Visual Basic Language Features

The following topics introduce and discuss the essential components of Visual Basic, an object-oriented programming language. After creating the user interface for your application using forms and controls, you need to write the code that defines the application's behavior. As with any modern programming language, Visual Basic supports a number of common programming constructs and language elements.

If you have programmed in other languages, much of the material covered in this section might seem familiar. While most of the constructs are similar to those in other languages, the event-driven nature of Visual Basic introduces some subtle differences.

If you are new to programming, the material in this section serves as an introduction to the basic building blocks for writing code. Once you understand the basics, you can create powerful applications using Visual Basic.

In This Section

• Visual Basic and the .NET Framework
  Describes the role of Visual Basic in the .NET Framework, and discusses assemblies and attributes.

• Declared Elements in Visual Basic
  Covers programming elements you can declare, their names and characteristics, and how the compiler resolves references to them.

• Data Types in Visual Basic
  Describes what kinds of data a programming element can hold and how that data is stored.

• Variables in Visual Basic
  Discusses how to declare variables to store values, and how to use them to refer to objects.

• Arrays in Visual Basic
  Discusses making your code more compact and powerful by declaring and using arrays, which hold multiple related values.

• Objects in Visual Basic
  Provides an overview of objects and classes, how they are used, their relationships to each other, and the properties, methods, and events they expose.

• Strings in Visual Basic
  Covers declaring and manipulating variables that contain a sequence of characters.

• Constants and Enumerations in Visual Basic
  Discusses storing unchanging values for repeated use, including sets of related constant values.

• Operators and Expressions in Visual Basic
  Describes the code elements that manipulate value-holding elements, how to use them efficiently, and how to combine them to yield new values.

• Statements in Visual Basic
  Provides an overview of the two basic units of instruction in Visual Basic: declaration statements and executable statements.

• Procedures in Visual Basic
  Describes Sub, Function, Property, and Operator procedures, as well as advanced topics such as recursive and overloaded procedures.

• Control Flow in Visual Basic
  Shows how to regulate the flow of your program's execution.

• XML in Visual Basic
  Provides links to topics that introduce using LINQ to XML with Visual Basic.

Related Sections

• Object-Oriented Programming in Visual Basic
  Covers object-oriented programming, including classes and interfaces, object creation, events and delegates, inheritance, and groups of objects.

• Visual Basic Reference
  Provides reference information on various aspects of Visual Basic programming.