Visual Basic.NET is the next version of Visual Basic and a major part of Microsoft\'s .NET initiative. Responding to pressure from the VB community, VB.NET is a significant upgrade that is far more flexible and powerful than previous versions. Microsoft has introduced a number of new features, not least a move to full object-oriented programming and greatly enhanced web design facilities. This comprehensive book takes an in-depth look at the new and enhanced features of VB.NET and provides the professional programmer with the knowledge needed to build real-world applications and fully utilize the power of VB.NET. Who is this book for? This book is primarily aimed at experienced Visual Basic developers who want to make the transition to VB.NET. It will also be of benefit to programmers with a good grounding in VB.NET who want to step up to a professional level. What does this book cover? An introduction to the .NET Framework and Common Language Runtime (CLR) Deriving classes from base classes using inheritance Handling errors with the Try...Catch structure Developing multi-threaded applications COM and .NET component interoperability Accessing data with ADO.NET and XML Building web applications with Web Forms Creating custom controls for Windows Forms and Web Forms Creating and consuming Web Services