Professional Visual Studio® 2008

1.3. Summary

You've now seen how the various components of Visual Studio 2008 work together to build an application. As a review of the default layout for Visual Basic programs, the following list outlines the typical process of creating a solution:

1. Use the File menu to create a solution.

2. Use the Solution Explorer to locate the form that needs editing and click the View Designer button to show it in the main workspace area.

3. Drag the necessary components onto the form from the Toolbox.

4. Select the form and each component in turn, and edit the properties in the Properties window.

5. Use the Solution Explorer to locate the form and click the View Code button to access the code behind the form's graphical interface.

6. Use the main workspace area to write code and design the graphical interface, switching between the two via the tabs at the top of the area.

7. Use the toolbars to start the program.

8. If errors occur, review them in the Error List and Output windows.

9. Save the project using either toolbar or menu commands, and exit Visual Studio 2008.

While many of these actions can be performed in other ways (for instance, right-click the design surface of a form and you'll find the View Code command), this simplified process shows how the different sections of the IDE work in conjunction with each other to create a comprehensive application design environment.

In subsequent chapters, you'll learn how to customize the IDE to more closely fit your own working style, and how Visual Studio 2008 takes a lot ...