Datasheet

Introduction to the IDE
The chapters in the first part of this book describe the Visual Studio integrated development
environment (IDE). They explain the most important windows, menus, and toolbars that make up
the environment, and show how to customize them to suit your needs. They explain some of the
tools that provide help while you are writing Visual Basic applications and how to use the IDE to
debug programs.
Even if you are an experienced Visual Basic programmer, you should at least skim this material.
The IDE is extremely complex and provides hundreds (if not thousands) of commands, menus,
toolbars, windows, context menus, and other tools for editing, running, and debugging Visual
Basic projects. Even if you have used the IDE for a long time, there are sure to be some features
that you have overlooked.
When I teach Visual Basic, for example, I cover the IDE’s keyboard shortcuts (such as Alt+Space
to open IntelliSense, and Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+V to copy, cut, and paste) early in the class.
The students don’t really write enough code to take full advantage of these tools for several weeks,
however, so we revisit the topic later.
These chapters describe some of the most important of those features, and you may discover
something useful that you’ve never noticed before.
Even after you’ve read these chapters, you should periodically spend some time wandering
through the IDE to see what you’ve missed. Every month or so, spend a few minutes exploring
little-used menus and right-clicking things to see what their context menus contain. As you
become a more proficient Visual Basic programmer, you will find uses for tools that you may have
previously dismissed or not understood before.
It’s also useful to save links to tips you discover online. You can make a Visual Basic Tips folder
in your browser’s favorites list to make finding tips easier.
This chapter explains how to get started using the IDE. It tells how to configure the IDE for
different kinds of development. It explains Visual Basic projects and solutions, and shows how
to create, run, and save new projects. This chapter is mostly an introduction to the chapters that
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