This is an introduction to programming using Microsoft's Visual Basic.NET 2010, intended for novice programmers with little or no programming experience or no experience with Visual Basic. The text emphasizes programming logic and good programming techniques with generous explanations of programming concepts written from a non-technical point of view. It stresses input, processing, and output and sequence, selection, and repetition in code development. File I/O and arrays are included. Later chapters introduce objects, event programming, and databases. By taking a slow and steady approach to programming ideas, this book builds new concepts from what the reader has already learned. VB tips and quips inject both humor and insight. The book includes numerous programming examples and exercises, case studies, tutorials, and 'fixing a program' sections for an in-depth look at programming problems and tools. Quizzes and review questions throughout each chapter get students to think about the materials and how to use them. Each chapter has a summary and glossary for extra review. The accompanying website, www.cambridge.org/us/McKeown, has code downloads, I/O, and database files from small, simple files to large files with thousands of records, flowcharts, deskchecks and audits to aid with program design, coding, and debugging; PowerPoint files for every chapter; and hundreds of ideas for programs and projects.

‘This book provides a great overview of the subject of VB.NET programming. It covers all the important topics in detail and offers plenty of opportunities for readers to try exercises on their own. There are also lots of useful asides that the readers will find interesting; the use of humor keeps the writing engaging and fun. Detailed problems and debugging walkthroughs, which are both thought provoking and complex, assist with the coverage of useful topics such as object-oriented programming, complex data structures, drag-and-drop design, and event handling.’

Rudy McDaniel - University of Central Florida