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This book combines coverage of expert systems theory with coverage of practical applications using CLIPS, an expert systems shell widely used in government, industry, and education. The result is a self-contained book and CD-ROM package for computer science, engineering, and CIS/MIS students and professionals that provides the conceptual background and programming tools needed to understand and implement expert systems.
You can build rich, data-driven Windows applications and Web programs without endless coding if you use the right tools. This expert guide covers what you need to know to program with Visual Basic 2008, employ the latest Visual Studio 2008 tools, and operate efficiently within the .NET Framework.
In a clear, easy-to-follow style, the book moves from in-depth explanations to practicalinstruction to real-world examples. You'll thoroughly explore basic coding in VB 2008and learn to build interfaces without coding by using Visual Studio 2008's drag-and-drop visual tools. You'll get up to speed on Language Integrated Query (LINQ), the new component in .NET Framework 3.5, and you'll handle key tasks such as programming TreeView controls, encrypting data, and much more.
Enhance your skills in Visual Basic 2008 and the Visual Studio 2008 environment with the new edition of this bestselling guide.
In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you will be up and running with Visual Basic 2008. Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds upon a real-world foundation forged in both technology and business matters, allowing you to learn the essentials of Visual Basic 2008 from the ground up. Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common questions, issues, and tasks. The Q&A section, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.
By the Way notes present interesting pieces of information. Did You Know? tips offer advice or teach an easier way to do something. Watch Out! cautions advise you about potential problems and help you steer clear of disaster.
Learn how to
Beginning VB 2008 Databases teaches you everything you need to know about relational databases, SQL, and ADO.NET 2.0, giving you a sound start in developing console and Windows database applications. The book also includes chapters on the new SQL Server XML data type and the forthcoming LINQ enhancements to the next version of Visual Basic. In addition to teaching you database basics like using SQL to communicate with databases, this book provides you with detailed, code-practical techniques to access data in Visual Basic 2008 across a range of coding situations. Code-heavy and full of practical detail, this book has been fully revised and upgraded for .NET 3.5 and offers you the best contemporary practice in this core programming area, so that you¡¯ll find yourself using it in nearly all your .NET projects.
*Provides step-by-step instructions on how to install and configure necessary tools
Sometimes you just need to solve a problem and get on with your work. To that end, Visual Basic 2008 Recipes is a compendium of practical solutions for busy VB .NET programmers. Create time for the more interesting aspects of your VB .NET project by solving common problems with the practical solutions and dozens of code examples in this book. Important new .NET 3.5 technologies, such as Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) and Language Integrated Query (LINQ), are covered, and each chapter addresses a specific problem domain, including database access, multimedia, XML manipulation, networking, and security. The code is free to download so you can use the recipes immediately. *Take advantage of quality, ready¨Cmade solutions to common Visual Basic programming problems.
Writing good code can be a challenge, there are so many options, especially in a language like Visual Basic. If you want to really get the best from a programming language you need to know which features work best in which situations and understand their strengths and weaknesses. It is this understanding that makes the difference between coding and coding well.
Beginning VB 2008 has been written to teach you how to use the Visual Basic programming language to solve problems. From the earliest chapters, and from the first introductory concepts, you'll be looking at real-world programming challenges and learning how Visual Basic can be used to overcome them. As you progress through the book the problems become more involved and interesting while the solutions become correspondingly more complex and powerful as Visual Basic features interact to achieve the results that you want.
By the time you've finished reading this book and worked through the sample exercises, you'll be a confident and very competent Visual Basic programmer. You will still have many explorations of the .NET Framework API to look forward to in your future career, but you will have a firm foundation to build from and you will know exactly where to go to find the things that you need to progress confidently in your projects.
What you¡¯ll learn
Whether you¡¯re moving to .NET for the first time, or you¡¯re already writing applications on .NET 2.0 or .NET 3.0, Pro VB 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform, Third Edition will provide you with a solid grounding in this new technology and serve as a comprehensive reference throughout your coding career: *Explore five new chapters of content¡ªincluding the grammar of the common intermediate language (CIL), .NET generics, and object serialization services.
Providing programmers and developers of all skill levels with a comprehensive tutorial and reference to Visual Basic (VB) 2008, Microsoft MVP Rod Stephenspresents a broad, solid understanding of essential topics on the latest version of VB. He explains the forms, controls, and other objects that VB furnishes for building applications in a modern windows environment. Plus, he examines the powerful development environment that makes VB such a productive language, and he delves into the VB language itself to show you how to use it to perform an array of important development tasks.
New examples and extensively revised and retested code that complies with the 2008 release help you obtain a firm understanding of VB 2008. Extensive appendixes prove to be particularly useful to help you translate from the languages you already know into the corresponding VB syntax. Ultimately, you'll find coverage of the technologies you need in order to build sophisticated applications with VB 2008.
What you will learn from this book
Visual Basic 2008 offers powerful new features, and Accelerated VB 2008 is the fastest path to mastering them, and the rest of Visual Basic, for both experienced Visual Basic programmers moving to VB 2008 and programmers moving to Visual Basic from another object¨Coriented language. Many books introduce VB, but very few also explain how to use it optimally with the .NET common language runtime (CLR). This book teaches both core Visual Basic language concepts and how to wisely employ VB idioms and object¨Coriented design patterns to exploit the power of VB and the CLR.
Accelerated VB 2008 is both a rapid tutorial and a permanent reference. You¡¯ll quickly master VB syntax while learning how the CLR simplifies many programming tasks. You¡¯ll also learn best practices that ensure your code will be efficient, reusable, and robust. Why spend months or years discovering the best ways to design and code VB when this book will show you how to do things the right way, right from the start?
*Comprehensively and concisely explains both Visual Basic 2005 and Visual Basic 2008 features
