In-Depth
Books: Elevate VB.NET With Power Coding
Visual Basic .NET Power Coding offers concise discussion and helpful examples of VB.NET's most complex topics, such as delegates, threading, remoting, Reflection, and security.
If you are the average "lunch pail" Visual Basic developer, you might eventually need some of .NET's advanced features to take your programming to the next level. Perhaps it is event handling, loading a COM component, using asynchronous methods, or building applications that can update themselves automatically across the Internet.
When that happens, what you need is a book—not a dozen books—that gives a concise discussion of the topics with helpful examples. If this is your story, then Paul Kimmel's Visual Basic .NET Power Coding is for you. Programmers looking to elevate their skills should have a firm understanding of object-oriented concepts and .NET basics. Experienced developers will find the author's discussions helpful in clarifying some of the more complex .NET features.
Along with good discourse on power topics, I found most valuable the author's discussions on when to use a particular function and the presentation of alternatives. Occasionally he sprinkles in information on a feature of which the typical user might be unaware.
The author covers event handling, assemblies, Reflection, security, debugging, advanced Web services, and other concepts. I particularly enjoyed the sections on delegates, remoting, auto-updating smart clients, and threads largely because these are difficult topics on features not available to Visual Basic 6.0 developers. You can download source code for the examples (highly recommended).
The book covers numerous topics that could easily have been, and in most cases are, expanded into books of their own, but the author keeps them concise and informative and holds the reader's interest. I recommend that this book become a part of every experienced VB.NET programmer's book collection.
Visual Basic .NET Power Coding
by Paul Kimmel
Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0672324075
Price: $49.99
Quick Facts: This book is for professional programmers who have an understanding of Visual Basic .NET, Visual Studio .NET, and object-oriented principles.
Pros: In-depth discussion on advanced techniques such as delegates, threading, remoting, Reflection, and security.
Cons: Requires strong understanding of object-oriented concepts and familiarity with VB.NET.
About the Author
Hal Hayes is the president of ACRITECH Corp., which specializes in enterprise application development. He is also the founder of the Capital Area Visual Basic User Group in Washington, D.C. (now www.caparea.net). Hal is also a member of the staff of the International .NET Association. You can reach him at [email protected].