Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? This course provides complete coverage of all Visual Basic extended features-particularly LINQ for data manipulation-as well as XML data types, implicit types and lambda expressions. You gain experience working in the object-oriented environment and learn how to map it to relational, XML and object data sources. Who will benefit from this course? This course is valuable for experienced programmers and software engineers who want to improve their software development capabilities by using the new and extended Visual Basic language features. What are extended features? Visual Basic extended features are capabilities to support development that go beyond the traditional object-oriented usage needed for typical Web or Windows Forms applications. In particular, Language Integrated Query (LINQ) allows Visual Basic to be used as a data-manipulation language, without having to write the labor-intensive and low-level code yourself. Are there other extended features? Yes. Although LINQ is the major enhancement, there are a number of other capabilities that allow Visual Basic to be used in atypical ways, including lambda expressions, object-initialisers, extension method and anonymous types. What is LINQ? Language INtegrated Query (LINQ) provides a full capability for managing database access, XML and object lists from within Visual Basic. A series of "query keywords" extend the syntax and semantics of Visual Basic to allow the developers to query databases, XML, and objects using the same query keywords. LINQ also supports the infrastructure for object-relational translation including update, insert, delete and implicit support for identity maps. What background do I need? This is an advanced Visual Basic course. Attendees should have practical hands-on experience with the Visual Basic language at the level of Course 503, Visual Basic® 2008 Programming: Hands-On. For example, you should know how to: Apply object-oriented development techniques including encapsulation, inheritance, interfaces and polymorphism in an application design Construct, compile and execute VB Windows Forms and/or Web applications using Visual Studio integrated environment I attended Course 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction. Can I attend this course? Course 502 provides an introduction to programming and covers only some features of the Visual Basic language. Course 974 is an advanced Visual Basic class and requires a broader knowledge of and experience with Visual Basic, object-orientation and components. Course 503, Visual Basic® 2008 Programming: Hands-On, or equivalent experience is the recommended prerequisite. Does this course show the C# dialect of LINQ? No. This course is specifically designed to leverage Visual Basic syntax. If you have a C# background, you should instead consider Course 973, Programming C# Extended Features: Hands-On. Do I need to know SQL to attend this course? Knowledge and experience of SQL is helpful but is not required. The LINQ data-manipulation dialect is similar in some respects to SQL, but it is quite different both in syntax and semantics from SQL. The usage of LINQ query keywords are explained fully in this course. What version of Visual Basic and Visual Studio are used in this course? Visual Basic 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 are used in this course. I use an earlier version of Visual Basic and/or Visual Studio. Will this course be useful for me? Most of the extended features discussed in this course are from Visual Basic 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 and cannot be used with older versions. However, this course is beneficial to any developer who is planning to upgrade to Visual Basic 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 and wants to get an advanced look at these new Visual Basic capabilities. What is the .NET Framework? The .NET Framework is a programming platform that allows you to build Windows and Web applications that run on Microsoft operating systems. The .NET Framework 3.0 added the following technologies to .NET 2.0: Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and Cardspace. The .NET Framework 3.5 added Language INtegrated Query (LINQ). Technically, .NET 3.0 is not covered in this course because we do not cover WCF, WPF, WF or Cardspace. LINQ, new to .NET 3.5, is covered extensively in this course. For courses that focus on technologies that were new with .NET 3.0, you may be interested in Course 513, Windows® Communication Foundation (WCF): Creating .NET 3.5 Web Services, or Course 514, Windows® Workflow Foundation (WF): Hands-On. What tools are used in this course? In addition to Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Basic 2008, this course uses SQL Server 2005 with the SQL Server Management Studio. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours Introduction 1.0 Adopting new Visual Basic language features 2.0 Writing LINQ queries 4.0 Querying SQL with LINQ 4.0 Coding lambda expressions and extension methods 1.0 Processing data with LINQ queries 6.0 Implementing stored procedures using LINQ 2.0 Processing XML with LINQ 3.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. What hands-on exercises are in the course? About 40 percent of class time is spent performing hands-on exercises. Exercises include: Applying new Visual Basic shortcut features Retrieving results using LINQ queries Processing objects and data to insert, update and delete with LINQ Integrating in-memory objects, relational databases and XML Entity-class publishing using the O/R Designer tool Parsing XML documents using LINQ Building stored procedures with Visual Basic How does this course relate to Course 973, Programming C# Extended Features: Hands-On? This course is geared toward Visual Basic programmers, while Course 973 is aimed at C# programmers. However, this is more than just the same course in a different language. LINQ in Visual Basic has a different syntax than in C#, and it has many additional query keywords. Because of the additional keywords, this course spends more time on the specific use of LINQ queries. In C#, LINQ has the same capabilities but some functions are achieved using lambda expressions and/or extension methods. Further, Course 973 focuses more on object-to-relational mapping and maintaining the object-oriented paradigm. How does this course relate to other courses? This course is closely related to the following courses: Course 503, Visual Basic® 2008 Programming: Hands-On Course 509, Programming Windows® and Smart Client Applications with .NET: Hands-On Course 512, Developing ASP.NET Web Applications: Hands-On Additional courses you may be interested in include: Course 506, Programming Scalable Web Applications with .NET and ASP.NET AJAX Course 508, Building Web Services with .NET 2.0: Hands-On Course 513, Windows® Communication Foundation (WCF): Creating .NET 3.5 Web Services Course 514, Windows® Workflow Foundation (WF): Hands-On Course 511, .NET Best Practices and Design Patterns: Hands-On Course 975, Windows ® Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight Introduction: Hands-On

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