var fDesc=new Array(); fDesc[0] = "“Introduction to Visual Basic Programming Language”, created by Rich Tebb from Content Master Ltd Company and available at the MSDN web site (Microsoft Developer Network), is an easy and fun way to get started with Visual Basic language. Basically, this introductory lesson is a combination of written text and video, which cover the initial concepts about developing applications on Visual Basic. The approach of the lesson is to present computer programming as a fun activity, in which you can find satisfaction.
You can either take this lesson on-line from the MSDN web page, or you can download it to your computer, so you don’t need to be connected during your study time.
When you download and install this lesson, one new folder and one new subfolder will be created. The main folder, named “Introduction to Visual Basic Programming Language” will be created with the following three files:
1. “Introduction to Visual Basic.wmv”, a 21 minute Windows Media Video file containing the lesson in video format;
2. “Introduction to Visual Basic.doc”, a 28-page Microsoft Word document with the written lesson;
3. “EULA.ftr”, a Rich Text Format document containing license information;
The subfolder named “My First Application VB”, will contain some auxiliary files needed to execute the practice proposed by the lesson.
You will find four lessons within the document:
1. Lesson 1: Your First ‘Hello World’ Program: initiation program to write a message on the screen.
2. Lesson 2: Using Methods and Variables.
3. Lesson 3: Controlling Program Flow: to learn how to control the sequence of tasks performed by the program.
4. Lesson 4: Creating Your Own Classes: to learn how to work with this type of code containers.
The text is accompanied by images showing the programming process and written code. This lesson is the best way to begin studying Visual Basic, and also the less time consuming one. After taking this lesson, you can go on and take the “Absolute Beginner’s Series VB Series” course, a collection of fifteen lessons available also at MSDN. The course provides a deeper introduction to Visual Basic language, and is oriented to people interested in designing and building Windows based applications. If you’re reading this, it’s pretty sure that you’re one of those people.
Back to the lesson description, we have to mention that it is available for free for anyone who’s eager to learn but there are one prerequisite: Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition, another lesson available at MSDN web page. Besides, this lesson assumes that you have basic knowledge about using a computer, such as starting a program and browse your computer with Windows Explorer."; function tShowHide(id, show) { var s = document.getElementById("desc"); if ((s.innerHTML.length<=212 || show==1) && show!=2) { s.innerHTML = fDesc[id]; if (document.getElementById('m1')) document.getElementById('m1').style.display='none'; if (document.getElementById('m2')) document.getElementById('m2').style.display='none'; if (document.getElementById('more_txt')) document.getElementById('more_txt').style.display='inline'; } else { s.innerHTML = ''; } }