Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 6 in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Who Should Read This Book
  • What This Book Will Do for You
  • Can This Book Really Teach Visual Basic in 24 Hours?
  • What You Need
  • Files on the Visual Basic Distribution CD-ROM
  • Conventions Used in This Book
  • Enough! Time Is Ticking!
  • Part I: Introducing Visual Basic
  • Hour 1. Visual Basic at Work
    • What's Visual Basic About?
    • Languages
    • Visual Basic's Various Editions
    • The VB Programming Process
    • Starting Visual Basic
    • Stopping Visual Basic
    • Mastering the Development Environment
    • Help Is at Your Fingertips
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 2.Analyzing Visual Basic Programs
  • Hour 3.Controls and Properties
  • Hour 4.Examining Labels, Buttons, and Text Boxes
  • Part II: Coding the Details
  • Hour 5.Putting Code into Visual Basic
  • Hour 6.Message and Input Boxes
  • Hour 7.Making Decisions
  • Hour 8.Visual Basic Looping
  • Part III:Putting Code to Work
  • Hour 9.Combining Code and Controls
  • Hour 10.List Boxes and Data Lists
  • Hour 11.Additional Controls
  • Hour 12.Dialog Box Basics
  • Part IV:Programming with Data
  • Hour 13.Modular Programming
  • Hour 14.Built-In Functions Save Time
  • Hour 15.Visual Basic Database Basics
  • Hour 16.Printing with Visual Basic
  • Part V:Sprucing Up Programs
  • Hour 17.Menus and Visual Basic
  • Hour 18.The Graphic Image Controls
  • Hour 19.Toolbars and More Graphics
  • Hour 20.Writing Correct Applications
  • Part VI:Advancing Visual Basic Applications
  • Hour 21.Visual Basic and ActiveX
  • Hour 22.Object Basics
  • Hour 23.Distributing Your Applications
  • Hour 24.Online Visual Basic
  • Part VII:Appendixes
  • Appendix A.Operator Precedence
  • Appendix B.Answers
  • Appendix C.Using the CD-ROM

Languages

Programming languages today are not what they used to be. The language itself isn't less important; rather, the graphical interfaces to applications have become more important.

A computer cannot understand any person's spoken language. A spoken language, such as Italian or English, is simply too general and ambiguous for computers to understand. Therefore, we must adapt to the machine and learn a language that the computer can understand. VB's programming language is fairly simple and uses common English words and phrases for the most part. The language isn't ambiguous, however. When you write a statement in the Visual Basic language, the statement never has multiple meanings within the same context.

Code is another name for the programming statements you write.

As you progress through the next 24 hours, you will learn more and more of the Visual Basic language's vocabulary and syntax (grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules). You will use the VB programming language to embed instructions within applications you create. All the code you write must work together to instruct the computer. Code is the glue that ties all the graphics, text, and processes together within an application. Code tells a checkbook application, for example, how to be a checkbook application and not something else. The program code lets the application know what to do given a wide variety of possible outcomes and user actions.

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