.NET news » VB.NET

If you ever use arrays or ArrayLists in your applications, consider using the built-in generics collections instead. The built-in generics collections are not only easier to use than arrays, but they allow you to limit the data type of the items that are in the collection. This provides type-safety, meaning that a compile-time error is generated if the code attempts to put something in the collection that is not of the correct type. It can also improve the performance of the application, limiting conversion of data types...

Yet another highly useful but underappreciated feature of .NET 2.0? How about the FTPWebRequest and FtpWebResponse classes? These nifty classes let you built FTP file access right into your applications. See how it's done with this handy photo viewer example.

Spice up your interfaces by taking full advantage of the Pen and Brush classes capabilities in the .NET Framework. Learn to create dashed and striped lines, control line joins, and use brushes to create interesting patterns and gradients.

Attributes provide extra information about your code that allows tools such as Visual Studio to make using your code easier. For example, they tell the Properties window how to display and edit properties and they let you fine-tune XML serialization.

Retaining a single set of user settings for your application is easy. Retaining multiple sets of user settings is much more challenging.

Visual Basic .NET and Visual Basic 6.0 developers get an introduction to building Web applications with ASP.NET 2.0, as well as the major differences between developing desktop and Web applications.

Query features have long been a cornerstone of database applications, but with LINQ, Microsoft introduces query language features right inside of C# and VB.NET.

Learn how to use P/Invoke to call unmaged Win32 APIs from managed code. These sample applications show how to mute sounds, change Windows resolution, and display ballon tips from your managed code.

A no nonsense tutorial designed to give Visual Basic developers an insight into developing VB applications for handheld devices such as PDAs.

Find out how you can copy selected text within a Web browser to a clipboard in VB.NET 2.0.