Visual Basic .NET

1.   Essential programming concepts

• Data types and variables
  • Data and program memory
  • Declarations, data types and variable assignment
  • Using constants and enum types
• Input and output
  • Windows as a programming platform
• Decision and iteration structures
  • Making programs smart
  • Decision and iteration structures
  • Exiting out of control structures
  • Summary of control structures
• Development life cycle
  • Problem solving process

2.   Programming with the .NET framework

• Program structure
  • Structure of a VB .NET program
  • VB .NET reserved keywords
  • Operators and statements
  • List of operators and control characters
  • Splitting code and using comments
• Subroutines and functions
  • The main procedure in a VB .NET program
  • Writing the first VB console program
  • Subroutines and functions
  • Functions organized by task or alphabetically
• Classes and objects
  • Concept of using objects
  • Using classes, creating objects and using object members
  • Using fields, properties and methods
  • Differences between properties and variables or methods
• The .NET framework
  • Conceptual view of .NET framework
  • Conceptual view of .NET common type system
  • .NET framework library reference
  • Using references and namespaces

3.   Advanced concepts and structures

• Inheritance
  • Classes as blueprints
  • Defining a class
  • Lifecycle of an object
  • Inheritance basics and example
  • When to use inheritance
  • Polymorphism using inheritance
  • Overloading and overriding object members
• Arrays
  • Overview of arrays
  • Array dimension and multidimensional arrays
  • Type and size of arrays
  • Write, read and locate array elements
  • Using arrays as function parameters or return values
  • The base array class
  • Common errors when using arrays
• Collections
  • Overview of collections
  • Visual Basic collections start with index one
  • .NET framework collections start with index zero
  • Creating and using collections

4.   Database access

• Introduction to database access
  • Outline with examples of database access
  • System.Data class library
  • .NET Framework data providers
  • System.Data.Common class library
  • System.Data.OleDb class library
• Using Microsoft Excel
  • How to retrieve and modify Excel data using VB .NET
  • How to query and update Excel data using ASP .NET
  • How to retrieve metadata from Microsoft Excel

5.   Graphical user interfaces

• Introduction to ASP .NET
  • Application processing outline
  • Web pages
  • Web page syntax
  • Quickstart tutorial
  • ASP.NET More resources
• Web user interface
  • Using web server controls
  • Individual web server controls
  • Web server controls API
  • Server event handling
  • Website configuration
  • Web page code models
• Data access for the web
  • How to retrieve and modify Excel data using VB .NET
  • Microsoft Excel with ASP.NET
  • ASP.NET data access
  • Fetching data with ADO.NET

Additional resources

• Microsoft Visual Basic online references:
  • How to guides organized by task
  • Programming reference
  • Language overview
  • VB .NET 2005 support
  • Beginner tutorials
  • Use ADO.NET with Excel
• Download Visual Studio Express versions
• The MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Applications certification requires 2 exams:
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Web-Based Client Development