[AccessD] Switching to VB.net

Charlotte Foust cfoust at infostatsystems.com
Fri Sep 22 09:27:47 CDT 2006


N-tiered design just separates the presentation tier from the data tier
and the business rules.  They're pretty much bundled together in Access,
but for enterprise solutions, network solutions and web-based solutions,
n-tier is the way to go.

Charlotte Foust 

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Dan Waters
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 4:52 AM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Switching to VB.net

Hi Charlotte,

Thanks for this write-up!  Turns out I do have the O'Reilly book.  I
bought it to try to learn and see if, for me, it's the right thing to
do.

I'll have to look up to see what n-tiered design is.  If I don't need
it, then you just saved me a huge amount of time!

Thanks,
Dan Waters

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Charlotte
Foust
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 6:41 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Switching to VB.net

The hills are alive with references.  One that still amuses me is the
O'Reilly book, "Visual Basic 2005 in a Nutshell", which totals 746 pages
and is 1.5 inches thick!   That's one heck of a big nutshell!

Rick Dobson's book, Programming Visual Basic .Net for Access Databases",
at least starts from familiar territory.  There are also some good books
in the Microsoft .Net Development Series, including "Data Binding with
Windows Forms 2.0" and "Windows Forms 2.0 Programming".  Be prepared to
be confused at first.  If you don't understand classes, you'd better
learn fast because *everything* in .Net is a class, even a string is a
class instance.  And if you haven't worked with ADO, you might as well
bite the bullet and get ready for ADO.Net.  I found it much easier to
move to ADO.Net having worked extensively with ADO in addition to DAO.
You'll become familiar with XML whether you want to or not because
that's where you store stuff that used to go into the registry in Access
apps.  That means you have to learn to read and write it using the
appropriate tools from .Net.

The most difficult part of .Net is that you can do so much, in so many
possible ways, that you wander around in confusion looking for someone
to lead you out of the wilderness.  I think this is one language where
some training is essential, although finding the right level of training
can be a chore too.  The AppDev series on .Net is pretty good and takes
you through the basics quite well.  Rick Dobson's books are good but I
haven't been at all impressed with him dvds, which strike me as
extremely home-made.  Rick is a nice guy and he knows his topic but the
videos tend to wander.

You'll probably eventually wind up using 3rd party controls, although
Microsoft is trying to cover those bases more with every release.  The
next framework is slated to have a new UI in place of Microsoft Forms
(or maybe above or below MS Forms, I haven't figured that out yet) and
some nifty developer tools.  If you want to do effective database design
in .Net, you have to learn not only relational theory but also n-tiered
design, since it's pretty pointless to build a .Net app in only one or
two tiers. 

All in all, it's a wild ride, but fun!

Charlotte



-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Dan Waters
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 2:07 PM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Switching to VB.net

Or - if you could point to a reference? (no pun intended!)

Thanks!
Dan Waters

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Switching to VB.net

Ye Gads!  The best way is to get a good team leader who knows the thing!
I'm the veriest novice, but it's my bread and butter.  Let me give it
some thought.

Charlotte 

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Switching to VB.net

OK Charlotte!

Since you have admitted switching to VB.net and are extolling the
virtues of said product, I want to ask you to do something!

For those of us who are 'switching lurkers', we could use a write up on
how to go about this Big Switch!

Any possibility?

Dan Waters
 
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: [AccessD] pretty quiet out there

Naw, it's just that we're all switching to VB.Net and don't want to
admit it. LOL

Charlotte 


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