Programming Visual Basic 2005

Getting Started

The hardest part of any project, for me, is getting started. There is a simple problem of mental inertia that is overcome only by firing up Visual Studio 2005 and dragging some controls onto a form.

To begin, start Visual Studio 2005 and create a Visual Basic 2005 Windows application, as shown in Figure 1-4. (If you are already in Visual Studio 2005, choose File → New project.)

Figure 1-4. Creating the new project

Warning

Visual Studio 2005 has short-cut keys for almost every important command. These key combinations are configurable, however, and it would be confusing to include short-cut keys in this book when yours may be different. The best way to learn the short-cut key combinations is to look at the menu choices as you go.

Once the project is created, you are put into the Designer, with a blank form (titled Form1). The Toolbox is typically on the left, the Solution explorer and Properties windows are usually on the right, and a number of other useful windows may be minimized on the bottom, as shown in Figure 1-5.

Rearranging Windows

You can rearrange all of these Visual Studio elements by dragging and dropping the various windows. While you are in the editor, drag one of the windows from its docked position. As soon as you begin to move the window around, the docking diamond appears, as seen in Figure 1-6.

As you move the window, the four arrows of the diamond point ...