[AccessD] Dot Net, where to start?

I have no reason to doubt Arthur (or Shamil), it is simply that when it
comes to actually doing something in .Net I am still so far under water that
there is not even a glimmer of light.  Once I can actually see the surface,
then I will start looking at extraneous stuff like reporting.

<grin> 

I have "played" with .Net, both VS2005 and VB.Net express.  The IDE itself
is so vast that just getting comfortable with that is a job in itself (which
is why I recommend the Express for starters, it is more limited but
similar).  After you do that, becoming familiar with the framework and all
of its classes is another major job.  It is trivial to build a form and get
a button to click.  It is NOT TRIVIAL to (for example) understand how
collections are used, what the various types of collections are and what
they are used for and when to use them etc.  I use collections EVERYWHERE in
Access, but there is only one, and it only has only 4 methods.  

EVERYTHING is an object in .Net.  Simple variables such as strings have
methods for formatting, cutting, pattern recognition etc.  All of the
"string stuff" that are functions in VBA are methods of the string object in
VB.Net.  Classes can be static (don't need to be instantiated) or dynamic(?)
have to be instantiated.  Getting at data isn't just set "db = current db,
set rst = db.open()".  There are FOUR different objects and each of those
objects have a ton of properties and methods.

And that is kind of my point, it seems to put the cart before the horse to
be worrying about reporting if you can't even use a collection correctly
yet.  There is a LOT to do to get comfortable here.  Get a copy of VBA.Net
Express and dig in.  Once you can write code in it as easily as you can in
VBA, then take a breath and worry about the other stuff.  

I have a very real problem that I simply have too much (ACCESS) work to do,
I can't even look up during the day, and I now have two kids as well taking
up my evenings.  My time to "play around" in .Net has been pretty limited,
and there is so much to know that it takes awhile to get familiar.  But I am
trying.

John W. Colby
Colby Consulting
www.ColbyConsulting.com

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 11:53 AM
To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Dot Net, where to start?

Hi Arthur, Shamil, Charlotte and John

Now I'm slightly confused. I would prefer to believe in Arthur's words as I
like John don't have the VS 2005 Pro version, but I have to listen to Shamil
and Charlotte in this matter. For most of the projects I may encounter,
reporting will be an important part.

Or are we talking about reporting "power" in different directions?

/gustav