Best way of learning Visual Basic .net

jpe20

Hi folks,

I am thinking of learning Visual Basic 2005 today and would like some tips. I know there is an express edition which you can download from the ms website.

So are there any good online tutorials out there with a progression program. Ie I have programmed in the past (10yrs ago!!) so I would like some tips on going from the basics to more advanced stuff.

I do have a Visual Basic .Net learning guide which I purchased a few years ago (never got around to using it!) so I assume that is massively out of date so I think it may do more harm than good learning the "old ways!!"

Jules

Chippy_Minton

Lots of tutorials for different levels here --> http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/easytolearn/

nej

I learnt it from a book... if you have object oriented experience then you'll have no problems.

If you don't, then the learning curve is a bit steeper.

wolfman

https://www.asp.net

Microsoft's official site for .Net related stuff. Plenty of downloads, walkthrough videos, articles, blogs etc... by people on the Microsoft .Net team such as Scott Guthrie (google ScottGu for his blog too) and also by enthusiasts. Generally a very good community that is starting to blossom.

What kind of things are you hoping to do? There's generally two paths you can walk, either Windows Forms kind of design, or Web based design.

Web based design is probably the easier to get into, and will have for more examples sitting on the web.

I'd also consider learning C# instead of VB. It's generally a clearer language in terms of grammar, plus you'll be able to pickup Java a lot more easily should you wish to. I can't talk for everyone, but from what I've experienced, C# is more widely used too (at least in industry).

Once you get better, https://www.codeproject.com is a good place for interesting tutorials and code examples.

And for further stuff to do google about Test Drive Development (TDD) and have a look at NUnit.
Also google Codesmith v2.6 and .netTiers for some cool tools, oh and CruiseControl.Net.

jpe20

Yeah I am really wanting to do c#, though I thought VB would be a way of developing simple windows apps quickly. C# is more low level I suppose so would take longer to make a basic application etc though I can understand the benifits.

Just that last time I coded was basically using top-down proceedure based stuff. Ie BASIC, ASSEMBLY, FORTRAN and C+. No object based stuff and no windows based stuff. I just want to get the hang of using windows forms etc and using things like the MFC libraries etc.

Thanks for the tips so far.

Jules

albertross_2

There are lots of code snippets available on the web, as well as complete source code projects. If you download a few, it is a good way to learn.

http://www.vbcode.com/

http://www.freevbcode.com/

etc.

Once you get over the syntax hurdle of forms based design, it is similar to the languagues you know already (esp basic).

You can do quite advanced stuff in VB, using Windows api calls.

nej

VB.NET and C# are functionally equivalent (more or less), just syntactically different. I.e. anything you can do in C# you should be able to do in VB.NET

VB.NET and VB are VERY different kettles of fish. You will have to learn some OO principles to do VB.NET, but this isn't as scary as it sounds. OO makes a lot of sense once you get your head around it and it isn't that hard.

VB.NET might be an easier starting point than C#, as the syntax is easier. From there, transferring to C# would be easier. Java would also come fairly easily.

wolfman

jpe20 wrote:

Yeah I am really wanting to do c#, though I thought VB would be a way of developing simple windows apps quickly. C# is more low level I suppose so would take longer to make a basic application etc though I can understand the benifits.

Yeah as Nej mentions, they're virtually the same, they just differ in terms of grammar and syntax.

Hmmm, I reckon switching from VB.Net to C# would be quite difficult. Just like I'd struggle to switch from C# to VB.Net. Hence my suggestion would be to start with C# from the off.

Best thing is to think of a small project to do, and use it as a way of learning. For example I'm just writing my own blog at the moment. Something very simple, but it's helping me learn Generics, and more efficient object design, stored procedures etc...

Actually if you're doing .Net 2.0, make sure you learn about Generics. The site I mentioned is probably the best place to start though.

jpe20

Thanks folks ... I shall look into these.

Jules

moneyuser

Wouldn't bother with MFC as Windows Forms has replaced it, it's for C++ anyway.

As others have said, if C# is your ultimate goal then start with that first. The tutorials included with the express edition are a good start.