Summary
In this chapter, we provided a brief introduction to the .NET Framework, VB.NET, data access using ADO.NET, and Excel automation from VB.NET. Compared to Classic VB, the .NET Framework is a completely new and different platform. It is also a modern, advanced development platform with a great set of tools for creating user-friendly solutions. To fully utilize the .NET platform you must be prepared to invest significant time exploring and learning it. As we all know, there are no real shortcuts to learning new technology. Only hard work can accomplish the task. But the reward, in addition to the new knowledge itself, is that we can leverage all the knowledge from this chapter in the two chapters that follow.