Visual Basic Chapter 1 Notes:
Computer Software(Program) – Set of Instructions(sequence of instructions) that directs a computer to
perform a task.
Computer Hardware – the physical equipment associated with a computer (Ex:Keyboard, mouse, monitor,
etc…)
Data – words, numbers, videos, graphics, and sound that programs manipulate, display, and otherwise
process.
Process Data
RAM (Random Access Memory) Erased when powered
off (Volatile)
Input Data
Input Devices:
Keyboard, Mouse,
Stored Data, etc…
CPU (Central Processing Unit) – The microprocessor
that controls the computer
Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) – part of
the microprocessor that does the
calculations
Stored Data (Persistent) remains available even after
the computer power is turned off. (Hard Drive, Flash
Drive, etc…)
ROM (Read Only Memory)- hard coded memory built
on the motherboard
Bit
A bit is a value of either a 1 or 0 (on or off).
Nibble
A Nibble is 4 bits.
Byte
a Byte is 8 bits.
 1 character, e.g. "a" is one byte.
Kilobyte (KB)
A Kilobyte is 1,024 bytes.
 2 or 3 paragraphs of text.
Output Data
Output Devices:
Monitor, Printer,
Stored Data, etc…
Megabyte (MB)
A Megabyte is 1,048,576 bytes or 1,024 Kilobytes
 873 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
 4 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
Gigabyte (GB)
A Gigabyte is 1,073,741,824 (230) bytes. 1,024 Megabytes, or 1,048,576 Kilobytes.
 894,784 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
 4,473 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
 640 web pages (with 1.6MB average file size)
 341 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
 256 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
 1 650MB CD
Terabyte (TB)
A Terabyte is 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, 1,024 Gigabytes, or 1,048,576 Megabytes.
 916,259,689 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
 4,581,298 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
 655,360 web pages (with 1.6MB average file size)
 349,525 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
 262,144 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
 1,613 650MB CD's
 233 4.38GB DVD's
 40 25GB Blu-ray discs
Other Terms: Petabyte (PB), Exabyte (EB), Zettabyte (ZB), Yottabyte (YB) can be found on
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chspace.htm
Computer Programmers (Developers) – people who write computer programs.
Computer Application – several computer programs working together to solve a problem.
Programming Language – a set or words or symbols that can be interpreted by special computer software and
eventually executed as instructions by a computer.
2 Types Of Computer Languages
1) Low Level Language – a programming language that is close to machine language. These languages are hard to
learn, faster in execution, hard to modify, and require a deep knowledge of hardware. Example: Assembly
Language
2) High Level Language – a programming language that is close to English language. The languages are easy to
learn, slow in execution, easy to modify, and does not require a deep knowledge of hardware. Example: Visual
Basic, C++, Java, Cobol, Fortran, etc….
*PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES MUST BE CONVERTED TO MACHINE LANGUAGE TO EXECUTE.
Program Compilation - the process of translating the program into an executable file (the original program is called the
Source Code and the translated program is called the Object Code)
Source Code (Your Program)
Interpreter (Translates into machine Language 1
line at a time and then executes)
Source Code (Your Program)
Compiler (Converts to Machine Language)
Object Code (Machine
Language Version of
Your Program)
*Visual Basic translates into an intermediate language known as Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL). When the
program is executed, a portion of .NET 4.0 called Common Language Runtime (CLR) reads the MSIL and caused the
actual instructions within the program to be executed.
Syntax – a set of programming rules of use with a coding language.
BASIC Programming developed in the 1960’s. BASIC stands for Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Will
be using Visual Basic which has a GUI interface.
GUI – stands for Graphical User Interface
Integrated Development Environment (IDE)- services and tools that enable a developer to code, test, and implement a
single program or application.
Event- a user initiated action that caused a program to perform a specific type of processing
Icon – a graphical image on the screen
Comments or Documentation - are extra lines in a program to give other programmers notes on the structure and
execution of the program. These lines are not executed by the computer.
Title Bar: identifies the window and the application open in the window
Menu Bar: displays the menu names, each representing a list of commands that allow you to create, edit, save, print,
test, and run a program.
Standard Toolbar: contains buttons that execute frequently used commands such as Open Project, New Project, Save,
Cut, Copy , Paste, and Undo.
Toolbox: contains components that you can use to develop the GUI for the program.
Main Work Area: contains the item on which you are working
Solution Explorer: Displays the elements of the Visual Basic solution, which is the name given to the Visual Basic
program and other items generated so the program will execute.
Properties Window: Displays the settings for a particular object used in the program.
A CLASS is a named group of program code. Once the class is coded, it can be stored in a Class Library, which saves the
code for future use. (Example: Button class)
A item (like a button) created from a class is called an Object, (Also known as an instance of a class).
Instantiation – the process of creating an object from a class
Rapid Application Development (RAD) refers to the process of using prebuilt classes to make application development
faster, easier, and more reliable.
ADO.NET 4.0 (ADO stands for ActiveX Data Objects) is a set of prewritten classes to access data stored in a database.
The four primary tasks required to work with a database are: 1) getting the data, 2) examining the data 3)editing the
data, and 4) updating the data.
ASP.NET 4.0 classes provides web developers the tools to build Web applications on a Web server.
Types of Visual Basic Applications:
1) Windows Applications – runs on a computer other other device that supports Windows GUI.
2) Mobile Applications – runs on mobile devices such as smartphones, Pocket PCs, and computers running Windows CE
operation system.
3) Web Site Applications – runs on a Web server.
4) Office Application – code to automate and manipulate documents created using Microsoft Office
5) Database Application – code that accesses and manipulates a database.