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Meyer, Bertrand. Object-Oriented Software Construction, 2d ed. New York, NY: Prentice Hall PTR, 1997. This book contains an in-depth discussion of abstract data types and explains how they form the basis for classes. Chapters 14–16 discuss inheritance in depth. Meyer provides an argument in favor of multiple inheritance in Chapter 15.

Riel, Arthur J. Object-Oriented Design Heuristics. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996. This book contains numerous suggestions for improving program design, mostly at the class level. I avoided the book for several years because it appeared to be too big—talk about people in glass houses! However, the body of the book is only about 200 pages long. Riel's writing is accessible and enjoyable. The content is focused and practical.

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Meyers, Scott. Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs, 2d ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.

Meyers, Scott, 1996, More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996. Both of Meyers' books are canonical references for C++ programmers. The books are entertaining and help to instill a language-lawyer's appreciation for the nuances of C++.

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Bloch, Joshua. Effective Java Programming Language Guide. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2001. Bloch's book provides much good Java-specific advice as well as introducing more general, good object-oriented practices.

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The following books are good references on classes in Visual Basic:

Foxall, James. Practical Standards for Microsoft Visual Basic .NET. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 2003.

Cornell, Gary, and Jonathan Morrison. Programming VB .NET: A Guide for Experienced Programmers. Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2002.

Barwell, Fred, et al. Professional VB.NET, 2d ed. Wrox, 2002.