an application in four different architectural styles, and you’ll find out how to make your programs validate input and output, make decisions, and protect themselves from security threats. Discover how to:

• Install the Visual Studio environment
• Write a VB program
• Use Web forms, Windows forms, and Web services
• Establish good programming practices
• Create class libraries
• Write secure applications
• Debug your applications
• Work with strings and “if-then” statements
• Iterate with counted and nested loops
• Pass arguments and get return values
• Access data with VB.NET
• Work with the file system using VB

You’ll also find great tips for working with the VB user interface, using VB.NET in C# programming, troubleshooting your VB programs, taking your programming to the next level, and more! Once you get your hands on Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies, you’ll be programming like a genius in no time!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Write code, develop programs, and build Vista and Web applications

Build Windows apps, Web services, and develop Web pages with Visual Basic 2008

Visual Basic is a popular and accessible programming language, so if you're new to programming, it's a great place to start. Here's the fun and easy way® to begin creating applications right away (in Chapter 1!) while you get the hang of using the Visual Studio environment. Soon you'll be building all sorts of useful stuff with VB 2008!

Discover how to:

• Install the Visual Studio environment

• Use Web forms, Windows forms, and Web services

• Establish good programming practices

• Write secure applications

• Leverage new features of the .NET framework

About the Author

Bill Sempf is an expert programmer, .NET evangelist, and conference speaker. He specializes in creating .NET solutions for his clients, and is the author of VSTO For Dummies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (March 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470182385
• ISBN-13: 978-0470182383
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi, my name is Bill Sempf, and I am a software architect. Though I used to hate the term 'architect', it is clearly the only thing out there that defines what it is that I do. My breadth of experience includes business and technical analysis, software design, development, testing, server management and maintenance and security. In my 17 years of professional experience I have participated in the creation of well over 200 applications for large and small companies, managed the software infrastructure of two Internet service providers, coded complex software happily in every environment imaginable, and made mainframes talk to cell phones. In short, I make the technology that people are using every play nicely together.

I started playing with computers in 1979 and haven't looked back since. In 1985 I was helping my father (also Bill) manage Apple IIe systems at the local library. Since then I have built applications for the likes of Lucent Technologies, Bank One, Nationwide Insurance and Sears, Roebuck and Co. I am the author of Visual Basic 2008 and 2005 for Dummies; a coauthor of Effective Visual Studio.NET, Professional ASP.NET Web Services and Professional VB.NET; a frequent contributor to MSDN, Builder.com, Hardcore Web Services, Cloud Computing Journal, Inside Web Development Journal and Intranet Journal; and have recently been an invited speaker for the ACM and IEEE, DevEssentials, the International XML Web Services Expo and the Association of Information Technology Professionals. I am a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration, Microsoft Certified Professional, Certified Internet Business Strategist and Certified Internet Webmaster. My company is Products Of Innovative New Technology (usually called POINT) and I can be reached at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dummies book for the wrong software, February 21, 2009

By 

Thad Lamphier "marmotjr" (Euclid, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies (Paperback)

While a decent Dummies book in essence, the problem lies in it's target. The main focus on the book is VB 2008 Professional Edition. I find it hard to think of a common situation where a user would have full access to VB'08 PE, a $650 package at least, and be on a "dummies" level. For a user to have a need of this book, they would normally be on an entry level. Most entry level user's would be using VB'08 Express. There are a lot of features he highlights that are not available in this edition. This makes this book of little use for a lot of the "dummies" demographic.
It does have a lot of useful information in it. With some trial and error and copious use of the Help files, you can adapt this book to the VB Express edition. I have to give it 2 stars for that. I wish I had found another resource instead to waste my money on.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get a jump on programming in Visual-Basic 2008!, May 27, 2008

By 

Dylan Williams (Boulder Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies (Paperback)

This book is designed to get you going quickly in Microsoft Visual Basic 2008. It's not a reference, it's probably not for the complete beginner, and true dummies probably won't be up to this level. Rather it is an entertaining tour for those with some modest programming experience on how to get going quickly in VB 2008. If you are a self-starter, this is the book for you!

The author packs the book full of useful "how to's." Rather than trying to answer every question you could possibly ask about VB 2008, the author focuses on the most essential tools you will need. Once you get the basic idea of how a given tool or approach works from the book, you have what you need to apply these tools and/or approaches to other problems you encounter in VB 2008.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Dummie, May 25, 2009

By 

Dean Liming (Orient, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual Basic 2008 For Dummies (Paperback)

I usually do not buy books for Dummies but at a ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Symposium I heard Bill Sempf speak and after reading his book; I found things in his book that were explained better and with more detail than in the five professional books I bought. I have been programming for 32 years with many different computer languages and now I am working on Visual Studio 2008. I liked the history and the why things are the way they are explained in this book.

Dean Liming MBA