Introduction to Visual Basic
A brief description of Visual Basic
Getting to know the Visual Basic environment
1.1 A brief description of Visual Basic
VISUAL BASIC® is a high level programming language evolved from the earlier DOS
version called BASIC. BASIC stands for Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction
Code. The program codes in Visual Basic resemble the English language. Different
software companies produce different versions of BASIC, such as Microsoft®
QBASIC, QUICKBASIC, GWBASIC, and IBM BASICA and so on.
Visual Basic is a fairly easy programming language and it is for anybody who is
interested in programming but lacks professional training in software engineering.
Learning VISUAL BASIC will help young children to improve their logical thinking
skills and develop their minds. You can choose to program in VISUAL BASIC purely
for fun and enjoyment or create more advanced applications such as educational
courseware and commercial software.
VISUAL BASIC is a visual and events driven programming Language. These are the
main divergences from the old BASIC. In BASIC, programming is done in a textbased environment and the program is executed sequentially. In VISUAL BASIC,
programming is done in a graphical environment. In old BASIC, you have to write a
text-based procedure to design the interface, but Visual Basic enables you to design
the interface by dragging and resizing the objects as well as changing their colors,
just like any windows-based programs.
Visual Basic is event-driven because users may click on a certain object randomly,
so each object has to be programmed independently to be able to response to those
actions (events). Examples of events are clicking a command button, entering text
into a text box, selecting an item in a list box etc. Therefore, a VISUAL BASIC
Program is made up of many subprograms, each with its own program code which can be executed independently and at the same time can be linked together in one
way or another.
1.2 The Visual Basic Environment
Upon start up, Visual Basic 6.0 will display the dialog box as shown in Figure 1.1.
You can choose to start a new project, open an existing project or select a list of
recently opened programs. A project is a collection of files that make up your
application. There are various types of applications that can be created; however, we
shall concentrate on creating Standard EXE programs (EXE means executable
program). Now, click on the Standard EXE icon to go into the VISUAL BASIC
programming environment.
A brief description of Visual Basic
Getting to know the Visual Basic environment
1.1 A brief description of Visual Basic
VISUAL BASIC® is a high level programming language evolved from the earlier DOS
version called BASIC. BASIC stands for Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction
Code. The program codes in Visual Basic resemble the English language. Different
software companies produce different versions of BASIC, such as Microsoft®
QBASIC, QUICKBASIC, GWBASIC, and IBM BASICA and so on.
Visual Basic is a fairly easy programming language and it is for anybody who is
interested in programming but lacks professional training in software engineering.
Learning VISUAL BASIC will help young children to improve their logical thinking
skills and develop their minds. You can choose to program in VISUAL BASIC purely
for fun and enjoyment or create more advanced applications such as educational
courseware and commercial software.
VISUAL BASIC is a visual and events driven programming Language. These are the
main divergences from the old BASIC. In BASIC, programming is done in a textbased environment and the program is executed sequentially. In VISUAL BASIC,
programming is done in a graphical environment. In old BASIC, you have to write a
text-based procedure to design the interface, but Visual Basic enables you to design
the interface by dragging and resizing the objects as well as changing their colors,
just like any windows-based programs.
Visual Basic is event-driven because users may click on a certain object randomly,
so each object has to be programmed independently to be able to response to those
actions (events). Examples of events are clicking a command button, entering text
into a text box, selecting an item in a list box etc. Therefore, a VISUAL BASIC
Program is made up of many subprograms, each with its own program code which can be executed independently and at the same time can be linked together in one
way or another.
1.2 The Visual Basic Environment
Upon start up, Visual Basic 6.0 will display the dialog box as shown in Figure 1.1.
You can choose to start a new project, open an existing project or select a list of
recently opened programs. A project is a collection of files that make up your
application. There are various types of applications that can be created; however, we
shall concentrate on creating Standard EXE programs (EXE means executable
program). Now, click on the Standard EXE icon to go into the VISUAL BASIC
programming environment.
