Programming Visual Basic .NET 2nd ed., by Jesse Liberty

Probably the best way to learn how to code in any language is to program with the examples in the book.  I'm an experienced programmer in C#, but needed to get up to speed on VB.NET quick for some consulting work.  I won a copy of Programming Visual Basic .NET at a WeProgram.NET user group meeting, and started reading it immediately.  I skipped reading most of the explanations and went straight to the code (serious coders will understand this urge!).  Even without reading much of the text, the code examples, while unimaginative, were selected well enough for me to pick up on the language, including its idiosyncrasies (arrays in VB delimited using () rather than []).  I also like the fact that, for the text I did read, he explains why he is doing things a certain way.  I can see where this would be really helpful for someone just learning to program or making the transition to .NET.

The only problem I really have with the examples is that it did not make clear what code was part of VisualBasic interop.  Since I am now coding in two .NET languages, I don’t want to have to remember CInt for one language and Convert.ToInt32 for another.  I know this book is geared toward experienced VB6 programmers, but let’s start doing things the .NET way and not let old habits resurface.  That’s why it’s here.

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars (out of 5) on Amazon.