I don't know what is available!

[georgesutfin]

Earlier today I wanted to know how to sort and array. The problem was that I didn't know there was an object called array with the method of sort. What I would like is to buy a book or find online, all the things like this that VB has. Then I could acquaint myself with them.
Thanks

[DataMiser]

The MSDN docs are a very good resource.

[jmcilhinney]

You should use the MSDN documentation that DataMiser suggested as much as you can but it is a reference more than anything else, so you will get more out of it when you know what type or member you need to use and want to find more information about it. It's simply not practical to think that you can acquaint yourself with every type and member available in the .NET Framework. There are many thousands and, after 10 years working with .NET, I still don't even know what they all are, never mind what they all do.

The obvious (and I do mean obvious) option here is to simply type vb.net sort array into Google. When I did that, the documentation for the Array.Sort method was the second match and there was plenty of other useful information too. I have to say, as someone who has been programming since the web was very young and what little information there was available was hard to find, I always find it amazing how much information there is out there now and how easy it is to find it and yet there are a large number of people who can't even type a few words into a search engine. Maybe you did that and maybe you didn't but a simple web search should always be your first option, unless you already know what type or member you need to use, in which case you should go straight to MSDN.

[DataMiser]

Yes.. the web is amazing in that way. I used to use reference books quite a lot but now I can generally find what I'm looking for using google faster and easier than I could look it up in the manual, not to mention that if there is a sample I can copy and paste if I want to save some keystrokes.

The programming reference manual for my first version of Basic was maybe 150 pages. My reference manuals [2 of them] for VB5 are about 1000 pages each. By Vb6 there was enough online I did not bother with the actual manuals but did pick up a few books on advanced programing methods. I would hate to guess how many pages the reference for the newest .Net version would cover. I think it would be hard to lift it if it were all in one book

[lloan]

What would you guys recommend as reading material to learn more about VB.net? I am currently using Visual Studio 2012 and would greatly appreciate any help! So far I know some of the basics - I've reached the subject of classes and would like something I can digest easier, like examples and what not and different ways to use them. I suppose I would like to explicitly understand the difference between structures and classes other than inheritance, lol.

[jmcilhinney]

What would you guys recommend as reading material to learn more about VB.net? I am currently using Visual Studio 2012 and would greatly appreciate any help! So far I know some of the basics - I've reached the subject of classes and would like something I can digest easier, like examples and what not and different ways to use them. I suppose I would like to explicitly understand the difference between structures and classes other than inheritance, lol.

There are some good books out there - and some no so good ones - but none of them can explain everything about VB.NET development because it's just too big a subject. Generally they will teach you principles that you can then apply to various situations. If you do want to use a book then I would recommend the Wrox volumes as some of the better ones.

That said, given the wealth of information available on the web, I suggest trying that as a first option. Sometimes it can be hard work because you often have to piece together bits of information from different sources, but often it's all you need. I would suggest starting with a beginners tutorial and then, once you're done, look for information on specific subjects that that you need more help with, e.g. data access.

To answer your last question, the most significant difference between structures and classes is that structures are value types and classes are reference types, i.e. a variable whose type is a structure contains an object while a variable whose type is a class contains a reference to an object. The major significance of this is that when you assign one variable to another you copy the variable contents, which means copying the object for value types but only copying the reference to object for reference types. If you're not sure what that means, consider if you put your name on a piece of paper and I then copy the contents of that paper to another piece of paper. Both the pieces of paper now refer to you but does that mean that there are two copies of you? No, it just means that there are two references. That's how classes work.

[lloan]

There are some good books out there - and some no so good ones - but none of them can explain everything about VB.NET development because it's just too big a subject. Generally they will teach you principles that you can then apply to various situations. If you do want to use a book then I would recommend the Wrox volumes as some of the better ones.

That said, given the wealth of information available on the web, I suggest trying that as a first option. Sometimes it can be hard work because you often have to piece together bits of information from different sources, but often it's all you need. I would suggest starting with a beginners tutorial and then, once you're done, look for information on specific subjects that that you need more help with, e.g. data access.

To answer your last question, the most significant difference between structures and classes is that structures are value types and classes are reference types, i.e. a variable whose type is a structure contains an object while a variable whose type is a class contains a reference to an object. The major significance of this is that when you assign one variable to another you copy the variable contents, which means copying the object for value types but only copying the reference to object for reference types. If you're not sure what that means, consider if you put your name on a piece of paper and I then copy the contents of that paper to another piece of paper. Both the pieces of paper now refer to you but does that mean that there are two copies of you? No, it just means that there are two references. That's how classes work.

Wish I could just pick you up and turn you into a little mini wizard that has all the answers and keep you as my mini Vb question killer. That made so much sense. Thanks a ton! ^-^

[jmcilhinney]

Wish I could just pick you up and turn you into a little mini wizard that has all the answers and keep you as my mini Vb question killer. That made so much sense. Thanks a ton! ^-^

I'm actually a chatty paperclip. Still want me around?

[geek648]

That's the problem with programming, it's like "the blind leading the blind". There's often an elegant and sophisticated way to do something, but unless someone tells you about it, or you read it somewhere, how are you going to know? Who has time to wade through hundreds of thousands of pages of documentation to learn everything? So you end up with people doing things their own way, telling other people how to do it that way, and it's only when you stumble onto a good forum that you may be lucky to find the right way to do it!

[Españolita]

As Geek says, finding a good forum is the best way to start. I am also learning .Net and have not got any books. All my research is online and as you can see from the attached pic of saved favourites, the aspects of .Net that I have looked at are quite varied. It also gives a good idea of the type of projects I have made as this is my personal learning curve. And that is the crux, it's personal. I start writing a simple app, I learn new things along the way, then start another. My best advice is just jump in, start writing and use the forum as much or as little as you need. Personally, I browse the forums for peoples problems that I find interesting, research it if I din't know the solution, then post help for them. That helps ME significantly.
Attachment 96913

[lloan]

I'm actually a chatty paperclip. Still want me around?

I remember being excited about that microsoft clip... until it talked too much. Then there was a dog and I just kept it around for company since it couldn't read - alt+f4 D: