Get the essential, straightforward information you need to master the core capabilities of Visual Basic 2005. Focusing on the language and the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 base class library, a well-known authority on Visual Basic provides both new and experienced developers the pragmatic guidance and examples they need to build innovative solutions.

Discover how to:

• Compress files, manipulate ACLs, use semaphores, and exploit other new capabilities in the .NET Framework 2.0
• Implement generics to define a type-safe data structure
• Use inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, delegates, and attributes to write flexible applications
• Use the My namespace to perform common tasks more easily
• Work with the new editing and debugging features of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
• Master regular expressions and perform complex text searches and input validation
• Take advantage of streams, serialization, and threading techniques
• Implement advanced programming techniques based on custom attributes, reflection, and on-the-fly
• Interact with legacy code by using Pinvoke and COM Interop
• Understand key differences from Visual Basic 6.0

About the Author

Francesco Balena has been programming with Visual Basic since version 1.0. He is the author of many Microsoft Press titles, including the widely acclaimed prior editions of this book. Francesco is a cofounder of Code Architects srl, an Italian software company that specializes in using Microsoft technologies to create enterprise-level solutions and programming tools. In addition, he is a regional director for MSDN Italy, and a popular speaker at developer conferences.