The Microsoft Visual Basic product has always been about providing a state-of-the-art rapid applications development environment for Microsoft Windows. With the release of Visual Basic 5 Professional and Enterprise Editions, the Visual Basic product family has added functionality at the very highest level of the developer workspace, fully supporting the development of enterprise-wide, line-of-business applications in a programming environment that literally millions of developers have mastered. Visual Basic 5 provides the power and performance needed to create applications that run in Internet and intranet environments.
One of the companies that I see pushing the Visual Basic envelope most frequently is The Mandelbrot Set (International) Limited (TMS). Every time I hear from Peet Morris or Mark Sewell, I expect them to ask me some question that usually requires a bit of head scratching before I can give an answer. These guys are always pushing Visual Basic above and beyond its limits, whether it be through using RDO, doing multitier distributed applications, or using the AddressOf operator to do who knows what! They conceived and developed MicroHelp’s Code Complete toolset and have established a strong reputation as one of the leading consulting firms specializing in Visual Basic development.
I first met Peet Morris from TMS at VBITS in Los Angeles three years ago. He came up to me after a midnight madness panel discussion with a question that now escapes me. But I do remember that his question made my brain hurt. I thought to myself, “This guy is definitely a dedicated Visual Basic developer if he can ask those sorts of questions at midnight after three hours of open panel discussions during VBITS!”
This book is not a beginner’s guide to writing “Hello, world!” types of programs, nor is it a step-by-step linear guide to product features. Intended for the working professional, this volume explores in depth many of the topics that beginning books either ignore or gloss over. Drawing on the many and varied strengths of the experts at TMS, each chapter drills down into topics that are not often considered carefully in the course of day-to-day project development. The net effect is like going out to a pub and talking shop with these guys (and gals) over a couple of beers (which I have done on more than one occasion)—but without the morning-after side effects.
Life on the “bleeding edge” is hard, and TMS has often had to learn the “how” the hard way. This book is your chance to benefit from their combined experience. If you’re working with Visual Basic and trying to push the envelope, I think you’ll find a lot of very useful information here.
Scott Swanson
Development Manager
Visual Basic Component Team
Microsoft Corporation