Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Step by Step-Version 2003 is a comprehensive introduction to Visual Basic programming using the Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 software. I've designed this course with a variety of skill levels in mind so that new programmers can learn software development fundamentals in the context of useful, real-world applications and experienced Visual Basic programmers can quickly master the essential tools and programming techniques offered in the Visual Basic .NET upgrade. Complementing this comprehensive approach is the book's structure-six topically organized parts, 22 chapters, and more than 65 step-by-step exercises and sample programs. By using this book, you'll quickly learn how to create professional-quality Visual Basic .NET applications for the Microsoft Windows operating system and a variety of Web browsers. You'll also have fun!

I've been working with Windows CE for almost as long as it's been in existence. A Windows programmer for many years, I'm amazed by the number of different, typically quite small, systems to which I can apply my Windows programming experience. These Windows CE systems run the gamut from PC-like mini-laptops to embedded devices buried deep in some large piece of industrial equipment. The use of the Win32 API in Windows CE enables tens of thousands of Windows programmers to write applications for an entirely new class of systems. The subtle differences, however, make writing Windows CE code somewhat different from writing for the desktop versions of Windows. It's those differences that I'll address in this book.

Welcome to Que's 70-293 Exam Cram 2! Whether this is your first or your fifteenth Exam Cram 2 series book, you'll find information here that will help ensure your success as you pursue knowledge, experience, and certification. This introduction explains Microsoft certification programs in general and talks about how the Exam Cram 2 series can help you prepare for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer exams. Chapter 1, "Microsoft Certification Exams," discusses the basics of Microsoft certification exams, including a description of the testing environment and a discussion of test-taking strategies. Chapters 2, "Server Roles and Security," through 7, "Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining Security Infrastructure," are designed to remind you of everything you'll need to know to take—and pass—the 70-293 MCSE certification exam. The two practice exams at the end of the book should give you a reasonably accurate assessment of your knowledge—and, yes, I've provided the answers and their explanations to the tests. Read the book and understand the material, and you'll stand a very good chance of passing the test.

"I hope you'll enjoy reading this tutorial with your portable, your work, or your home PC. It's a perfect companion to the Introduction to Visual C++ 6.0 Standard Edition manual and is a proven aid to understanding the C++ language. The material in this tutorial is adapted from my book Beginning Visual C++ 6.0, to provide you with a thorough grounding in 'pure' C++. I've been careful to address the new standards in C++ laid out by the ANSI and ISO committees and I encourage you to adopt these conventions so that your programs are maintainable for years to come. There's plenty of code in this tutorial, which you can cut and paste from the help viewer and is also available for download from the Wrox Press web site. We've tested this code extensively, but if you do encounter a problem, try visiting the web site, which will list any errata that may have been spotted since publication of this document. Also, remember that your suggestions for improving the text are very welcome - use the web site to give us your feedback. We try to keep all Wrox tutorials error free and appreciate your help in sustaining our high standards." Ivor Horton

"Everyone will want this book because it provides a great mix of practical experience, historical perspective, and a depth of understanding that only comes from being intimately involved in the field. I've already enjoyed and learned from reading this book, and surely you will too."

After the successful online publishing of "Essential Pascal", I decided to follow up with an introduction to Delphi. Again most of the material you'll find here was in the first few editions of Mastering Delphi, the best selling Delphi book I've written. Due to space constraints and because many Delphi programmers look for more advanced information, in the latest edition this material was completely omitted. To overcome the absence of this information, I've started putting together this second online book, titled Essential Delphi.

When I was first asked to do this book, a lot of folks on the team thought ActiveX was some kind of programming language like C++, HTML or JavaStuff. In fact, it's all of them and none of them. ActiveX is a technology—a way of using a computer's environment to communicate over the Web efficiently and reliably. HTML, C++ Visual Basic, DirectX, and many other tools can be used to take advantage of ActiveX technologies. "Why would I want to use ActiveX?" is the question I hear the most. I've got all kinds of answers—a different one for each individual. "To have a professional Web presence." "So people won't have to be techies to use your site." "So everyone's machine can work with your pages." The $40 answer is that it allows you to use OLE over the Web. This means that you can use your Web browser as a front end for your word processor, spreadsheet, database, chat, news, mail, and other applications. With ActiveX, you don't need to have 10 zillion applications installed on your machine. Moreover, you don't need to know how to use 10 zillion applications. When the Web browser tries to load an ActiveX document and you don't have the software required to load it, your Web browser will contact the software distributor over the Net, grab the stuff you need, and install it onto your local machine. If you never use that software again, it will be automatically deleted, freeing up valuable system resources for other uses. After browsing some of the book titles available for computer programming, I found very few like this one. That is because ActiveX is a unique concept in programming. It addresses the issues of networking by relying on standards that have been cussed and discussed by the many standards organizations out there. Microsoft has said that it will release the ActiveX technologies to an independent standards body for continued maintenance, but in fact, most of it is already in public hands.

Teach Yourself COBOL in 21 Days went through many versions before it was right for the job. Several adventurous volunteers agreed to learn COBOL from scratch by doing each lesson as I completed it, and I installed revisions based on their feedback. For the second edition, each day's text incorporated suggestions from the first edition users and then underwent multiple revisions to ensure that it could be easily understood and that the correct gradient approach was used. Concepts are introduced slowly and repeated many times. The first edition included four Bonus Day lessons. This new edition has been extended to include two additional Bonus Day lessons, with emphasis on the year 2000 problem. In many cases, it is difficult to illustrate a programming point by using a full program. The point being highlighted gets lost against the background of all the other things going on in the program. The answer to this is to write short programs just to show how something works. The problem with this approach is that some examples are silly or trivial programs. One of my more determined volunteers frequently showed up at my desk looking perplexed and asking, "I understand what the program is doing, but why would anyone ever want a program like this?" The answer always is, "No one would; the example is only to illustrate how that part of the language works." I have revised each chapter and added specific comments indicating which examples aren't "real" programs. If I've missed any of these, and you see a program that seems to do something silly, irrelevant, or useless, be tolerant. Review the program as an example of how the language works and not as a program that you might use for some purpose. Lots of code is used. COBOL experience comes from writing, reading, and understanding lots of code. Sometimes one point is illustrated by repeating a whole program with only that one point changed.

Hey! Socket programming got you down? Is this stuff just a little too difficult to figure out from the man pages? You want to do cool Internet programming, but you don't have time to wade through a gob of structs trying to figure out if you have to call bind() before you connect(), etc., etc. Well, guess what! I've already done this nasty business, and I'm dying to share the information with everyone! You've come to the right place. This document should give the average competent C programmer the edge s/he needs to get a grip on this networking noise.

This book is a direct outgrowth of my experiences teaching C++ to professional programmers. I've found that most students, after a week of intensive instruction, feel comfortable with the basic constructs of the language, but they tend to be less sanguine about their ability to put the constructs together in an effective manner. Thus began my attempt to formulate short, specific, easy-to-remember guidelines for effective software development in C++: a summary of the things experienced C++ programmers almost always do or almost always avoid doing.