Visual Basic (Classic)

Advanced classes

This tutorial assumes a fair knowledge of VB programming and outlines how to extend VB’s OO model to emulate features found in other languages. Despite the advanced level the code and concepts are still walked through and explained in detail creating a simple shape drawing application as an example use of the technique.
Revision 2 adds examples of implementing Interfaces and wrapped Collections.

Advanced

July 2002

Basic introduction to graphics programming

This tutorial was written with no assumed knowledge and goes right from explaining in detail the very basic VB graphics routines and how to use them, graphics principles and example demonstration applications to incorporating the Win32 API graphics routines and migrating existing code to use the API. If you've not done much (Or any) graphics programming in the past then this is the place to start.

Easy

March 2002

Basic introduction to classes

This tutorial explains the basic idea behind classes then walks through the creation of a simple maths class that helps explain their construction and basic usage. This is aimed at those who have never used classes before but are interested in seeing how they can benefit their own applications, as such the level of coding is fairly basic so only the principles are new.

Easy / Intermediate

January 2002

Direct memory manipulation

Direct memory access is something we’re mostly shielded from as VB developers since the language doesn’t natively support it unlike other high-level languages. This article attempts to introduce memory access in VB (but the concepts described are generic for any language) and offers some enlightening insights into the VB runtime showing that despite appearances, it does offer native memory manipulation.

Intermediate/Advanced

December 2004

Streaming

This article goes through the creation of a streaming library in VB to make data I/O from varying sources a seamless operation. By using data streams, the technology used to read and write the data is abstracted so a single piece of code and be used to read from various sources and even swapped at runtime.

Intermediate/Advanced

February 2006

Tic tac toe A.I.

This isn't a traditional tutorial like the others on the site where code is discussed and explained, this is more a theory based article discussing some very simple A.I. using a game of "Tic tac toe" as an example (The application can be found elsewhere on this site).

N/A

February 2002

Using C++ DLL's

The first tutorial here that teaches in a language other than VB, this tutorial will walk you through the creation of a simple DLL in either Visual C++ 6 or Visual C++.NET and illustrate how to link that into VB. The tutorial assumes no prior knowledge of C++ but a reasonable understanding of VB and preferably use of API calls would be beneficial.

Easy/Intermediate

September 2002

Using ZLib

This article demonstrates how to use the populate ZLib compression library in VB, including walking through potential problems encountered when calling C libraries from VB and how to port C header files to VB.

Intermediate

November 2004

GDI and VB (Classic)

Using DCs

The first in a series of articles here on GDI development in VB, the DC tutorial provides a good primer for GDI development in VB and covers numerous aspects of GDI development. The article goes through basic DC use including how to retrieve information about them then covers Brushes, Pens, Fonts, Regions, Paths and Mapping modes (including transformations) in detail before finishing up with a tips and tricks section of helpful hints and methods.

Intermediate/Advanced

May 2004

Using DDBs

This is the second of the GDI articles on the site and covers the use of Device Dependant Bitmaps in Visual Basic which are used throughout Windows to store and display images. The article covers basic DDB creation and use then walks through the creation of a useful DDB-wrapper object which wraps up a lot of the API’s functionality including data manipulation and clipboard support.

Intermediate/Advanced

May 2004

Using DIBs (Part 1)

The third article in the EDais GDI series, this time we look into DIBs which are a more flexible and versatile alternative to their cousin the DDB.
The article covers the basics of working with DIBs as well as some advanced techniques for extreme performance when working with them. It also provides in depth information about the structure of Bitmaps, and conversion between the various DIB types including .BMP files and Packed DIBs.

Intermediate/Advanced

January 2005