Changes in This Edition

This revision of the text is based on the Professional Edition of Visual Studio (VS) 2008. The 2008 version of VS includes Language Integrated Queries (LINQ) for a more consistent means of querying a variety of data sources. The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) brings new dimensions to interface design. AJAX also has been added to provide faster postbacks for Web pages. Microsoft has made many enhancements to the integrated development environment (IDE). The Editor now has a much richer IntelliSense. New tool windows for creating, managing, and applying styles in Web applications are now included in Chapter 9.

A new PrintForm component makes printing a form extremely easy and convenient for a classroom environment. The PrintForm component is part of a Microsoft download called the Visual Basic Power Packs , which can be added to the IDE for use with a C# program. PrintForm is covered in Chapter 2 for output to either the printer or a Print Preview window. Standard printing is still covered in Chapter 7. LINQ is covered in Chapter 10 ("Database Applications") and again in the XML section of Chapter 14.

Chapter 11 ("Data Files") includes a simplified method for writing small amounts of data without performing an open operation. Drag-and-drop for images is now covered in the graphics chapter (Chapter 13). Students learn the development techniques for this familiar operation. Chapter 14 includes XML data files and an introduction to programming with WPF.

The text narrative, step-by-step exercises, screen captures, and appendices have all been updated to Visual Studio 2008. The screen captures are all based on Windows Vista.