Section 1 tours the .NET Framework and teaches the basics of working with Microsoft’s development environment, Visual Studio .NET. In this section, you’ll learn how to develop a simple Windows application. To do that, you’ll use the Forms Designer to design a Windows form, and you’ll learn use the Code Editor to add and edit the code for the form.

Section 2 presents the data types, control structures, and other essential elements of the C# language as well as the core .NET classes you’ll use to develop basic Windows applications. Along the way, you’ll also learn how to handle the tasks that are required in most business apps. In chapter 7, for example, you’ll learn professional data validation techniques that we haven’t seen presented in any competing book, even though data validation is an essential part of every business application.

Section 3 teaches the powerful object-oriented programming features of the C# language. You’ll learn how to create and use your own custom business objects, and you’ll learn how to use database classes to populate those objects with data from files or a database. That, of course, is how applications work in the real world, even though most C# books don’t show you that. In this section, you’ll also learn how to use inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, and much more. Even if you’re an experienced programmer, we think you’ll find that this book brings a new clarity to all of these subjects.

Section 4 teaches you how to use ADO.NET to develop database applications because these applications account for most of the applications in the business world. Here, you’ll start by learning how to use a wizard to create the ADO.NET database objects and how to work with typed datasets that use bound and unbound controls. But then, you’ll also learn how to use untyped datasets and data commands to create database classes that work with the three-tiered architecture that’s commonly used by object-oriented applications.

Section 5 shows how to work with text files, binary files, and XML. You’ll also learn how to enhance a Windows interface with a Multi-Document Interface (MDI), menus, toolbars, and help, all finishing touches that make your applications thoroughly professional.