Starting in Visual Basic

Last article was my first as a contributing editor at Suite101. The purpose of that article was to introduce myself as a technical writer to Suite and to you. I started with programming as a question. A question so very important because the answer to that question may well be the deciding factor in your choice of a career. The article gave a brief insight in the history of computing and the kind of professionals required in that era and today. Hope you have read the previous article and I insist that you do so before starting with this one. Let me tell you all that my articles are not like independent program codes, separately executable. They are interwoven and follow a simple hierarchical structure. The previous one leads to the next. Its like a linked list, many programmers will agree. For the rest, lets not worry about it at this point of time.

I now assume that my audience mainly consist of wannabe programmers who aim to develop VB as a career option. Also few of you maybe interested only in some particular aspect of VB. For those I suggest reading some good books. Believe me, there are plenty available. If you are just a newcomer in computing and look towards VB with a curious mind, you're welcome too. Let me make one thing clear. No prior programming knowledge is necessary here. Of course, its to your advantage if you know a language like C. Though you are likely to find VB quite different. And quite simple too.

When I say simple, it gets interpreted as less powerful. Anyone who says that VB is not powerful is either a fool or not at all conversant with this language. VB provides tremendous power in your hands. But as the old and wise say, you must be able to handle this power. Power brings responsibilities, never forget that.

Before I start with VB, let me tell you a few guidelines as a programmer. Every programmer who is worth his goods, has to be methodological. That was and is the first thing in computer programming. Computers have to be told in detailed step-by-step manner about the task they have to perform. That implies adopting a methodological approach towards the problem. So remember one thing. However simple may be the problem, start right at the beginning. Don't get carried away by the power the programming language imparts. Here's where the experience of programming in languages like C and Pascal comes to your advantage. These languages, though not at all similar to VB, make you conversant