Section 1 provides a basic introduction about Visual Studio
2005. Chapter 1 introduces you to the world of Visual Studio 2005. The author
also provides a brief comparison about the benefits of Visual Basic over other
languages (such as Java) and includes a short tour about the various elements
included with Visual Studio 2005 Integrated Development Environment (IDE), such
as Form Designer, Code Editor and Solution Explorer. The relevant portions of
the screenshots have been marked with notes and it will help beginners to
understand the development environment in a quick way. The remaining two
chapters on this part examine Windows Forms application. While chapter 2 deals
with the design, chapter 3 examines how to write the code and test a Windows
Forms application. The author has examined the concepts with an imaginary
project and I hope it will help readers to grasp the content very easily and in
a quick span of time.
Section 2 provides a detailed explanation about the
essentials of Visual Basic 2005 language, such as data types, control
structures, event handlers, exception, data validation, arrays, collections and
debugging. The author also demonstrates the different ways you can tweak dates
and strings, including some of the advanced controls included with Visual
Studio 2005.
Section 3 provides a detailed explanation regarding the
various aspects of database programming. The author analyzes the usage of data
sources in two parts. The section examines the concepts using a sample
application titled Customer Invoice Maintenance with the help of supported
screenshots along with the source code and a detailed analysis. I am sure that
the sample project will be a big boon for beginners. The author also devotes a
chapter about how to write your own data access code using ADO.NET and the
usage of data sources with business objects. I hope these chapters will be a
great use for advanced developers.
Section 4 examines the core aspects of Object Oriented
Programming (OOP), such as Classes, Indexers, Delegates, Events, Operators,
Inheritance and Interfaces. This section also provides a brief coverage of
Generics in addition to a separate chapter about organizing and documenting
your classes. The final section deals with some of the advanced
functionalities like files and streams, including the manipulation of XML using
Visual Basic 2005. The author also provides additional tips for enhancing the
user interface of a Windows Forms application, such as Single Document
Interface (SDI) and Multiple Document Interface (MDI), creation of Menus,
Toolbars, Tooltips and Context sensitive help.
The final chapter of the book demonstrates the different
ways by which you can deploy a Visual Basic 2005 application like XCopy and
Click Once deployment scenarios. The author also examines how to create and
use a setup program which includes the deployment of a database application in
a network server, local environment and on a remote web server. The author has
provided a list of important properties, events and methods in a tabular format
along with a brief description.
The book includes an appendix which explains how to use the
code files, installation of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Express
Edition. The author also examines the procedure which has to be followed for
attaching the sample database to a database server. I do wonder why the
publisher has specified code listings as figures. I feel that it will create
confusion among readers. You can download sample chapters and access other
related content in addition to the views expressed by the readers of the book
at the website
of the publisher.