Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart

Paperback: 214 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (June 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 059610071X
ISBN-13: 978-0596100711
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.3 inches







Okay, all you VB6 developers--time's up. As of March 2005, Microsoft no longer supports this version of Visual Basic. And you can't blame them. Three years ago, they introduced the .NET Framework--an elegant, powerful platform--along with the new component-based VB.NET language. But roughly five million of you decided to stick with VB6, mostly to maintain legacy Windows and COM projects.

Now, with the upcoming release of VB 2005, Microsoft has several attractive reasons to upgrade that you'll find hard to resist, including the return of some VB6 features. And we have the perfect book to help you make the conversion: Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart. Now, you can test-drive the beta version of VB 2005 with three hands-on projects that enable you to learn the syntax of this new language quickly.

VB 2005 not only lets you convert the bulk of your existing VB6 code, but offers several familiar features, such as compile-and-run debugging, new MyClasses that simplify use of .NET libraries and frameworks, lots of IDE support for Windows, web and mobile GUI development, and data access controls that closely resemble what you use now. The real plus is that you'll be using these features with the .NET platform, which is more secure, less complex than COM, and offers OneClick deployment.

Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart lets you get the feel of this platform for building smart/rich Windows Forms clients, ASP.NET web applications, and web services. Author Wei-Meng Lee, a Microsoft .NET MVP, veteran O'Reilly author and frequent contributor to the O'Reilly Network, has put together three useful test-drive projects, complete with code samples, that let you develop:
A personal library Windows application
A Web-based shopping cart application
A stock enquiry Web Service
Our jumpstart guide is the quick, painless way to migrate from VB6 to VB 2005, and the perfect training manual for moving your organization to the more robust, dynamic and secure world of .NET.

User Review:

Technically speaking, there is nothing wrong with this book. This title is aimed at giving VB6 users a whirlwind tour of the VB2005 environment, highlighting additions, deletions, and changes. If you don't have a VB6 background, this read isn't for you. The overview starts with a look at the new Visual Studio environment, showing you some of the toolbar objects with and without data binding. The next few chapters show off some of the newer statements and functions to VB, a peek into the .NET framework and classes, and object oriented programming in the VB world. The last goal of this book is to apply the covered areas in the development of an application.

As I said, there is nothing wrong with this title. My biggest issue is that for the first half, it reads like an advertising brochure for the VB2005 platform - and the author does an excellent job at selling the product. The second half (where you develop an application), is very step by step, covering just what you need to know to write the application - nothing more. At 188 pages, the book is too small to be a reference or even a learner's textbook. Although you are made aware of VB2005 elements, and even get to see them in action, you are not going to finish this book and be much further down the VB6 to VB.NET conversion road. VB.NET is only superficially like VB6, and when you are done with this book, if you liked what you saw, you will need to purchase another title aimed at actually teaching you the .NET platform.

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