Intermediate Visual Basic
Gain in-demand Visual Basic skills, allowing you to write sophisticated Windows programs that access and modify business databases. This course explores enriched GUI and multiple form applications as you deepen your knowledge of databases with data-bound controls, ADO.NET, and SQL.
If you're a Visual Basic programmer who wants to go beyond the introductory level to create the sophisticated and powerful programs business users need, this course is for you. As you focus on database applications, you'll learn the in-demand programming skills you need to get new work in the business world.
You'll begin by learning how to enrich the graphical user interface with custom menus and toolbars. Next, you'll explore multiple form applications, starting with built-in dialog controls, and then turning to helper forms and Multiple Document Interface applications. After that, you'll deepen your understanding of databases by learning how to access and modify data with data-bound controls, ADO .NET, and Structured Query Language (SQL). Finally, you'll finish up with a survey of other areas you might be interested in studying, including information on additional SQL functionality, web applications, and XML.
What you will learn
- Learn how to enrich the graphical user interface with custom menus and toolbars
- Explore multiple form applications
- Deepen your understanding of databases
- Find out how to access and modify data with data-bound controls, ADO .NET, and SQL
How you will benefit
- Learn the in-demand programming skills you need to get new work in the business world
- Become more confident in your development skills and ability to take on new projects
- Open the door to new freelance and employment opportunities as a Visual Basic programmer
How the course is taught
- Instructor-led or self-paced online course
- 6 Weeks or 3 Months access
- 24 course hours
Sometimes it feels like everything in life is either dependent on or monitored by a computer. Indeed, most Visual Basic programs are all about data based on the things that people do. Whether it's the books they buy, the stores where they shop, or the restaurants where they eat, data like that is stored in a file on the computer's hard drive, and these programs enable users to locate and save changes to that data. By the time you finish this first lesson, you'll learn how to use the OpenFileDialog and SaveFileDialog classes to give your programs this functionality.
The term menu may bring to mind choices of delicious food (and high prices) at an elegant restaurant. Or it may make you think of what you see in the drive-through lane at the local fast food joint. Either way, menus inform you of your choices. They perform a similar purpose in programs, giving you choices depending on what you want to do, such as to open, print, or save a document. In this lesson, you'll discover how to use menus in your programs.
This lesson is all about bars, but not the kind that serve drinks. In this lesson, you'll explore a different kind of bar—the kind that allows you to enhance your application both visually and functionally. It's called the toolbar or toolstrip, and when you finish this lesson, you'll know how to use toolbars in your applications and how to coordinate them with menus.
In a movie, the leading actor or actress may be the star of the show. But rarely will one actor or actress perform all of the roles in that show. Similarly, the main form in your program may be the star, but as your applications become more sophisticated, you'll need other, helper forms. In this lesson, you'll discover an important type of helper form—the dialog form.
In this lesson, you'll learn about another important helper form and how to use it in your application. The lesson will discuss the modeless, or owned form.
You probably take for granted that, while you're typing text in Microsoft Word, you can also have other documents open. This function allows you to go back and forth between documents without having to close any. This ability is called Multiple Document Interface, and after this lesson, you'll know how to give this ability to your programs.
In this lesson, you'll begin your journey into the world of databases. You previously learned about how people's entire lives are stored on computers—the books they buy, the stores where they shop, and the restaurants where they eat. That information is stored in databases, and they're what enable you to make sense of data and do useful things with it. You'll learn all about them in this lesson.
Now that you've learned about databases, you need to speak their language. That language is called Structured Query Language, better known by the abbreviation SQL. After this lesson, you'll not only know how to pronounce SQL, but more important, you'll understand how to use SQL to talk to your database. Of course, you won't literally talk to your database—your friends might start worrying about you if you did—but instead, you'll use SQL in your Visual Basic applications to communicate with your database.
While you've already learned a lot about databases in the previous two lessons, programming is about writing code. So, in this lesson, you'll learn how to write code to access a database.
Unlike people, databases don't scheme, but they do have a schema. This is the database's structure. It's very useful to know how to access this structure by code. You'll find out how to do that in this lesson.
The business world—the very people who pay programmers to write programs—has great demand for programs that help them easily find the data they need to make decisions. This is called drilling down into data. This isn't like oil drilling, but it's important to your applications. When you finish this lesson, you'll know how to create master-detail tables that enable users to quickly find the data they need.
This may be the final lesson, but it certainly isn't the end of your programming journey. Where do you go from here? This lesson will go over all the options that are now available to you!
Jeffrey A. Kent
Jeffrey A. Kent is a Professor of Computer Science, teaching both traditional and online classes. He has taught a number of computer programming languages, including C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, and Assembly. He is the published author of several computer-programming books, including "Visual Basic 2005 Demystified" and "C++ Demystified." He is also an attorney and has combined both careers by writing applications for law firms.
Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.
Completion of Introduction to Visual Basic 2008 (or equivalent experience).
- This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.
- PC: Windows 8 or later.
- Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge is also compatible.
- Visual Basic 2008, free Express edition.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
- Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
Instructor-Led: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.
Self-Paced: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.
Instructor-Led: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.
Self-Paced: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.
Instructor-Led: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.
Self-Paced: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.
Instructor-Led: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.
Self-Paced: Because this course is self-paced, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.