The Visual Basic 2008 Programming Language

Prerequisites:

Delegates must understand the fundamentals of programming and should have had some prior exposure to object oriented programming techniques.

Course Description:

Microsoft's .NET Framework presents developers with unprecedented opportunities. From 'geo-scalable' web applications to desktop and mobile platform applications - all can be built with equal ease, using substantially the same skill-set. But to make the most of this potential, developers must have a thorough grasp of core language skills.

Course Objectives

On completing this course, you will be able to:

- Write efficient procedural code that includes sequence, selection and iteration constructs
- Create and use classes and structures (types), including fields, properties and methods
- Use private, friend, protected and public scope
- Create derived classes that inherit from custom-written or .NET Framework classes
- Create interfaces and apply techniques of polymorphism effectively and appropriately
- Build exception-handling into methods, to create robust, user-friendly applications
- Work effectively with delegates and events and understand how they operate
- Work with generic types, operator overloading and other advanced language capabilities
- Make use of the major new VB2008 feature – LINQ (Language Integrated Query)
- Use attributes to configure program behaviour and efficiently manage resources
- Version assemblies and know how .NET searches and loads the correct DLL's

This course is intended for developers who will use Visual Basic 2008 to write .NET Framework applications. This includes those currently working with Visual Basic 6.0, C++ or Java.

This four-day workshop concentrates on the Visual Basic programming language itself, to prepare delegates fully in readiness for exploring the .NET Framework. From basic procedural syntax to sophisticated object-oriented programming techniques, delegates will learn how to write .NET applications with code that is robust, maintainable and efficient.

The course is presented as a mixture of lectures and hands-on exercises. Practical sessions follow each topic, designed to reinforce the points covered. Additional information is provided in appendices to extend the learning experience after the course has been completed.

This course includes the following modules:

Introduction to .NET & Visual Basic 2005

• The .NET Framework
• The Common Language Runtime
• The Common Type System
• Visual Basic 2005 Features
• Introduction to namespaces and assemblies

Language Fundamentals

• Procedures and statements
• Data types
• Declaring variables
• Assignments
• Conversion
• Arithmetic and other operators
• Control constructs

Types

• Type concepts
• Value and reference types
• Fields, properties and methods
• Accessibility modifiers
• Construction
• Assignment
• The simple types
• The 'nothing' reference
• Shared and instance members
• Enumerated types
• Partial classes

Exception Handling

• Errors vs. Exceptions
• The 'Try' ?¢‚Äöá®Ä∫Catch & ?¢‚Äöá®Ä∫Finally blocks
• Using 'Throw'
• Creating your own exceptions

Inheritance

• Concept of inheritance
• Extending a simple class
• Polymorphism
• 'Overridable', 'Overrides', 'Shadows' and 'NotInheritable' modifiers

Abstract Classes & Interfaces

• Abstract classes
• Abstract methods, properties and indexers
• Polymorphism with interfaces
• Multiple interfaces

Arrays & Default Properties

• Arrays
• Array initialisers
• Multi-dimensional arrays
• Jagged arrays
• Default properties

Attributes

• Attributed code explained
• Using attributes
• Custom attributes
• Introduction to reflection

Namespaces & Assemblies

• Namespaces
• The 'Imports' statement for namespaces
• Assemblies
• DLLs at compile time and Run Time
• The Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
• Versioning using public/private key cryptography

Generic Types

• The need for generics
• Writing and using generic types
• Applying constraints
• Other aspects of generic programming
• Nullable types
• Generic collections

Managing Resources

• Garbage collection and its impacts
• Finalizers
• The 'Dispose' method
• IDisposable interface
• The using statement for deterministic resource management

Delegates & Events

• Delegates explained
• Working with delegates
• Creating your own delegate types
• Events
• Generic Delegate EventHandler(of T)
• Custom event declarations

Visual Basic 2008 Language Enhancements

• Object & Collection initialisers
• Anonymous types
• ?¢‚Äöá®Ä∫var & inferred data types
• Delegate type Func(of A,R)
• Using lambda expressions
• Extension methods
• LINQ and how LINQ uses and relies on all these new language enhancements

Introduction to ASP.NET & Windows Forms

• Putting the language into practice
• Creating a simple ASP.NET Web Forms application using ADO.NET
• Creating a simple Windows Forms application
• Using a Web Service

Operator Overloading

• Why operator overloading is useful
• When to overload
• Widening conversions
• Narrowing conversions