Visual Basic® 2012 Unleashed, Second Edition

Chapter 4. Data Types and Expressions

In This Chapter

• Common Type System

• Understanding Value Types

• Understanding Reference Types

• Differences Between Value Types and Reference Types

• Converting Between Value Types and Reference Types

• Working with .NET Fundamental Types

• Common Operators

• Iterations, Loops, and Conditional Code Blocks

Every programming task manipulates data. Data can be of different kinds; you will often work with strings, dates and time, numbers, files, and custom data. Each of them is represented by a data type. The .NET Framework 4.5 (but also the Windows Runtime for Windows 8) provides tons of built-in data types and enables developers to easily create their own custom data types. In this chapter you learn how ...