1. Chapter 1 Introduction to Visual Basic
Exploring Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 1
Chapter 1 Introduction to Visual Basic
Programming and Applications
Copyright 1999 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

2. Objectives Machine language vs.. High-level language
Procedure-oriented, object-oriented, and event-driven languages
Background of Visual Basic
VB Integrated Development Environment
Online documentation and Help features

3. Application Programs
Program - detailed set of instructions for a computer to execute
Application programs (applications or apps) - self-contained collection of programs that perform a task for the end user
Programming language - formal language used to give instructions to computers

4. History of Programming Languages
Machine language
Procedure-oriented languages
Object-oriented languages
Event-driven languages
Natural languages

5. History of Programming Languages
Machine Language
different for each computer processor
Procedure-Oriented Languages
FORTRAN
COBOL
Pascal C
Ada

6. History of Programming Languages
Object-oriented languages
Smalltalk
C++
Ada 95
Event-driven languages
Visual Basic
most Visual languages

7. History of Programming Languages
Natural languages
computer will accept a user’s native or natural language, such as English
Researchers continue to work in this area

8. Background of Visual Basic
Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
By John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz
Designed to teach programming to beginners
BASIC language interpreter, one of Microsoft’s first products

9. Background of Visual Basic
Included with DOS
QBASIC - included with DOS Version 5 - subset of BASIC
Visual Basic
Visual Basic 1 for Windows 3
Visual Basic 4 - for Windows 95
Visual Basic 5 - for Office 97
Visual Basic 6 - for Windows 98 & Office 2000

10. Visual Basic Editions Learning Edition Professional Edition
Enterprise Edition
Included in Visual Studio suite (analogy Office for programmers)

11. Visual Basic Editions Other Visual Basic packaging options
VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
Windows CE Toolkit for Visual Basic
Visual Basic Scripting Edition
Control Creation Edition

12. Copyright 1999 Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Visual Basic 6 Interactive Development Environment
Project Explorer
Toolbox
Form Designer Window
Properties window
Code Editor Window
Form Layout Window
Exploring MS Visual Basic 6
Copyright 1999 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

13. Elements of the Integrated Development Environment
Application icon
Application name
Context menus
Controls
Current project
Design view mode
Title bar
Major windows
Form Designer
Form Layout
Toolbox
Project Explorer
Object Browser
Properties
Code Editor
Immediate, Locals, Watch

14. Introduction to Visual Basic
Hands-On Exercise 1
Start Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0
Open the Welcome Project
Open the Welcome Form
Run the Welcome Project
End the Welcome Project
Exit Visual Basic

15. Get Help When You Need It
MSDN Library
Microsoft on the Web
Learning Edition of Visual Basic 6.0
Visual Basic 6.0 in Action book
Learn Visual Basic Now multimedia tutorial

16. MSDN Library
Navigation Pane
Topic Pane

17. MSDN Library Visual Basic Documentation Documentation Map What’s New
Programmer’s Guide
Samples
Reference Guidebooks
Component Tools Guide
Data Access Guide

18. Summary ...
Event-driven languages is a major improvement in programming languages
Editions include Learning Edition, Professional Edition, and Enterprise Edition
CD-ROM includes the MSDN Library, and many sample programs

19. Summary Integrated Development Environment includes
Form Designer, Form Layout
Code Edition, Project Explorer
Properties and Object Browser
Choose the right tool for the job
Visual Basic is the glue that binds Windows objects together