Professional Visual Basic® 2010 and .NET 4

INTRODUCTION

IN 2002, VISUAL BASIC EXPERIENCED the biggest leap in innovation since it was released, with the introduction of Visual Basic .NET (as it was then named). After more than a decade, Visual Basic was overdue for a major overhaul. Nevertheless, .NET went beyond an overhaul. The changes affected almost every aspect of development with Visual Basic. The entire runtime model shifted to a new common language runtime (CLR) environment and the language went from object-based to object-oriented. From integrating Internet functionality to creating object-oriented frameworks, Visual Basic .NET challenged traditional VB developers to learn dramatic new concepts and techniques.

The various releases since then have continued to provide even more enhancements to the Visual Basic language. New features have been added that both cement this language's position as a true object-oriented language and provide access to new and better technologies. Visual Basic 2010 continues this evolution; and while it remains a challenge for VB6 developers to learn, it's an easy road for those with any familiarity with previous versions, and this book is here to help you on your way.

Visual Studio 2010 ships with version 4 of the .NET Framework. This book provides details about not only the latest version of Visual Basic — version 10 — but also the new .NET Framework 4. Combined, these products give Visual Basic developers the capability to build applications using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), ...