Week 1: At a Glance

Week 1 gets you on the ground and running with an introduction to the .NET Framework and Visual Studio .NET. You'll learn about the inner workings of the common language runtime and Visual Studio .NET. During week 1, you'll learn how to write and deploy Windows Forms applications and ASP.NET applications. You'll discover how to effectively use the debugging features in Visual Studio .NET to understand how to avoid errors and why and where your applications might be going wrong.

Week 1 covers the following:

• Day 1 gets you up to speed on the .NET Framework, the common language runtime, and how XML Web services are positioned to give you a fully distributed platform for developing enterprise applications with Visual Studio .NET. Understanding the concepts introduced in Day 1 is critical in understanding what .NET is all about and how it will dramatically improve the way you write your applications using Visual Studio .NET.

• Day 2 gives you a tour of Visual Studio .NET and its features. You will learn about the windows, toolboxes, and options that will help you learn and customize your environment. The concepts you learn in Day 2 will make your transition to using Visual Studio .NET as your development environment easy.

• Day 3 introduces you to Windows Forms. You'll learn about how Windows Forms applications are developed and how to respond to events from Windows Forms controls.

• Day 4 teaches you how to use the new deployment applications in Visual Studio .NET. Using Windows Installer technology and the built-in templates for deployment projects, you'll learn how to create customized and robust deployment packages for Windows Forms applications.

• Day 5 introduces you to ASP.NET applications. You'll learn how ASP differs from ASP.NET, how to use the new code-behind features in ASP.NET, and the different ways to manage session state in ASP.NET.

• Day 6 takes the deployment options that you learned about in Day 4 to the Web. You'll learn about the new XCopy deployment capabilities in .NET, and you'll learn how to customize Windows Installer deployment projects for Web-based applications.

• Day 7 teaches you how to use structured exception handling in Visual Basic .NET and C#, and how to use Visual Studio .NET to debug your applications. Writing error-free applications is always necessary, and understanding how to use the built-in tools in Visual Studio .NET to debug and handle errors sets you on your way to writing error-free applications.