Visual Basic .NET 2005 Complete Tutorial - WIP

Visual Basic .NET 2005 All Purpose Tutorial

This article is intended for beginners, and people transfering from Visual Basic 6.0.
v1.0.0 last updated June 10th 2007
Will be moved to User Education pending completion.

Hi, my handle is Orii.. And I am going to teach you everything you need to know about Visual Basic .NET 2005- the latest and greatest Windows rapid development language. Visual Basic is the world's most popular language for quickly developing Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) programs and applications. The history of VB is long, and is currently in its eighth iteration. The only important history lesson for you, is the difference between .NET and VB6. Although these two languages share the same title, the core of the language itself is vastly different. VB6 is a structural language, and is compiled into machine code. This means VB6 has no object oriented capabilities, and is directly compiled into machine language (I'll cover this in more detail later)- whilst the .NET 2005 version is entirely object oriented, and compiled into MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language). This is the great divide- and you'll soon learn that VB.Net has a higher learning curve then earlier editions, the reward being greater scalability, effeciency, and also everything else comprehendable; I've yet to think of a way that VB6 is superior (with exclusion to being slightly easier to learn). I'll cover the technical details discussed here later, as they are not applicable right now. On with the tutorial.

First off, you will need Visual Basic .NET 2005 Express Edition or a pirated version of Standard Edition (I endorse piracy, please pirate all Microshit products that suite your fancy). Browse around the Microshit website for the legal Express edition, or look around Torrentspy or Isohunt for a pirated fully featured version. The choice is yours- each will work with these lessons.

Since I am aware many people reading this have had prior experience with VB6, I'll take it's route and learn from that particular perspective, it will matter little to newcomers. Unfortunatly, as this would mean going 'out of order', you will have to take some things on faith until they can be explained. Once the basics are covered, I'll move headon into object oriented programming. The goal of this tutorial is to have you on your feet and programming useful applications in the smallest amount of time possible. Some projects that will take place include the following:

1. Word Processor
2. RAM Based Game Hacks (pick your title)
3. MySQL Database Editor
4. DirectX 9

Each section is a long time in coming, I plan to update this an obscene amount of times. Eventually, this may become book length. Until then, I'll just steamroll across the basics. If you find that you cannot understand something, please leave a reply or contact me. I'll immediately then edit the tutorial to better explain the area of your troubles. One last thing before we dig in: each section also has a corresponding video showing you how to do certain things. If you are having difficulty, its best to watch these first.


I. The Hello World Program
As is standard with most programming tutorials, we will display Hello World using the easiest method possible with Visual Basic .NET 2005. I will leave the installation of the Express or Standard edition of the IDE (integrated development environment, meaning the program where you create an application, type and then compile your code) entirely up to you. Once you have it installed, open it. Follow the steps in this video: Video 1: Hello World.



Creating the project itself should be simple for you, hitting the New Project button on the topleft toolbar and then selecting "Standard Windows Application". Type in your desired name for your project, and click OK.



///Tutorial is under construction and will be updated every 36 hours for the next couple months, its being saved here incomplete so I can work on it at any given time. Sorry for the inconvenience. WIP.

 

More user friendly, IMO.

 

I found vb 2005 easyer to use and learn. Its might be because your use to VB6.

 

X Zero is right. If you drove a car all your life, then had to use manual transmission in a truck, it would seem more difficult too. Patience is the key. If you wait until I'm finished you might be convinced.

VB6 is a dinosaur.

 

that was a bad example, i truck ain't hard to drive
and you don't have to convince me i know 2005 is better, why you think im trying to convert to it.
And as i said it was just my opinion.

 

It was a good example, .NET isn't hard to use.

I will, though you will need some more patience. I'll be dedicating a whole section to this very conflict.