Beginning VB 2008 Databases teaches you everything you need to know about relational databases, SQL, and ADO.NET 2.0, giving you a sound start in developing console and Windows database applications. The book also includes chapters on the new SQL Server XML data type and the forthcoming LINQ enhancements to the next version of Visual Basic.

In addition to teaching you database basics like using SQL to communicate with databases, this book provides you with detailed, code-practical techniques to access data in Visual Basic 2008 across a range of coding situations. Code-heavy and full of practical detail, this book has been fully revised and upgraded for .NET 3.5 and offers you the best contemporary practice in this core programming area, so that you’ll find yourself using it in nearly all your .NET projects.

• Provides step-by-step instructions on how to install and configure necessary tools
• Presents all essential SQL query and update concepts and syntax, so you don’t need prior familiarity with relational databases or SQL
• Describes how to use ADO.NET transactions, exceptions, and events
• Covers ADO.NET features for handling XML, text, and binary data within a Visual Basic 2008 context
• Explains all concepts through straightforward code examples

What you’ll learn

• How relational databases work and how to use them
• How Visual Basic uses ADO.NET to access databases
• How to write stored procedures in T-SQL and call them from Visual Basic programs
• How to use XML in database applications
• How to use LINQ to simplify VB database programming
• How to install SQL Server 2005 Express and use it to teach yourself databases by doing databases

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Using Trolltech's Qt you can build industrial-strength C++ applications that run natively on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, and embedded Linux–without making source code changes. With this book Trolltech insiders have written a start-to-finish guide to getting great results with the most powerful version of Qt ever created: Qt 4.1.

Using C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4 you'll discover the most effective Qt 4 programming patterns and techniques as you master key technologies ranging from Qt's model/view architecture to Qt's powerful new 2D paint engine. The authors provide readers with unparalleled insight into Qt's event model and layout system. Then, using realistic examples, they introduce superior techniques for everything from basic GUI development to advanced database and XML integration.

• Includes new chapters on Qt 4's model/view architecture and Qt's new plugin support, along with a brief introduction to Qtopia embedded programming

• Covers all Qt fundamentals, from dialogs and windows to implementing application functionality

• Introduces best practices for layout management and event processing

• Shows how to make the most of Qt 4's new APIs, including the powerful new 2D paint engine and the new easy-to-use container classes

• Contains completely updated material in every chapter

• Presents advanced Qt 4 techniques covered in no other book, from creating both Qt and application plugins to interfacing with native APIs

• Contains an in-depth appendix on C++/Qt programming for experienced Java developers

The accompanying CD-ROM includes the open source edition of Qt 4.1.1 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and many Unixes, as well as MinGW, a set of freely available development tools that can be used to build Qt applications on Windows, and also the source code for the book's examples.

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As the standard for KDE desktop environment, Trolltech's Qt is a necessary basis for all programmers who want to develop cross-platform applications on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and FreeBSD. A multitude of popular applications have been written in Qt including Adobe Photoshop Elements, Google Earth, Perforce Visual Client, and Skype.

Foundations of Qt Development is based on Qt 4.2, and is aimed at C++ programmers who want to become proficient using this excellent toolkit to create graphical applications that can be ported to all major platforms. The book is focused on teaching you to write your own code in addition to using existing code. And common areas of confusion are identified, addressed, and answered. You'll learn everything you need to know to get up and running fast, including

• Widgets and layouts (including creating your own widgets!)
• Dialog boxes and windows
• The Interview Framework (models and views)
• Drawing and printing
• Internationalizing and localizing
• Interacting with files, streams, and XML
• Working with databases
• Networking
• Unit testing with Qt
• Utilizing Qt as a Rapid Application Development tool
• Building and using plug-ins
• Utilizing timers and threading

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Get hands-on guidance for developing smart client applications using Windows Forms with the Composite UI Application Block (CAB) and the Smart Client Software Factory. Smart clients, the evolved intersection of thin clients and rich clients, have been hampered by the complexities involved in using traditional Web development methods. With just your fundamental Microsoft Visual Basic or Microsoft Visual C# skills, this guide will help you understand the prefabricated classes of CAB and the proven patterns that the Smart Client Software Factory provides. This book offers classroom-tested guidance, hands-on instruction, and a proven building-block approach. Through seven modular lessons, developers of moderate experience with learn how to create functional, robust smart client applications.

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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 .NET 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

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This book gets you started with LINQ and shows how it will make your programming life easier by making use of new features from the .NET Framework 3.0. This book is split into seven chapters, each of which is dedicated to presenting a feature of LINQ and its usage in real-life scenarios. Language Integrated Query (LINQ) is a new feature in Visual Studio 2008 that extends its query capabilities, using C# and Visual Basic. Visual Studio 2008 comes with LINQ provider assemblies that enable the use of LINQ with data sources such as in-memory collections, SQL relational databases, ADO.NET Datasets, XML documents, etc. In Visual Studio 2008, Visual C# and Visual Basic are the languages that implement the LINQ language extensions. LINQ language extensions use the new standard query operators API, which is the query language for any collection that implements IEnumerable.

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BIRT, which stands for Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools, is an Eclipse-based open-source reporting system for Java and J2EE based web applications. Including the word "Tools" in the acronym is appropriate, since BIRT is in fact a collection of development tools and technologies used for developing reports utilizing the BIRT runtime framework component on your application server. BIRT isn't essentially a product, but a series of core technologies on top of which products and solutions are built, similar in fashion to the Eclipse framework. This book has a fast-paced, task-driven, tutorial style, which provides understanding and structure, not just lists of steps to follow. The focus is on the most visible and familiar product built with the BIRT framework, which is the BIRT Report Designer. The BIRT Report Designer is an Eclipse plug-in that utilizes BIRT technologies to allow users to design reports in the BIRT document format. Also covered is the BIRT charting engine, which lets you add charts to your application.

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