Unit 1

Introduction to VB.NET
 Objectives
• In this chapter, you will:
– Learn the primitive data types in Visual Basic
– Become familiar with arithmetic operators
– Explore how to design algorithms to solve
problems
– Learn the components of basic control structures
– Study the syntax of basic sequence, selection, and
repetition structures in Visual Basic

2
 Introduction
• Computer program
– Sequence of statements whose objective is to
accomplish a task
• Programming
– Process of planning and creating a program

3
 Introduction (cont'd)
• Function
– Collection of statements; when executed,
accomplishes something
• Syntax
– Rules that specify which statements (instructions)
are legal
• Programming language
– A set of rules, symbols, and special words
– Visual Basic

4
 Introduction (cont'd)
• Reserved words, keywords, or word symbols
– Words that are reserved by Visual Basic
– Usually in blue color in the IDE (Visual Studio)

5
 Primitive Data Types in Visual
Basic
• Boolean • SByte
• Byte • Short
• Char • Single
• Date • String
• Decimal
• Uinteger
• Double
• Ulong
• Integer
• Long • UShort

6
 Declaration of Variables
• All variables must be declared before they are
used in a program
• Declaring a variable
– Dim number1 As Integer
– Dim number2 As Integer
• Declaring multiple variables of the same type
– Dim number1, number2 As Integer

7
 Naming Convention
• Camel case
– Variable / function name
– E.g., taxRate, salaryPayment
• Control naming convention
– Variable name = the meaning of control's value+
control's type
– E.g., number1Label, number2TextBox
• Although the variable/function name is not case
sensitive, it is important to follow a consistent
naming convention
8
 Arithmetic Operators in Visual
Basic
• Addition: +
• Subtraction: -
• Multiplication: *
• Division (floating point): /
• Division (integer): \
• Modulus: Mod
• Exponentiation: ^

9
 Division
• Division (floating point)
– x/y
– E.g., 7.l / 4 evaluates to 1.775

10
 Division (cont'd)
• Division (integer)
–x\y
– x and y are integers
• 7\4 evaluates to 1, and 17\5 evaluates to 3
– x and y are not integers
• Numbers are first rounded to the nearest whole number
• E.g., 7.1 is rounded to 7, and 7.7 is rounded to 8
• Thus, 7.1\4 evaluates to 1, and 7.7\4 yields 2

11
 Modulus & Exponentiation
• Modulus
– r Mod s
– 7 Mod 3 evaluates to 1 (since 7=3*2+1)
• Exponentiation
– 3^2 evaluates to 3*3=9
– 2^3 evaluates to 2*2*2=8
– 2^10 evaluates to 1024

12
 Sign Operations
• Unary Minus
– -e
– E.g., -10, -3.14
• Unary Plus
– +g
– E.g., +100 (equivalent to 100)

13
 Rules of Operator Precedence
priority
• ^ high
• +, - (sign operations)
• *, /
• \
• Mod
• +, - (addition and subtraction) low
• If there are several operators of the same priority,
then they are evaluated from left to right

14
 Exercises
• What are the values of the following
expressions?
– 5.2/2
– 9 Mod 3
– 4\2
– 4.4\2
• What is the order of the following expression?
–X=2*5^2+3*5+7

15
 Comparison Operators
• Equality operators
– = (equal)
– <> (not equal)
• Relational operators
– >
– <
– >=
– <=

16
 Rules of Operator Precedence
priority
• ^ high
• +, - (sign operations)
• *, /
• \
• Mod
• +, - (addition and subtraction)
• =, <>, <, <=, >, >=
(equality and relational) low

17
 Problem Solving Techniques
• Problem-solving process has three steps:
– Analyze problem and design an algorithm
– Implement the algorithm in code
– Maintain the program
• Algorithm is independent of languages
– Actions to be executed, and
– The order in which these actions are executed
• Pseudo code
18
 Control Structures
• Problem with the GoTo statement
– GoTo statement can specify a control to any place
(line or destination) in a program
– Making the program unstructured and hard to
follow
• Research indicates that all programs can be
written by only 3 control structures
– With "GoTo elimination"

19
 Categories of Control Structures
• Control Structures
– Sequence structure
– Selection structure
– Repetition structure

20
 Sequence Structure
• Visual Basic statement
– total = total + grade
– counter=counter+1 Add grade to total
• UML activity diagram
– Flowchart
– Initial state action state 1 Add 1 to counter
… action state n
final state

21
 Selection Structure
• If … Then
• If … Then … Else
• Select … Case
[grade>=60] display
"passed"

[grade<60]

22
 Selection (1)
• If … Then
– If grade >= 60 Then
write(“Passed”)
End If

23
 Selection (2)
• If … Then … Else
– If grade >= 60 Then
write(“Passed”)
Else
write (“Failed”)
End If

24
 Nested Selection
If grade >= 90 Then
write(“A”)
Else
If grade >= 80 Then
write(“B”)
Else
If grade >= 70 Then
write(“C”)
Else
write(“F”)
End If
End If
End If
25
 Alternative Version
If grade >=90 Then
write (“A”)
ElseIf grade >=80 Then
write(“B”)
ElseIf grade >= 70 Then
write(“C”)
Else
write(“D”)
End If

26
 Repetition Structure
• Visual Basic provides 7 repetition statements
– Do While … Loop
– While … End While
– Do Until … Loop
– Do … Loop While
– Do … Loop Until
– For … Next
– For Each … Next

27
 Example of Repetition (cont'd)
• While + loop-continuation condition
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Do While product <=100
product = product * 3 ' compute next power of 3
Loop
-----------------------------------------------------------
While product <=100
product = product * 3 ' compute next power of 3
End While

28
 Example of Repetition (cont'd)
• Until + loop-termination condition
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Do Until product > 100
product = product * 3 ' compute next power of 3
Loop

29
If…Then…Else – General Form
If (condition) Then
statement(s) True
Condition
[ElseIf (condition) Then
statement(s)] False
[Else
Statement Statement
statement(s)]
End If

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 If…Then…Else - Example

unitsDecimal =
Decimal.Parse(unitsTextBox.Text)
If unitsDecimal < 32D Then
freshmanRadioButton.Checked = True
Else
freshmanRadioButton.Checked = False
End If
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 The Six Relational Operators
• Greater Than >
• Less Than <
• Equal To =
• Not Equal To<>
• Greater Than or Equal To >=
• Less Than or Equal to <=

© 2005 by The McGraw-Hill 4- 32

Companies, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ToUpper and ToLower Methods

• Use ToUpper and ToLower methods of

the String class to return the uppercase
or lowercase equivalent of a string,
respectively
If nameTextBox.Text.ToUpper( ) = "Basic"
Then
' Do something.
End If

4- 33
 Compound Conditions
• Join conditions using logical
Condition 1
operators
OR T F
– Or If one or both conditions True,
entire condition is True T T T

Condition 2
– And Both conditions must be
F T F
True
for entire condition to be True Condition 1

– Not Reverses the condition, a AND T F

True condition will evaluate False T T F

Condition 2
and vice versa
F F F
4- 34
 Compound Condition Examples

If maleRadioButton.Checked And _
Integer.Parse(ageTextBox.Text) < 21 Then
minorMaleCountInteger += 1
End If

If juniorRadioButton.Checked Or seniorRadioButton.Checked Then

upperClassmanInteger += 1
End If

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Combining And and Or Example

If saleDecimal > 1000.0 Or discountRadioButton.Checked _

And stateTextBox.Text.ToUpper( ) <> "CA" Then
' Code here to calculate the discount.
End If

4- 36
 Nested If Statements
If tempInteger > 32 Then
If tempInteger > 80 Then
commentLabel.Text = "Hot"
Else
commentLabel.Text =
"Moderate"
End If
Else
commentLabel.Text = "Freezing"
End If 4- 37
 Using If Statements with Radio
Buttons & Check Boxes
• Instead of coding the CheckedChanged
events, use If statements to see which
are selected
• Place the If statement in the Click event
Private
forSub testButton_Click(ByVal
a Button, such as an OK sender
or As
Apply
System.Object, _
button
By Val e As System.EventArgs) Handles testButton.Click
' Test the value of the check box.
If testCheckBox.Checked Then
messageLabel.Text = "Check box is checked"
End If
End Sub
© 2005 by The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. All rights
4- 38

reserved.
 Enhancing Message Boxes
• For longer, more complex messages,
store the message text in a String variable
and use that variable as an argument of
the Show method
• VB will wrap longer messages to a second
line
• Include ControlChars to control the line
length and position of the line break

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Message Box - Multiple Lines of
Output

ControlChars.NewLine
Used to force to next line

4- 40
 Message String Example
Dim formattedTotalString As String
Dim formattedAvgString As String
Dim messageString As String
formattedTotalString = totalSalesDecimal.ToString("N")
formattedAvgString =
averageSalesDecimal.ToString("N")
messageString = "Total Sales: " &
formattedTotalString _
& ControlChars.NewLine & "Average Sale: " & _
formattedAvgString
MessageBox.Show(messageString, "Sales Summary",
MessageBoxButtons.OK)
© 2005 by The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. All rights
4- 41

reserved.
 Displaying Multiple Buttons
• Use MessageBoxButtons constants to
display more than one button in the
Message Box
• Message Box's Show method returns a
DialogResult object that can be checked
to see which button the user clicked
• Declare a variable to hold an instance of
the DialogResult type to capture the
outcome of the Show method
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 Message Box - Multiple Buttons

MessageBoxButtons.YesNo

© 2005 by The McGraw-Hill 4- 43

Companies, Inc. All rights
reserved.
 Declaring a Variable for the
Method Return
Dim whichButtonDialogResult As DialogResult

whichButtonDialogResult = MessageBox.Show _
("Clear the current order figures?", "Clear Order", _
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
MessageBoxIcon.Question)
If whichButtonDialogResult = DialogResult.Yes
Then
' Code to clear the order.
End If
4- 44
 Input Validation
• Check to see if valid values were entered by
user before beginning calculations
• Check for a range of values
(reasonableness)
– If Integer.Parse(hoursTextBox.Text) > 10 Then
MessageBox.Show("Too many hours")
• Check for a required field (not blank)
– If nameTextBox.Text <> "" Then ...

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 Performing Multiple Validations
• Use nested If statement to validate multiple
values on a form
– Examine example on Page 156
• Use Case structure to validate multiple values
– Simpler and clearer than nested If
– No limit to number of statements that follow a Case
statement
– When using a relational operator must use the word
Is
– Use the word To to indicate a range of constants
4- 46