May 29, 2008
Introduction
What is Visual Basic .NET?
• Visual Basic .NET is part of a grand new initiative by Microsoft. It is a complete re-engineering of Visual Basic for the Microsoft .NET framework. With Visual Basic .NET, you are able to quickly build Windows-based applications (the emphasis in this course), web-based applications and, eventually, software for other devices, such as palm computers.
• Windows applications built using Visual Basic .NET feature a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Users interact with a set of visual tools (buttons, text boxes, tool bars, menu items) to make an application do its required tasks. The applications have a familiar appearance to the user. As you develop as a Visual Basic .NET programmer, you will begin to look at Windows applications in a different light. You will recognize and understand how various elements of Word, Excel, Access and other applications work. You will develop a new vocabulary to describe the elements of Windows applications.
