Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET is the newest, most productive version of the Visual Basic tool set that enables developers to address todays pressing application development issues effectively and efficiently. Visual Basic .NET enables you to create rich applications for Microsoft Windows® in less time, incorporate data access from a wider range of database scenarios, create components with minimal code, and build Web-based applications using the skills you already have.
Solve Todays Problems More Effectively
Build Robust Windows-based Applications
With new Windows Forms, developers using Visual Basic .NET can build Windows-based applications that leverage the rich user interface features available in the Windows operating system. All the rapid application development (RAD) tools that developers have come to expect from Microsoft are found in Visual Basic .NET, including drag-and-drop design and code behind forms. In addition, new features such as automatic control resizing eliminate the need for complex resize code. New controls such as the in-place menu editor deliver visual authoring of menus directly within the Windows Forms Designer. Combined with greater application responsiveness, as well as simplified localization and accessibility, these new features in Windows Forms make Visual Basic .NET the choice for todays Visual Basic developers.
Resolve Deployment and Versioning Issues Seamlessly
Visual Basic .NET delivers the answer to all of your application setup and maintenance problems. With Visual Basic .NET, issues with Component Object Model (COM) registration and DLL overwrites are relics of the past. Side-by-side versioning prevents the overwriting and corruption of existing components and applications. XCOPY deployment enables Windows-based applications to be deployed to client machines simply by copying files into the desired application directory. In addition, the auto-downloading of applications for Windows makes the deployment of rich Windows-based applications as easy as deploying a Web page.
Create Web Applications with a Zero Learning Curve
Using the new Web Forms Designer in Visual Basic .NET, Visual Basic developers can apply the skills they have today to build true thin-client Web-based applications. Drag-and-drop Web Form creation delivers Visual Basic for the Web while code behind forms enables developers to replace limited scripting capabilities of the past with the full power of the Visual Basic .NET language. New intelligent rendering capabilities and server-side Web Forms controls provide Web applications that render on any browser running on any platform. The new HTML designer delivers Microsoft IntelliSense® statement and tag completion for HTML documents. In addition, separation of HTML markup and code enable more efficient team-based development.
Provides Flexible, Simple Data Access
Visual Basic .NET lets you tackle any data access scenario easily. Visual Basic .NET provides support for both the new Microsoft ADO.NET for flexible, highly scalable data access and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) data binding for connection oriented data access. ADO.NET enables XML-based data binding to any database, as well as classes, collections, and arrays using disconnected data access and new classes including the DataSet and DataAdapter. Seamless access to ADO classes enables simple data access with familiar paradigms for connected data binding scenarios.
Get on the Fast Track to Building Tomorrows Applications Today
Visual Basic .NET opens the door for Visual Basic developers and offers a smooth transition to building next-generation applications today. First, Visual Basic .NET supports full object-oriented constructs to enable more componentized, reusable code. Language features include full implementation inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism. Second, Visual Basic .NET empowers Visual Basic developers to consume XML Web services running on any platform and build Web services as easily as building any class in Visual Basic 6.0. Finally, Visual Basic .NET enables developers to tackle projects of any size. With new multithreaded applications, developers can build massively scalable server-side components and Web applications, as well as more responsive client-side applications that perform multiple tasks in parallel.
In addition, Visual Basic .NET infuses your applications with built-in security, direct access to the Microsoft .NET Framework, and the capability to target an extensive array of mobile devices. The rich .NET Framework security model provides fine-grained control over application security while secure Windows Forms eliminate the need for ActiveX controls and ActiveX documents. With complete, direct access to the .NET Framework, developers can quickly access the registry, event log, performance counters, and file system, as well as eliminate the need for declares statements for accessing the operating system. And with the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit, Visual Basic developers can build applications that render intelligently on more than 80 mobile devices.
Upgrade for Success
Visual Basic .NET provides a smooth upgrade process for all Visual Basic developers, regardless of their existing code base, skills, or migration plan. From maintaining your Visual Basic 6.0 code base without changing a single line of code, to upgrading your entire application to take full advantage of the .NET Framework, Visual Basic .NET meets your requirements.
Using COM interoperability, you can achieve seamless bi-directional communication between applications written in Visual Basic 6.0 and those written in Visual Basic .NET, without the need to rewrite. Visual Basic 6.0 and Visual Basic .NET, as well as the applications written in each version of the product, can reside seamlessly, side-by-side on the same machine. In addition, ActiveX control hosting enables you to reuse your ActiveX controls on new Visual Basic .NET Windows Forms. Full support for existing ADO code and data binding means that you can preserve your data access experience in Visual Basic .NET.
To take full advantage of the new features in Visual Basic .NET and the .NET Framework, developers can upgrade their code using the Visual Basic .NET Upgrade Wizard, available in Visual Studio .NET Professional, Enterprise Developer, and Enterprise Architect editions. This wizard upgrades up to 95 percent of existing Visual Basic 6.0 code and forms to Visual Basic .NET. By combining COM interoperability with the Upgrade Wizard, you can implement an incremental migration strategy to gradually upgrade existing Visual Basic 6.0 components and projects.
When you start developing in Visual Basic .NET, you will have immediate access to all the resources you need to get up and running quickly—from the multitude of books already written on Visual Basic .NET, to comprehensive training, to online samples and help within the product. In addition, with Visual Basic .NET, you are developing applications using the most popular, easy-to-write programming language in the world.
