Visual Basic 2008 Programmer's Reference is a language tutorial and a reference guide to the upcoming 2008 release of Visual Basic. The tutorial provides basic material suitable for beginners but also includes in-depth content for more advanced developers.


The second part of the book is a reference that quickly allows programmers to locate information for specific language features. The entries in these appendices allow the reader to quickly review the details of important programming, objects, properties, methods, and events.


Visual Basic 2008 Programmer's Reference will be fully revised (30%) to cover the latest features of the Visual Basic 2008 release, including:
* Changes to variable declaration and initialization
* XLinq support for XML data types; query comprehensions for using SQL-like syntax to extract data from arrays and other data structures
* Extension methods for adding new features to existing classes
* Nested subroutines and functions
* Anonymous subroutines and functions ("lambda expressions")
* Nullable types
* Relaxed delegates
* Dynamic interfaces
* Dynamic identifiers

The author expects about 100 new pages of new examples covering these features; he will also extensively revise and retest all code to ensure compliance with the Visual Basic 2008 release.


Providing programmers and developers of all skill levels with a comprehensive tutorial and reference to Visual Basic (VB) 2008, Microsoft MVP Rod Stephenspresents a broad, solid understanding of essential topics on the latest version of VB. He explains the forms, controls, and other objects that VB furnishes for building applications in a modern windows environment. Plus, he examines the powerful development environment that makes VB such a productive language, and he delves into the VB language itself to show you how to use it to perform an array of important development tasks.

New examples and extensively revised and retested code that complies with the 2008 release help you obtain a firm understanding of VB 2008. Extensive appendixes prove to be particularly useful to help you translate from the languages you already know into the corresponding VB syntax. Ultimately, you'll find coverage of the technologies you need in order to build sophisticated applications with VB 2008.

What you will learn from this book

* Extension methods for adding new features to existing classes
* How to select and use Windows Forms Controls for a specific purpose
* Tips for using subroutines and functions to break a program into manageable pieces
* Techniques for error handling and debugging
* Various important classes and objects to use when building an application
* How to use the graphics device interface routines to draw images in VB
* Ways an application interacts with its environment

Who this book is for
This book is for programmers who are looking to explore the latest features of the new release of Visual Basic. No prior experience with earlier versions of Visual Basic is necessary.