Changes in This EditionThis revision of the text is based on the Professional Edition of Visual Studio
(VS) 2008. The 2008 version of VS includes Language Integrated Queries
(LINQ) for a more consistent means of querying a variety of data sources. The
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) brings new dimensions to interface
design. AJAX also has been added to provide faster postbacks for Web pages.
Microsoft has made many enhancements to the integrated development
environment (IDE). The Editor now has a much richer IntelliSense. New tool
windows for creating, managing, and applying styles in Web applications are
now included in Chapter 9. A new PrintForm component makes printing a form extremely easy and convenient
for a classroom environment. The PrintForm component is part of a Microsoft
download called the Visual Basic Power Packs , which can be added to the IDE for
use with a C# program. PrintForm is covered in Chapter 2 for output to either the
printer or a Print Preview window. Standard printing is still covered in Chapter 7.
LINQ is covered in Chapter 10 ("Database Applications") and again in the
XML section of Chapter 14. Chapter 11 ("Data Files") includes a simplified method for writing small
amounts of data without performing an open operation.
Drag-and-drop for images is now covered in the graphics chapter (Chapter
13). Students learn the development techniques for this familiar operation.
Chapter 14 includes XML data files and an introduction to programming
with WPF. The text narrative, step-by-step exercises, screen captures, and appendices
have all been updated to Visual Studio 2008. The screen captures are all
based on Windows Vista. |