VBDOTNET PROGRAM STRUCTURE
A Visual Basic program is built up from standard building
blocks. A solution comprises one or more projects. A project in turn can
contain one or more assemblies. Each assembly is compiled from one or more
source files. A source file provides the definition and implementation of
classes, structures, modules, and interfaces, which ultimately contain all your
code.
File-Level
Programming Elements
When you start
a project or file and open the code editor, you see some code already in place
and in the correct order. Any code that you write should follow the following
sequence:
- Option statements
- Imports statements
- Namespace statements and namespace-level elements
If you enter
statements in a different order, compilation errors can result.
A program can
also contain conditional compilation statements. You can intersperse these in
the source file among the statements of the preceding sequence.
Option
Statements
Option
statements establish ground rules for subsequent code, helping prevent syntax
and logic errors. The Option Explicit Statement
(Visual Basic) ensures that all variables are declared and spelled
correctly, which reduces debugging time. The Option
Strict Statement helps to minimize logic errors and data loss that
can occur when you work between variables of different data types. The Option Compare Statement specifies the way
strings are compared to each other, based on either their Binary or Text
values.
Imports
Statements
You can include
an Imports Statement (.NET Namespace and Type)
to import names defined outside your project. An Imports statement allows your
code to refer to classes and other types defined within the imported namespace,
without having to qualify them. You can use as many Imports statements as
appropriate.
Namespaces help
you organize and classify your programming elements for ease of grouping and
accessing. You use the Namespace Statement
to classify the following statements within a particular namespace.
Conditional
Compilation Statements
Conditional
compilation statements can appear almost anywhere in your source file. They
cause parts of your code to be included or excluded at compile time depending
on certain conditions. You can also use them for debugging your application,
because conditional code runs in debugging mode only.
Namespace-Level
Programming Elements
Classes, structures,
and modules contain all the code in your source file. They are namespace-level
elements, which can appear within a namespace or at the source file level. They
hold the declarations of all other programming elements. Interfaces, which
define element signatures but provide no implementation, also appear at module
level. For more information on the module-level elements, see the following:
- Class Statement (Visual Basic)
- Structure Statement
- Module Statement
- Interface Statement (Visual Basic)
Data elements
at namespace level are enumerations and delegates.
Module-Level
Programming Elements
Procedures,
operators, properties, and events are the only programming elements that can
hold executable code (statements that perform actions at run time). They are
the module-level elements of your program. For more information on the
procedure-level elements, see the following:
- Function Statement (Visual Basic)
- Sub Statement (Visual Basic)
- Declare Statement
- Operator Statement
- Property Statement
- Event Statement
Data elements
at module level are variables, constants, enumerations, and delegates.
Procedure-Level
Programming Elements
Most of the
contents of procedure-level elements are executable statements, which
constitute the run-time code of your program. All executable code must be in
some procedure (Function, Sub, Operator, Get, Set, AddHandler, RemoveHandler, RaiseEvent).
Data elements
at procedure level are limited to local variables and constants.
The Main
procedure is the first code to run when your application has been loaded. Main
serves as the starting point and overall control for your application. There
are four varieties of Main:
- Sub Main()
- Sub Main(ByVal cmdArgs() As String)
- Function Main() As Integer
- Function Main(ByVal cmdArgs() As String) As Integer
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