Michael Halvorson, a former Visual Basic localization manager at Microsoft, has written more than 30 books on technology and other subjects, including Microsoft Visual Basic 2010 Step by Step, Microsoft Office XP Inside Out, and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Step by Step.
Introduction; Who should read this book; Who should not read this book; Organization of this book; Conventions and features in this book; System requirements; Code samples; Acknowledgments; Errata & book support; We want to hear from you; Stay in touch; Introduction to Visual Studio development; Chapter 1: Visual Basic 2013 development opportunities and the Windows Store; 1.1 Visual Basic 2013 products and opportunities; 1.2 Evaluating the Windows Store; 1.3 Summary; Chapter 2: The Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment; 2.1 Getting started; 2.2 The Visual Studio development environment; 2.3 Important tools in the IDE; 2.4 Working with the Properties window; 2.5 Organizing the programming tools; 2.6 Configuring the IDE for step-by-step exercises; 2.7 Exiting Visual Studio; 2.8 Summary; Chapter 3: Creating your first Windows Store application; 3.1 Lucky Seven: A Visual Basic app for the Windows Store; 3.2 Programming step by step; 3.3 Designing the user interface; 3.4 Final property settings and adjustments; 3.5 Writing the code; 3.6 A look at the SpinButton_Click event handler; 3.7 Running Windows Store apps; 3.8 Creating a splash screen for your app; 3.9 Building an executable file; 3.10 Summary; Chapter 4: Windows desktop apps: A walkthrough using Windows Forms; 4.1 Inside Windows desktop apps; 4.2 Visual Basic and Windows desktop apps; 4.3 Creating a Windows desktop app; 4.4 Setting properties; 4.5 Writing the code; 4.6 Behind the scenes in the SpinButton_Click event handler; 4.7 Running the Lucky Seven desktop app; 4.8 Building an executable file; 4.9 Publishing a Windows desktop app; 4.10 Summary; Designing the user interface; Chapter 5: Working with Windows Store app controls; 5.1 Understanding Windows Store app controls; 5.2 Using the TextBox control to receive input; 5.3 Using the FlipView control to display a series of images; 5.4 Using the MediaElement control to play entertainment media; 5.5 Use the WebView control to display live web content; 5.6 Summary; Chapter 6: Working with Windows Forms controls; 6.1 Using the DateTimePicker control; 6.2 Controls for gathering input; 6.3 Adding menus by using the MenuStrip control; 6.4 Adding toolbars with the ToolStrip control; 6.5 Using dialog box controls; 6.6 Event handlers that manage common dialog boxes; 6.7 Summary; Chapter 7: XAML markup step by step; 7.1 Introduction to XAML; 7.2 Adding XAML elements using the Code Editor; 7.3 Summary; Chapter 8: Using XAML styles; 8.1 Introduction to XAML styles; 8.2 Practicing XAML styles; 8.3 Building new styles from existing styles; 8.4 IDE shortcuts for applying styles; 8.5 Summary; Chapter 9: Exploring Windows 8.1 design features: Command bar, flyout, tiles, and touch; 9.1 Creating a command bar to manage common tasks; 9.2 Using the Flyout control to collect input and display information; 9.3 Designing custom tiles for your app; 9.4 Planning for touch input; 9.5 Security and permissions settings; 9.6 Summary; Chapter 10: Creating console applications; 10.1 Console applications in Visual Studio; 10.2 Interactive math games; 10.3 Building, publishing, and running console apps; 10.4 Summary; Visual Basic programming techniques; Chapter 11: Mastering data types, operators, and string processing; 11.1 Strategies for declaring variables and constants; 11.2 Data types and the ListBox control; 11.3 Operators and formulas; 11.4 Converting data types; 11.5 Processing strings with the String class; 11.6 Protecting text with basic encryption; 11.7 Summary; Chapter 12: Creative decision structures and loops; 12.1 Event-driven programming; 12.2 If…Then decision structures; 12.3 Mastering Select Case decision structures; 12.4 Mastering For…Next loops; 12.5 Complex For…Next loops; 12.6 Writing Do loops; 12.7 Summary; Chapter 13: Trapping errors by using structured error handling; 13.1 Processing errors by using the Try…Catch statement; 13.2 Writing a flash drive error handler; 13.3 Using the Finally clause to perform cleanup tasks; 13.4 More complex Try…Catch error handlers; 13.5 Comparing error handlers with defensive programming techniques; 13.6 The Exit Try statement; 13.7 Summary; Chapter 14: Using arrays, collections, and generics to manage data; 14.1 Working with arrays of variables; 14.2 Setting an array’s size at runtime; 14.3 Preserving array contents by using ReDim Preserve; 14.4 Processing large arrays by using methods in the Array class; 14.5 Working with collections; 14.6 Summary; Chapter 15: Innovative data management with LINQ; 15.1 LINQ tools and techniques; 15.2 Extracting information from arrays; 15.3 Using LINQ with collections; 15.4 Using LINQ with XML documents; 15.5 Summary; Chapter 16: Object-oriented programming techniques; 16.1 Inheriting a form by using the Inheritance Picker; 16.2 Creating your own base classes; 16.3 Inheriting a base class; 16.4 Polymorphism; 16.5 Summary; Database and web programming; Chapter 17: Database controls for Windows desktop apps; 17.1 Database programming with ADO.NET; 17.2 Using toolbox controls to display database information; 17.3 SQL statements and filtering data; 17.4 Summary; Chapter 18: Data access for Windows Store apps; 18.1 Data binding in XAML; 18.2 Accessing data in XML documents; 18.3 Summary; Chapter 19: Visual Studio web development with ASP.NET; 19.1 Inside ASP.NET; 19.2 Building a Web Forms website with ASP.NET; 19.3 Using the Web Designer; 19.4 Adding server controls to a website; 19.5 Writing event handlers for webpage controls; 19.6 Customizing the website template; 19.7 Displaying database records on a webpage; 19.8 Editing document and site master properties; 19.9 Summary; Microsoft Windows Phone programming; Chapter 20: Introduction to Windows Phone 8 development; 20.1 Opportunities in the Windows Phone 8 platform; 20.2 The Windows Phone Store; 20.3 Working with Windows Phone SDK 8.0; 20.4 Comparing Windows Phone 8 and Windows Store platforms; 20.5 Summary; Chapter 21: Creating your first Windows Phone 8 application; 21.1 Creating a Windows Phone project; 21.2 Designing the Golf Caddy user interface; 21.3 Writing the code; 21.4 Testing Windows Phone apps; 21.5 Application life cycle considerations; 21.6 Setting options in the Window Phone manifest file; 21.7 Summary; About the author;