Fluent Visual Basic

A new breed of VB tutorial: open, inviting, visual, exercise-driven -- based on the latest cognitive science and instructional design!

Fully master Visual Basic, the latest .NET technologies, and object-oriented development - and use them to build outstanding applications.
Reflects design patterns, best practices, and Microsoft's latest application archetypes and architectural guidelines.
Extensively covers advanced WPF-based presentation with XAML, WPF controls, interactions, graphics, resources, and templates.

Based on the principles of cognitive science and advanced instructional design, Fluent Visual Basic is a true tutorial that helps the reader to build effective working models for developing .superior NET applications with the newest versions of Visual Basic. Conventional 'tutorials' briefly describe the material and present an 'exercise' requiring users to type already-provided source code. This book is radically different and better: its carefully-paced exercises have been designed to closely match the brain's natural learning processes. Readers discover the material themselves - and therefore absorb it more rapidly and effectively. As they move forward, they don't merely learn VB syntax: they internalize powerful concepts such as Microsoft application archetypes, VB design patterns, and test-driven design. Coverage includes:

Working with the .NET platform and the Visual Studio interface.
Testing and deploying applications.
Mastering VB's nouns and verbs.
Understanding classes in the .NET framework.
Working with the Framework Class Library.
Mastering best practices for object-oriented analysis and design.
Applying proven VB and .NET design patterns.
Making the most of WPF and XAML: controls, interactions, resources, templates, and more

This book's breadth is impressive. More important, its open, inviting format and exercise-driven approach makes learning these complex topics easier and more natural than it's ever been before.