Windows Software Development Lecture 15 MIS233 Instructor – Larry Langellier

Intro to Microsoft.NET w.NET initiative Introduced by Microsoft (June 2000) Vision for embracing the Internet in software development Independence from specific language or platform Applications developed in any.NET compatible language –Visual Basic.NET, Visual C++.NET, C# and more Programmers can contribute to applications using the language in which they are most competent Architecture capable of existing on multiple platforms New program development process Provides increased productivity

Intro to Microsoft.NET w Key components of.NET Web services Applications used over the Internet Software reusability Web services provide solutions for wide variety of companies –Cheaper than developing one-time solutions that can’t be reused –Single applications perform all operations for a company via various Web services Manage taxes, bills, investments and more Pre-packaged components –Make application development quicker and easier –Developers no longer need to be concerned with details of components

Intro to Microsoft.NET w Keys to interaction XML and SOAP “Glue” that combines various Web services to form applications –XML gives meaning to data –SOAP allows communication to occur easily

Intro to Microsoft.NET w Other concepts Universal data access Eliminates need to synchronize files –Updating multiple copies of same file to the most recent Data resides at one central location –Accessible by anyone with connection and proper authorization Data formatted appropriately for display on various devices –Same document seen on PC, PDA, cell phone and other devices What does this mean for my life? Business Trip Blues Zoo Trip Additional information available at Microsoft Web site

Visual Studio.NET w Microsoft has dramatically changed the Integrated Development Environment The IDE has always been one of VB’s best features – why mess with a great thing? Because the Best can be made Better! –Enable the IDE for the Internet - connecting you to online communities, code downloads, available web services and hosts, etc. –Add great features from other products –Provide a single environment for all.NET languages –Deliver a better help system –Organize projects better –And much more… w Let’s see it… The.NET Show Episode #15: VS.NET Overview (Starting at 26:57)

Visual Basic.NET w History of Visual Basic Evolved from BASIC Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code Introduction to programming for novices Introduced by Microsoft (1991) Made programming for Windows much easier –IDE facilitates quicker programming Rapid Application Development –Provided many extra features Event handling Graphical user interfaces Object-oriented programming

Visual Basic.NET w.NET Strategy Motivated by popularity of electronic devices Provide interaction between wide variety of devices Web-based applications distributed to different devices –Cell phones –Personal Digital Assistants –Personal computers Allow communication between programs of disparate languages

Visual Basic.NET w Visual Basic.NET Enhanced object orientation Powerful library of components –Application development made even quicker Enhanced language interoperability Interaction between different languages –Old software compatible with Visual Basic.NET programs –Interaction over the Internet Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) Extensible Markup Language (XML) Promotes use of Web services w Let’s see more… The.NET Show Episode #16: VB.NET (Starting at 3:20) Microsoft TechEd 2001 What’s New and Migrating 6.0 to.NETWhat’s NewMigrating 6.0 to.NET

VB.NET Changes w Data Types Strings No fixed length strings Immutable Integers Short – 16 bits Integer – 32 bits Long – 64 bits Variant “Replaced” with Object There are several penalties associated with using a universal data type, including poor performance and poor program readability. Thus, while VB.NET still provides this opportunity through the Object data type, its use is not recommended whenever it can be avoided.

VB.NET Changes (cont.) w Data Types (cont.) Currency Not supported w Variables Declaration Dim x As Long, i, j, k As Integer, s As String Initialization Dim x As Integer = 5, y As Integer = 9 Scope Block-level scope

VB.NET Changes (cont.) w Data Types (cont.) Arrays Dim Days() As Integer Dim Days() As Integer = New Integer() {} Dim Days(6) As Integer Dim Days() As Integer = New Integer(6) {} Dim Days() As Integer = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} Dim Days() As Integer = New Integer(6) _ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} Dim X(,) As Integer = {{1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6}} UDTs Replaced with Structure Structure RECT Public Left As Long Public Top As Long Public Right As Long Public Bottom As Long End Structure

VB.NET Changes (cont.) w Procedures Calling Parenthesis are always required around a nonempty argument list Passing Arguments ByVal is the default Return Statement Use the Return statement to return a value from a function w General Emptiness Null and IsEmpty are not supported Graphics Circle and Line methods have been dropped System.Drawing namespace has methods for drawing

VB.NET Changes (cont.) w General (cont.) Mathematics Math Class Math.Cos(1) Diagnostics Debug object is gone Replaced by System.Diagnostics.Debug class w Structured Event Handling w Object-Orientation Inheritance Overloading

Why Upgrade to VB.NET? Windows Forms Designer Microsoft Visual Basic®.NET enables you to build rich applications for Microsoft Windows® with unprecedented power and productivity using the new Windows Forms Designer. Rapid Application Development Visual Basic.NET delivers Rapid Application Development (RAD) for the Web with the drag-and-drop Web Forms Designer, full Visual Basic.NET code behind forms, and HTML statement completion. XML Web Services Visual Basic.NET allows developers to build and consume powerful, integrated XML Web services that reduce development time by enabling software aggregation from any platform.

Why Upgrade to VB.NET? Object-Oriented Programming Language Visual Basic.NET provides developers with a first-class object-oriented programming language with support for implementation inheritance, free threading, structured exception handling, attribute-based programming, and much more..NET Framework Access Visual Basic.NET provides developers with full access to the Microsoft.NET Framework, a comprehensive library of classes and functionality for data access, security, XML support, and more. New Productivity Features Visual Basic.NET includes new productivity features including control anchoring and docking and in-place menu editing to minimize time spent on building and deploying applications. Up-to-Date Assistance Visual Basic.NET provides continual up-to-date assistance in building robust applications with the background compiler, Task List, and Dynamic Help.

Why Upgrade to VB.NET? Visual Basic.NET Upgrade Wizard The Visual Basic.NET Upgrade Wizard will automatically upgrade your Visual Basic 6.0 projects to take advantage of all the powerful features in Visual Basic.NET. Develop for Devices Visual Basic.NET lets developers build applications that target a vast array of handheld and wireless devices using the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit. Unified Development Environment Visual Basic.NET provides developers with the award-winning Visual Studio.NET unified development environment, which includes features like the Server Explorer, Visual Database Tools, Visual Studio Macros, Crystal Reports, cross-language debugger, component designer, auto-hide windows and much more!

What Next? w Next Week Final Project is Due Presentations should be approximately 10 minutes – you will be stopped after 15 minutes –Give a quick overview of your project –Focus on a single, most-interesting aspect –Provide time for questions Everyone is expected to stay for all presentations –If you arrive late, please wait patiently – the door will be opened briefly between presentations