If I get a lot of positive responses, I'll continue, if not I won't.
Step 1: Obtaining Visual Basic .NET
Microsoft in recent years has made a giant step in allowing hobbyists to learn program without having the burden of buying expensive software. This is a great business idea on their part, because it allows more people to become interested in their software, therefore, increasing the number of potential purchasers. With the introduction of Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft released the express edition of Visual Basic.
What is the express edition?
The express edition of Visual Basic .Net is a version of Visual Basic that Microsoft designed for students and hobbyists. The express edition simply lacks some of the features that are provided in the other editions of Visual Studio. The features it lacks however, are usually not needed by Students, or hobbyist developers. As per the FAQ, you can even use the programs you create with the Express edition for commercial use:
QUOTE(http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/)
Can I use Express Editions for commercial use?
Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using the Express Editions.
Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using the Express Editions.
You can compare the express edition to the other edition by looking at Microsoft's comparison chart, which can be found here.
Obtaining the express edition
Since the express edition of Visual Basic .net is free, that is what this tutorial is going to use. This is because the express edition is available to the widest number of people.
The express edition can be downloaded from Microsoft's website. There are a few methods that you can choose to use for this. You can either use the standard download method, or you can use an alternative installation method. The standard installation method requires internet access to install, as program files are downloaded during the installation process. This is probably the easiest way for most people to install, however if you would like to install on a computer without internet access, or on multiple computers, you should consider one of the alternative installation methods. Both methods are gone through in detail in this tutorial, so simply choose the one that you would like.
Installing with the standard installation method - if you would like to perform an alternative installation method scroll down
Simply go to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/download/
On the page, under step 2, there is a link that says download. Click on it, and save the file somewhere on your computer where you will be able to later find it. (Your desktop may be a good location). The download is around 2.8MB so it may take a while on a slower connection.
Once the download is completed, locate the file and double click on it. This will start the setup process, which may take several minutes to load, depending on the speed of your computer. Once setup is done, you'll be presented with a welcome screen (as is shown in figure 1 below). Simply click the next button.
figure 1 - The setup welcome screen
The next setup screen asks you to accept the license agreement. Simply read through it, make sure that you aren't opposed to any of it. Then click on the checkbox that says "I accept the terms of this license Agreement". Then click on the next button.
The next screen is very important. It lists optional components to install. If you have the connection, and the download speed in order to download all of the optional components, I would highly recommend it. I have explained the optional components below:
- Microsoft MSDN 2005 Express Edition - this is a helpful tool, as it provides you with documentation while you are programming. If you need help with anything, MSDN is the backbone of it. I would recommend this, however of the optional components, if you were to leave one out, this is what you should choose to leave out.
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition - This allows you to have your applications write to databases. I would recommend it, as later tutorials will draw off using this to store application data.
figure 2 - installation summary
After you click on the install button, the installation process begins. This process can take a very long time to complete as lots of files need to be downloaded (Visual Basic can require around 340MB to be downloaded). So I would recommend doing something else while the process is completing.
Once the installation process is complete you may scroll down to starting visual basic for the first time.
Installing with the alternative installation method - if you would like to perform the standard installation method scroll up
This installation method requires a CD burner on the computer in which you are downloading the files from initially. The computer you are installing Visual Basic on, simply needs a CD-ROM drive.
First go to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/install/
You will see on the page a link to Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 express edition. (Be sure you click on the correct one, or you will download the wrong file). You will most likely be wanting to use the .ISO file, as that is recognized by most cd-burning software. However Microsoft also provides a .img file in case that is what you need. I am not going to go into the specifics of burning this file to a CD here (You must be sure to burn an image to the CD, and not simply write the file), however if you need help doing so just post with what kind of burning software you have (if any), and you'll get some help.
Once you have burned the file to the CD, insert it in the computer, and then open the cd up and double click on the setup.exe file. You can then follow similar steps as are shown above, to complete the installation process. (The only difference is that files are taken from the CD instead of being downloaded during the installation).
Step 2: Starting Visual Basic .NET & Creating your first application
Starting Visual Basic .NET is just like starting any other application. You simply go to start --> programs --> Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition. At this time, if you did not register during the installation, you will need to register now. All you need is a .net passport (which is free of course). Simply follow the registration links for information about registering.
The first time you start Visual Basic .NET it will take longer than the other times. This is because it must prepare the environment. This should only happen once, and subsequent times that Visual Basic .NET is started it should be faster.
Microsoft has made it so that you are shown a welcome screen when you first start Visual Basic. This welcome screen is very useful. It shows you information such as some of the recent projects you have been working on, as well as recent news related to visual basic.
You will also notice a link to create a new application. Click on this to open the new project window. (You can also do this by going to the file menu and clicking on new project... You can fool around with the different templates that they have, just about any of them will work. Also give your project a meaningful name ('test' will work for a name for now, but later you want to make sure to give them names that are relevant).
It may take some time for visual basic to create the project as it needs to create several files on your computer. Once this process is complete you have a basic application that you can run right away. To run the application, look on the toolbar. There is a button that looks like a play button (on a VCR or DVD player). Click on that button. And your application will run.
Thats it! You have now created and run your first application.
If there is interest, i'll continue making some tutorials on Visual Basic, if not I wont. So please leave any comments or suggestions, etc.
