At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Part One

• Read and write flowcharts and pseudocode which layout the logic of a program.
• Use variables, operators and data types to implement simple programming logic.
• Use if, for, and while in a program to implement flow control logic.
• Use the main components and features of Visual Basic® .NET and use basic Visual Basic® .NET language syntax and constructs.
• Understand, at a basic level, the concept of classes and objects in object-oriented programming.
• Write simple GUI applications.

Part Two

• Understand, at a deeper level, object-oriented programming concepts including classes, objects, encapsulation and inheritance.
• Develop classes and implement object-oriented concepts, like inheritance, using Visual-Basic .NET.
• Use strings, arrays and common Visual Basic® .NET data structures, like collections and hashtables.
• Use Visual Basic® .NET I/O in programs to read input from files and write output to files.
• Use simple exception handling in programs to make them more robust.

Part One: Sound Algebra skills; basic computer knowledge including navigating through files and using a mouse.
Part Two: Familiarity with programming fundamentals, or beginning programming experience.

The book begins with programming basics, introducing students to the notion of programming and the steps involved in developing a program. A brief introduction to object-oriented programming is provided early on in the course so that the student has a basic understanding of the concept before they begin programming. Students learn to use pseudocode and flowcharts to outline the logic of a simple program. Some facts about Visual Basic® .NET, the programming language used in the book, are presented. The development environment used to develop Visual Basic® .NET programs is introduced. A variety of practical exercises is employed to teach the use of operators, variables, flow control, methods and arrays.

After programming basics, students look more closely at object-oriented programming concepts like classes, objects, encapsulation and inheritance. Following step-by-step exercises, students learn to define their own classes, create objects and use the classes in practical applications. The book features a case study that requires students to apply learned concepts to create a GUI application through building hands-on exercises.

The final chapters extend the introduction to programming by presenting a high level overview of traditional data structures; the concept of exception handling and how it can be used to make programs more robust; and how to write read and write data using Visual Basic® I/O.

Outsource Laboratories' instructor package includes: student guides, instructor presentation files, lab exercise templates, solution files, set-up instructions, and technical support.