Learning VB.NET

[antifashionpimp]

Hello everyone,

I am loóking for some tips from the seasoned experts in this forum.

I am currently still studying at university for a computer science degree. Done quite a lot of OO-programming with C++, Java etc.
At the same time I am working for a company, and designing a database with MS Access.
Recently, when speaking to a recruitment consultant about job specs, she mentioned that VB.Net is quite in demand now. My impression is that VB.Net is sort of the old VB with some more souped-up OO techniques like inheritance etc thrown in. This should not be too hard a new language to learn, considering my current experience. Or what?

So how do I go about getting started with VB.Net? Books are obvious, any other pointer would be appreciated.

Regards,
Jean

 

[hooks]

ADO.NET is a completely different monster. Very fun and interesting to learn though and I am still learning myself.

I highly recommend ADO.net Core Reference by David Sceppa. This is the best book that i have seen so far.

I worked with access unbound for about a year thinking that it would help me when i make the move to .net. The opposite happened. Learning vb6 and access really hurt me as far as .net goes.

Good luck.

 

[WindSailor]

First of all I am not an expert...

ADO.NET is a completely different monster.
Very fun and interesting to learn though and I am still learning myself.

I agree and learning also.
In ADO.Net you have no more server side cursors, the DataSet is completely a disconnected state, you have to make changes, save changes, and then update the database.

Movement within the DataSet is from the DataTable and DataView objects in which you call the DataColumn and DataRow objects.
It is my interpretation that MS took the old recordset idea and made it multilayered with objects in ADO.Net.

No more... rs.movenext, .movefirst, .movelast.

I highly recommend ADO.net Core Reference by David Sceppa.

I agree there also... there is a lot of examples how to do everything manually with code, DataAdapters, DataSets, Databinding etc. But I wish there were more examples on how to move within the DataSet. There is a chapter on "Sorting, Searching and Filtering", but some of the more fundemental aspects I feel are overlooked, especiallly when coming from VBA.

If you are going to continue using Access databases with VB.Net, then I would suggest "Visual Basic.Net for Microsoft Access Databases", by Rick Dobson. That should give you the feel of Visual Basic.Net and Data Access with MS Access.

And of course some form of "Cookbook". I probably have a dozen or so books on VB.Net and Ado.net, and there isn't one that covers it all. There is a lot of information in them, but not always what I need.

Some fundemental / example database books...

"Beginning Visual Basic.NET Databases" from Wrox. Bill Forgey, Denise Gosnell, Matthew Reynolds.
"Visual Basic.Net Database Programming" from Sybex. Evangelos Petroutsos.

For strictly VB.Net books, I have always gave Microsoft the first shot and backed them up with O'Reillys' books. When I was considering Java I liked "Deitel and Deitel", but I dont know if they make anything on VB.Net right now. For the visual learning mode... AppDev, but those presentations can get long, and it got to the point where I just didn't have the time to sit and listen, and they are expensive or used to be. Maybe your University will have some of these items in the Library or be able to get them for you...

It has been awhile since I have done any research on VS 2005 and the new ADO.Net 2.0 (maybe I should have said the .Net Framework 2.0) but at one time I thought that Microsoft was going to enhance the object layer even more in both items in the next release which should be out sometime soon.

Some people/developers are moving to strictly the object layer or business layer, and some say they will never go that route do to the lack of total control... any opinions?

Suggestions for books on OO programming?

Thanks

 

[antifashionpimp]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback.

 

[WindSailor]

Here is another free look at various programming topics and components a lot of people simply forget about... just set aside an hour+ or so to view them...

Microsoft On-Demand Webcasts

http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/events/webcasts/ondemand.mspx

There used to be a free tool that was floating around that was able to record and save streaming media, but I simply cant find it.