OReilly - Programming Visual Basic 2008

What’s in This Book?

Since we are going to be spending a lot of time together, you probably want to know something about me. Well, my name is Tim Patrick, and for many years I lived just up the street from the big Microsoft campus. I’ve been writing programs for 25 years, and these days I write custom database-oriented Visual Basic applications for small to medium-size businesses. And I’m not alone. Most Visual Basic developers write business-level software. If that’s what you do, or plan to do, you’re in great company. As you move through the pages of this book, you will read about the major .NET and Visual Basic activities that drive the development of business-level and general consumer applications. If you plan to do some other type of programming, such as game development, this book will be somewhat helpful, but I don’t talk about advanced or specialized features such as interactive 3D models or geometric transformations. Each chapter discusses a major programming topic, and then follows it up with a practical implementation of that topic: the creation of the Library database program. I don’t show every line of code in the book; if I did, the book would weigh 53 pounds and cost $254.38, plus tax. To get every line of source code, you’ll have to download the accompanying source code from the book’s web site. The code and the book’s text are united in one purpose: to train you in the skilled use of Visual Basic on the .NET platform so that you can develop the highest-quality applications possible. The text and the source code both include valuable resources that you can use every day in your programming life.