Practical Standards for Visual Basic Programmers (Microsoft programming series) - Softcover

Foxall, James D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735607338 ISBN 13: 9780735607330

Publisher: Microsoft Press,U.S., 2000

Synopsis

The same attributes that make the Visual Basic development system exceptionally productive and easy to use can also inadvertently lead to sloppy programming. But "Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic" introduces developers to the proven practices that allow them to exploit the power of rapid development -- without creating hidden land mines in performance and maintainability. Designed for the recreational as well as the professional programmer, this book uses illustrative code samples -- many from real-world commercial projects -- to demonstrate practical solutions to programming just about any process -- with better, more reliable code!

About this title

Review

It's no secret that Visual Basic is a popular choice for today's developers, but it's also true that there is a lot of bad code out there too. Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic seeks to remedy this situation with a compilation of dozens of useful hints for writing clearer, faster and more maintainable code. Presented in a simple, easy-to-understand style, this is a book that can benefit any VB programmer, regardless of your level of expertise.

Based on the author's extensive experience with Visual Basic, this text compiles dozens of hints for programming more effectively. The most important suggestions have to do with naming and coding style. The author recommends using "Hungarian Notation," in which prefixes are used with variable names to describe the scope and data type of all variables. Tables and sample code show you how to get going here. There are many suggestions for writing more maintainable code. A chapter on writing effective comments is a standout. Throughout this book, the author provides examples and "incorrect" and "correct" code practices. (This edition makes good use of two-colour presentation and highlighted text to show off key concepts effectively.) A final section looks at the importance of source version control with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

While more expert programmers may quibble with some of the author's preferences here, there's much to mine in Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic. Whether or not your shop adopts all of these suggestions, there's little doubt that any VB programmer can benefit from this compilation of some excellent ideas for writing better code. --Richard Dragan, amazon.com

Topics covered: Problems with Visual Basic code today, advantages of coding standards, using custom object and project templates, effective module design (cohesion, fan-in and fan-out), naming conventions and the Hungarian Notation, creating descriptive names, constants vs. magic numbers, enumerations, error handling tips and techniques, indenting code, using white space, guide to writing effective comments, end-of-line comments, flow control statements, user interface design hints, form and menu design, consistency, using system colours, user input, mouse and keyboard interaction, version control, using readme files, and installing and using Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

From the Author

Everyone can write better code!
Everyone can write better code!
As a professional Visual Basic programmer and teacher/lecturer, I know first hand the benefits gained from standardization. When it comes to writing solid code, consistency is key. Have you ever noticed that most code samples you download from the web lack consistency in structure and methodology? Heck, the code samples in most well-known publications vary from page to page in their basic structure almost as much as they vary in their purpose. Although the processes performed by one procedure may differ greatly from those of another, there is no justifiable reason for the basic coding practices to differ as well.

Whenever I'd hire a new programmer or teach a class, I was always frustrated by the lack of any available standards to offer my employees or students. What I was looking for was sort of a "Strunk and White's The Elements of Style" of programming; something that would help developers of all levels achieve a base-line set of skills. I never found it.

Visual Basic is often criticized as being a "hobbyist's" language. If you work with Visual Basic, you know that this ceased being an accurate statement many years ago and many version ago. However, part of the reason that the stigma persists is due to the fact that many Visual Basic developers are self-taught, and therefore lack the structure and discipline gained from taking professional programming classes in a "structured" language. The image of the tool and the quality of its output are critically linked.

This book has been designed from day one to be for Visual Basic programmers, and only for Visual Basic programmers; this includes anyone who writes Office macros using VBA as well. You won't be bombarded with theory and statistics here. Instead, you're given clear examples of how to integrate coding and development standards in your own projects, resulting in solid, more reliable, and more efficient code.

In this book you'll learn so much more than formatting code and using naming conventions. You'll learn how to properly implement powerful and professional error-handlers, how to structure code to produce fewer bugs, how to build efficient loops, how to architect modules and procedures, how to increase performance and how to decrease overhead. You'll also learn practical approaches to designing professional quality user-interfaces, and how to improve the interaction between your program and it's users. If you're developing in a team environment using the Enterprise edition of Visual Basic, the chapter on implementing Visual SourceSafe alone is worth the price of this book.

I understand that many of the standardization topics, such as the use of hungarian notation, are quite controversial. Therefore, I attempt to refrain from saying "you must do this" or "you must do that." Instead, I start each chapter with a set of goals that are met by applying the best-practice standards presented in the chapter. I try to point out when one standard is more critical than another, but you are always free to choose your own path; as long as you are meeting the goals.

Even if you adopt only a few of the principles put forth in this book, you will write better code. I hope you find this book valuable.

James

Edition details

• Publisher: Microsoft Press,U.S.
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0735607338
• ISBN 13: 9780735607330
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 381