Microsoft Visual Basic 2005:
Reloaded
Second Edition
Chapter 1
An Introduction to Visual Basic 2005
Programmers
• Programs: instructions given to computers
• Programmers: people who write programs
• Applications programmers: write and maintain
programs to handle specific tasks
• Systems programmers: write and maintain
programs that run the system, such as operating
systems, device drivers, utilities
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OOP Terminology
• OOP: Object-oriented programming
• OOD: Object-oriented design
• Object:
– Represents a real-world entity
– Attributes (or properties): describe the object
– Methods: behaviors or operations the object can
perform
• Class: blueprint used to create an object
• Instance: an object created from a class
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Visual Studio 2005
•
Integrated Development Environment (IDE):
– Contains all the tools and features needed to create,
run, and test programs
– Includes an editor and compiler
•
Visual Studio 2005:
– IDE used to create Windows or Web-based programs
– Includes Visual Basic 2005, Visual C++ 2005, Visual
C# 2005, and Visual J# 2005
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Visual Studio 2005 (continued)
• Application: program or suite of programs
• Windows-based application:
– Has a Windows user interface
– Runs on a desktop computer
• User interface: what the user sees and interacts with
when using an application
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Visual Studio 2005 (continued)
• Web-based application:
– Has a Web user interface
– Runs on a server
– Use a computer browser to access it
• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0: a platform on
which you create applications
• .NET languages: the programming languages
included in Visual Studio
• .NET applications: applications created with
Visual Studio
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Visual Studio 2005 (continued)
• .NET Framework class library:
– Contains an extensive set of classes for use in .NET
applications
– Reduces development time by providing reusable code
– Provides consistency among applications
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The Common Language Runtime
• .NET language compilers translate program
statements into a Microsoft Intermediate Language,
also called Intermediate Language (IL)
• Common Language Runtime (CLR):
– Manages the execution of IL instructions
• Just-in-time (JIT) compiler: translates IL into machine
code
• CLR allows compiled IL to be reused, regardless of
which .NET language was used to create it
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The Common Language Runtime
(continued)
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Solutions, Projects, and Files
• Solution: a container that stores projects and files
for an entire application
• Project: a container that stores files associated
with a specific part of the solution
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Starting Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
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Starting Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
(continued)
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Starting Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
(continued)
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Creating a Visual Basic 2005
Windows-Based Application
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Creating a Visual Basic 2005
Windows-Based Application
(continued)
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Creating a Visual Basic 2005
Windows-Based Application
(continued)
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Managing the Windows in the IDE
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The Windows Form Designer Window
• Windows Form Designer window:
– Allows you to create (design) the GUI
• Graphical User Interface (GUI): what the user sees
and interacts with when using the application
• Windows Form object (or form):
– Adds other objects such as buttons and textboxes to
create the GUI
– Instance of the Windows Form class
– Automatically instantiated when you create an
application
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The Windows Form Designer Window
(continued)
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The Solution Explorer Window
• Solution Explorer window:
– Displays a list of projects contained in this solution
– Displays the items contained in each project
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The Solution Explorer Window
(continued)
• Project Designer window:
– Open by right-clicking on project folder
– Allows you to set options for the project
– Contains 9 tabs with groups of options
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The Solution Explorer Window
(continued)
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The Solution Explorer Window
(continued)
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The Solution Explorer Window
(continued)
• Source file: a file containing program instructions
• Code: program instructions
• Form file: a file containing code associated with a
Windows form object
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The Properties Window
• Properties window: displays properties of selected
object
• Default property values are assigned when an object
is created
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The Properties Window (continued)
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The Properties Window (continued)
• Properties window includes an Object box and a
Properties list
• Object box:
– Located immediately below Properties window title bar
– Contains the name of the selected object
• Properties list:
– Left column displays names of properties
– Settings box: Right column containing the current value
of each property
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Properties of a Windows Form Object
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Properties of a Windows Form Object
(continued)
• Class definition: block of code that defines the
attributes and behaviors of an object
• Namespace: defines a group of related classes
• Dot member access operator: the period that
separates words in an object’s name
• Name property: used to refer to an object in code
• Hungarian notation: naming convention using a 3 or
more character prefix to represent the object type
• Camel casing: lowercase prefix, uppercase first
letter of each word
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Properties of a Windows Form Object
(continued)
• Pascal case:
– First letter and first letter of each word is uppercase
– First part of name is object’s purpose
– Second part of name is object’s class
• Text property: controls the caption displayed on
form’s title bar
• StartPosition property: determines the form’s
position on the screen when application starts
• Splash screen: first image to appear when
application starts
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Properties of a Windows Form Object
(continued)
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The Toolbox Window
• Toolbox:
– Contains tools used to create an application
– Each tool represents a class from which to instantiate
objects
• Controls:
–
–
–
–
Objects displayed on a form
Are represented as icons in the toolbox
Can be locked in place on the form
Control names use camel casing
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The Toolbox Window (continued)
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The Toolbox Window (continued)
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The Label Tool
• Label tool: represents a label control
• Label control:
– Displays text that user cannot edit
– Used as “prompts” to explain controls or display output
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The Label Tool (continued)
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The Label Tool (continued)
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The Button Tool
• Button tool: represents a button control
• Button control:
– Performs an immediate action when clicked
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The Button Tool (continued)
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The Button Tool (continued)
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The Code Editor Window
• Events: user actions while program is running
• Event procedure: set of instructions to be
executed when an event occurs
• Code editor: used to enter programming code
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The Code Editor Window (continued)
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The Code Editor Window (continued)
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The Code Editor Window (continued)
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The Code Editor Window (continued)
• Keyword: has special meaning in a programming
language
• Sub procedure: block of code that performs a task
• Event’s Procedure header:
– Begins with keyword Private
– Procedure name includes object name and event
name
– Handles clause indicates for which objects’ events
this code will execute
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The Me.Close Method
• Me.Close method: closes the current form
• Method: predefined VB procedure that can be
invoked (called)
• Sequential processing: each line is executed in
sequence
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The Me.Close Method (continued)
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Saving a Solution
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Starting and Ending an Application
• Startup form: the form to be displayed when the
application starts
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Starting and Ending an Application
(continued)
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Starting and Ending an Application
(continued)
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Starting and Ending an Application
(continued)
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Starting and Ending an Application
(continued)
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Starting and Ending an Application
(continued)
• Executable file:
– Can be run outside of Visual Studio 2005
– Has file extension of .exe
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Starting and Ending an Application
(continued)
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Using an Assignment Statement
• Assignment statement: assigns a value to a
variable or property of a control
• Assignment operator: the = symbol
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Using an Assignment Statement
(continued)
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Using an Assignment Statement
(continued)
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Printing Your Code
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Closing the Current Solution
• Closing a solution closes all projects and files in
that solution
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Closing the Current Solution
(continued)
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Opening an Existing Solution
• Only one solution can be open at any one time
• If a solution is already open, opening a different
one will close the currently open solution
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Opening an Existing Solution
(continued)
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