Visual Basic 2008 offers powerful new features, and Accelerated VB 2008 is the fastest path to mastering them, and the rest of Visual Basic, for both experienced Visual Basic programmers moving to VB 2008 and programmers moving to Visual Basic from another object--oriented language. Many books introduce VB, but very few also explain how to use it optimally with the .NET common language runtime (CLR). This book teaches both core Visual Basic language concepts and how to wisely employ VB idioms and object--oriented design patterns to exploit the power of VB and the CLR. Accelerated VB 2008 is both a rapid tutorial and a permanent reference. You'll quickly master VB syntax while learning how the CLR simplifies many programming tasks. You'll also learn best practices that ensure your code will be efficient, reusable, and robust. Why spend months or years discovering the best ways to design and code VB when this book will show you how to do things the right way, right from the start? * Comprehensively and concisely explains both Visual Basic 2005 and Visual Basic 2008 features * Focuses on the language itself and on how to use Visual Basic 2008 proficiently for all .N ET application development * Concentrates on how VB features work and how to best use them for robust, high--performance code What you'll learn * How VB works with and exploits the CLR * How to use arrays and collections * How to handle events with delegates * How to design and use generic types and methods * How to thread efficiently and robustly * How the new VB 2008 anonymous types, lamba expressions, and extension methods work and how to use them Who this book is for If you're an experienced VB programmer, you need to understand how VB has changed with VB 2008. If youre an experienced object--oriented programmer moving to VB, you want to ramp up quickly in the language while learning the latest features and techniques. In either case, this book is for you. The first three chapters succinctly present VB fundamentals for those new to or reviewing VB. The rest of the book covers all the major VB features in great detail, explaining how they work and how best to use them. Whatever your background or need, youll treasure this book for as long as you code in VB 2008. Table of Contents * VB 2008 Overview * VB 2008 Syntax * Classes and Structures * Methods, Properties, and Fields * VB 2008 and the CLR * Interfaces * Operator Overloading * Exception Handling * Working with Strings * Arrays and Collections * Delegates and Events * Generics * Threading * VB 2008 Best Practices * LINQ with VB 2008