Table 2-1. Program Fundamentals Equivalent Chart

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CHAPTER 2
Program Fundamentals
Table 2-1. Program Fundamentals Equivalent Chart

VB 6.0 VB .NET C#
' Comment ' Comment //Comment
/*Start of comments
...
End of comments */
///XML comments
Dim var As type Dim var As type type var;
Dim var As type Dim var As type = num type var=num;

var = num
Dim var1 As type, var2 As type Dim var1, var2 As type type var1, var2;
Dim var1 As type = num,_ type var1=num, var2=num;

var2 As type = num
Table 2-2. Procedure Declaration Equivalent Chart

VB 6.0 VB .NET C#
Public Sub procedure() Public Sub procedure() public void procedure()

End Sub End Sub {
}
Public Function procedure() As _ Public Function procedure() As public type procedure()

type type {
procedure = value return value return value;
End Function End Function }
Public Sub procedure(ByRef _ Public Sub procedure(ByRef param public void procedure(ref type
param As type) As type) param)
ByVal ByVal
ByRef ByRef ref
out
Public Sub procedure(Optional _ Public Sub procedure(Optional _

param As type) param As type)
3
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Chapter 2
Table 2-2. Procedure Declaration Equivalent Chart (Continued)

VB 6.0 VB .NET C#
Public Sub procedure (ParamArray _ Public Sub procedure (ParamArray _ public void procedure(type
param() As type) param() As type) params[])
procedure param1, param2 procedure(param1, param2) procedure(param1, param2);
var = function(param1, param2) var = function(param1, param2) var = function(param1, param2);
Overview
Program fundamentals consist of all the little things that are required of almost
every program, including writing code across multiple lines, writing comments,
declaring variables, and declaring procedures. Although each of these tasks can
seem almost trivial when compared to the other aspects of programming, it’s
essential to have a thorough understanding of how they work.
Starting with the Code Template

When you open a project using Visual Studio .NET, it prompts you to select a
Project Template to start with. There are many options to choose from. A couple
of the more common choices are VB .NET Web Service and C# Windows Appli-
cation. With the exception of the chapter on Windows controls, all the examples
in this book create console applications in either VB .NET or C#. This is because
the book’s focus is on the programming language. The best way to show the
details of the language is to use examples that don’t have the extra code needed
when writing a Windows application.
The examples at the end of each chapter always show you the entire code
template that is generated by Visual Studio. Nothing has been removed. This
section will make it easier to read the examples in each chapter. This section
offers a quick introduction to what the different lines of code do. The pro-
gramming statements are described in more detail in various places throughout
the book.
The C# template is much more involved than the VB .NET template. By
comparison, a VB .NET console application is simple. It consists of a module
declaration and within the module block is the Main() procedure. It is your job
to fill in the starting code within the Main() procedure and add any additional
procedures and classes after that.
The C# template gives you a lot more to work with. First of all, there is the
using System statement. It tells the compiler that you want to use classes from
the System namespace without typing System in front of each class. VB .NET
4
doesn’t need this line because the System namespace is built in to the IDE. The
VB .NET equivalent for the using statement is Imports.
C# uses the Namespace keyword to define the application’s namespace. It
defaults to the name of your application, but you can type in a different name.
A namespace declares the scope for objects within it and helps you organize
your code. VB .NET doesn’t use the Namespace keyword by default (though it is
supported in the language). Instead, the namespace is set via the IDE menu.
Select Project ➤ Properties and you can enter the VB .NET application’s
namespace in the dialog box.
Next in the C# template are the XML comments. This is simply an example of
how XML comments look and it gives you some starter comments. VB .NET
doesn’t have these comments in its template because it doesn’t have the capa-
bility to do XML comments.
C# defines a default class for you. VB .NET uses a module instead. VB
.NET modules are similar to a class, but they are shared and accessible any-
where (i.e., global scope) within their namespace.
C# defines the Main() procedure inside the default class. It uses the static
modifier because the Main() procedure isn’t associated with an instance of the
class. VB .NET puts the Main() procedure within the module. The Main() procedure
is where an application starts. There can only be one per application.
Case Sensitivity
If a compiler is case sensitive, it treats as unique procedures and variables with
the same name if the case of the letters do not match.
VB 6.0 and VB .NET are not case sensitive. A variable called FirstName is the
same as the variable called firstName. Because of this, the IDE for both languages
automatically converts the case of your procedure and variable names to match
how they were declared. This ensures that you don’t mistakenly think that two
variables are different.
C# is case sensitive. If you are coming from a VB 6.0 background, you
might have the habit of only worrying about entering the proper case when
declaring a variable. You know that after you declare a variable properly you
can just enter it as lowercase and the IDE will fix it for you. This doesn’t work
with C#.
A common way of declaring variables in C# is to use camelCasing for private
members of a class and use PascalCasing for anything exposed externally. camel-
Casing uses uppercase for the first letter of every word except the first word. For
example, firstName and socialSecurityNumber use camelCasing. PascalCasing
uses uppercase for the first letter of every word. For example, FirstName and
SocialSecurityNumber is PascalCasing. Although VB .NET isn’t case sensitive, I find
5
Chapter 2
this naming convention useful in VB .NET because I can immediately recognize

which variables are arguments in the procedure declaration.
Writing Code across Multiple Lines

Writing your code so that it crosses multiple lines can make it more readable.
Given the width constraints of monitors, it can be helpful to have a programming
statement use two or more lines. In VB this is done using the underscore char-
acter (_). In C# this isn’t an issue because the compiler uses a semicolon (;) to
mark the end of a line.
VB 6.0/VB .NET
Use the underscore character to mark that a statement will continue to the next
line. It is important to remember, and easy to miss, that the underscore must be
preceded with a space. A common error is to type the underscore immediately
after typing the last character on a line.
'Demonstrate concatenating two strings together with the "&". The strings are
'on different lines. The "_" is used to tell the compiler to use the
'second line.
var = "This is a very, very, very long string " & _
"that takes two lines to write."
C#
Because each statement ends with a semicolon, no line continuation character
is needed to mark that a statement continues to the next line. The exception to
this is the // comment tag that only applies to the line it is on. This is discussed
in the next section.
//Demonstrate concatenating two strings together with the "+". The strings are
//on different lines.
var = "This is a very, very, very long string " +
"that takes two lines to write.";
Comments
Comments play an essential part in documenting your code. This ensures that
your program is understandable and maintainable by other programmers (as
well as yourself). Although many programs have separately written programmer’s
documentation, nothing can take the place of a bunch of short, in-line comments
placed at critical points in your program code.
6
What can be even more important than comments is writing self-

documenting code. There isn’t anything language specific about self-
documenting code. It’s a self-imposed discipline that every good programmer
uses. It simply consists of taking an extra second or two to use variable names
and procedure names that describe what their purpose is.
A problem for a lot of programmers entering the professional programming
world is that many are accustomed to using variables and procedure names
such as X and Test. This is fine if you are working on a simple program for a
homework assignment or the program is out of a Learn to Program in X Days
book. After you finish writing the program, you will probably never look at it
again. But when you work on projects that will be used for months and years
to come, many other programmers will be looking at your code. It’s important
to make it easy for them to immediately understand what your program does.
Personally, I know that when I look at a program 6 months after I wrote it, the
self-documenting code makes it so much easier to remember what I did and why.
Comments in both versions of VB are very simple. Use an apostrophe (')
in front of the text that you want to comment out. This can either be at the
beginning of a line or after a line of code. The compiler ignores everything
after the apostrophe.
Comments in C# are much more robust. You have the option of using
single-line comments, multiline comment blocks, and XML comments. Single-line
comments are two forward slashes (//). They can be placed at the beginning of a
line or at the end of a line of code. The compiler ignores everything after the
two slashes.
C# also has multiline comment blocks that are used for making very
detailed comments. They are represented by /* to start the block and */ to
finish the block. They are useful for temporarily blocking out a large section
of code for testing purposes.
XML comments in C# are a new concept to make it easier to document your
code. They are designed so that you can have “intelligent” comments that use
tags to describe the different parts of your program. You can view these com-
ments using an XML reader (e.g., Internet Explorer). Because this is a totally new
concept, it remains to be seen how C# programmers will take to it. This chapter
does not teach you the concepts of writing XML comments, but Table 2-3 provides
an easy lookup chart for the standard tags that Microsoft recommends.
VB 6.0/VB .NET
Comments use a single apostrophe and the compiler ignores everything that
comes after it.
'This is a comment on a line by itself

Dim Month As String 'This is a comment after a line of code
7
Chapter 2
C#
Single-line comments use two forward slashes (//).
//This is a comment on a line by itself

string month; //This is a comment after a line of code
Multiline comment blocks use /* and */ to begin and end a block of comments.
/* This is the start of some comments.

This is the end of the comments. */
/* Comment out a block code for testing purposes
string month;
month = "July";
*/
XML comments are defined using three forward slashes (///) and they must
follow the standards for well-defined XML.
/// <summary>
/// This is a sample of XML code.
/// </summary>
///<code>
string month;
month = "September";
///</code>
You can create any tag you feel is necessary. However, there are some standard
tags you should use to make your comments consistent with other program-
mers’ work.1
Table 2-3. Standard Tags for Documenting Comments Using XML

XML TAG DESCRIPTION
<code> Mark a block of code
<example> An example to demonstrate how to use the code
<exception> Document a custom exception class
<include> Refer to comments in another file that describe the types

and members in your source code
<list> A bulleted item list
1. From Microsoft’s “C# Programmer’s Reference,” which you can find in the MSDN Help
file. Use the index and type in XML Documentation.
8
Table 2-3. Standard Tags for Documenting Comments Using XML (Continued)
XML TAG DESCRIPTION
<para> A paragraph
<param> Describe a parameter
<paramref> Indicate that a word is a parameter
<permission> Describe the access to a member
<see> Specify a link to other text
<seealso> Text that you want to appear in a See Also section
<summary> Summarize an object
<remarks> Specify overview information about a class or type
<returns> A description of the return value
<value> Describe a property
Declaring Variables
Declaring variables is a way of telling the compiler which data type a variable
represents2. Each of the three languages does this differently. There are three
major syntax differences to be aware of: declaring a single variable, declaring
multiple variables on one line, and initializing a variable.
The syntax for declaring a variable in VB 6.0 and VB .NET uses the Dim and
As keywords. C# uses a shorter notation by only stating the data type followed
by the variable name. Thus, VB and C# are in the reverse order. This can make
it a little confusing if you are VB programmer who is starting to learn C# pro-
gramming. But you will probably adjust to it very quickly.
Declaring multiple variables on a single line in VB .NET has changed a lot
from VB 6.0. Previously, every variable had to have its own data type assigned
to it. Otherwise, it would be treated as a variant. In VB .NET this has been
changed so that all variables listed between the Dim and the As keywords are of
the same type. In C#, all variables listed between the data type and the semi-
colon are of the same type.
VB 6.0 does not allow you to initialize variables on the declaration line—
this has to be done on another line of code. VB .NET now makes this possible
by placing the equal sign (=) and a value after the data type. The C# syntax
places the equal sign between the variable name and the semicolon.
2. Data types are described in Chapter 3.
9
Chapter 2
VB 6.0
Declare a variable by listing the data type after the As keyword.
'Declare an integer variable

Dim var1 As Integer
'Declare and initialize an integer variable
Public var2 As Integer
var2 = 5
'Declare two variables: var3 is a Variant and var4 is a Single
Private var3, var4 As Single
'Declare two variables, all of which are of type Single
Dim var5 As Single, var6 As Single
VB .NET
Declare a variable by listing the data type after the As keyword. You can initialize
the variable by assigning a value to it after the data type name. This won’t work
when you initialize more than one variable of the same type on one line.
'Declare an integer variable

Dim var1 As Integer
'Declare and initialize an integer variable
Public var2 As Integer = 5
'Declare two variables, both are of type Single
Private var3, var4 As Single
'Declare and initialize two variables
Private var5 As Integer = 5, var4 As Single = 6.5
C#
Declare a variable by putting the data type before the variable name. You can
initialize the variable by assigning a value to it after the variable name. This will
work when you initialize more than one variable of the same type on one line.
//Declare an integer variable

int var1;
//Declare and initialize an integer variable
public int var2 = 5;
//Declare and initialize two variables, both of which are of type float
private float var3=1.25, var4=5.6;
10
Modifying a Variable’s Scope

The scope of a variable refers to who can access it and how long it exists in your
program. This is useful for limiting the accessibility of a variable so that it can be
used within a module or class, but not outside of it.
A variable exists as long as the context in which it was declared exists. For
example, a variable declared within a procedure exists as long as the procedure is
running. Once the procedure ends, all variables within the procedure are
released. The same applies if a variable is declared within a class, or within a
code block such as the For Next loop.
The Static keyword in VB 6.0 and VB .NET modifies a variable so that it lives for
the entire life of the program. When the procedure ends, the static variable keeps its
value in memory. When entering the procedure again, the variable will have the
same value as when the procedure last ended. The scope is Private because it is
only visible within the procedure it was declared in.
When declaring variables in a class, you can use the Shared modifier with
variables in VB .NET. In a C# class, the static modifier is equivalent to both
the Static and Shared modifiers in VB .NET. This is discussed in Chapter 6.
The standard access modifiers for setting the scope of a variable are
Public, Private, Friend and internal, Dim, and Static.
• The Public modifier allows a variable to be accessed from anywhere in the

program or from a program using the assembly. There are no restrictions.
• The Private modifier only allows a variable to be accessed from within its
declaration context.
• The Friend (VB .NET) and internal (C#) modifiers allow a variable to be
used from anywhere within its assembly. Programs using the assembly
can’t access it.
• The Dim (VB only) modifier has the same scope as Private. It cannot be
used when declaring a procedure, class, or module.
• The Static modifier (VB only) exists for the entire life of the program. It
has the same scope as Private.
VB 6.0
List the access modifier before the variable name.
Static var As type
11
Chapter 2
VB .NET
List the access modifier before the variable name.
Friend var As type
C#
List the access modifier before the data type.
private type var;
Declaring Procedures
Declaring procedures is how you separate the different functionality within
your code. The syntax for returning a value and passing parameters is different
for each language.
In VB, procedures that don’t return a value are subroutines. Procedures
that do return a value are functions. C# doesn’t differentiate between the two
because every procedure must be declared as returning some data type. If you
don’t want the procedure to return a value, use the void data type. The void
data type returns nothing.
The C# equivalent of a VB subroutine is a procedure with type void. The
C# equivalent of a VB function is a procedure with any other data type.
Functions in VB 6.0 require that you assign the function name to the value
that is to be returned. VB .NET still allows you to return values this way, and
both VB .NET and C# now use the Return keyword to return a value. Simply list
the value to return after the Return keyword and it will be passed back to the
calling procedure.
VB 6.0
Procedures that don’t return data are declared using the Sub keyword. Procedures
that do return data use the Function keyword and after the procedure parameters
you must list the data type that will be returned. Assign the return value to the
function name.
Public Sub procedure()

End Sub
Public Function procedure() As type

Dim var as type
var = num
procedure = var
End Function
12
VB .NET
Procedures that don’t return data are declared using the Sub keyword. Procedures
that do return data use the Function keyword and after the procedure parameters
you must list the data type that will be returned. Either assign the return value to
the function name or list the return value after the Return keyword.

End Sub

Dim var as type
var = num
procedure = var
End Function
'Demonstrate returning a value with the Return keyword

Dim var as type
var = num
Return var
End Function
C#
Every procedure has to have a return data type listed before the procedure name. If
you don’t want to return a value, use the void data type. List the return value
after the return keyword.
public void procedure()

{
}
public type procedure()

{
type var;
var = num;
return var;
}
Passing Arguments to Procedures

Passing data to procedures is done with parameter declarations. The data that
is passed to the procedures are called arguments. The biggest change for VB
13
Chapter 2
programmers is that in VB 6.0, parameters are passed by reference as the default.

This could cause problems because if you mistakenly change the value of a
parameter without realizing it, you won’t get an error. Instead, the data in the
calling procedure would be changed and this would probably result in a hard-
to-find bug. In .NET, both languages pass parameter data by value as the default.
In fact, C# doesn’t have a keyword for designating a parameter being passed by
value. It only requires that you specify which parameters are passed by reference.
VB uses the ByVal keyword to specify a parameter as being passed by value. It
uses the ByRef keyword to specify a parameter being passed by reference.
C# uses the ref keyword to specify a parameter as being passed by ref-
erence. It uses the out keyword to specify a parameter as only being used to
pass data to the calling procedure. out differs from the ref keyword in that the
calling procedure doesn’t have to initialize the argument before passing it to
the procedure. Normally, C# requires any argument passed to a procedure to
be initialized first. The out keyword is useful when you want a procedure to
return many values and you don’t want to bother with initializing them.
A requirement in C# is that both the ref and out keywords must be used in
the procedure declaration and in the procedure call. VB .NET doesn’t have this
requirement.
VB 6.0/VB .NET
Use the ByVal keyword to pass parameters by value. Use the ByRef keyword to
pass parameters by reference. If not specified, the VB 6.0 default is ByRef. The VB
.NET default is ByVal.
' VB .NET: param1 and param3 are both passed by value; param2 is passed by reference
' VB 6.0: param1 and param2 are both passed by reference; param3 is by value
Sub procedure(param1 As type, ByRef param2 As type, ByVal param3 As type)
C#
Passing parameters by value requires no extra coding. Use the ref keyword to
pass parameters by reference. Use the out keyword to specify parameters whose
only purpose is to return a value. The ref and out keywords must also be specified
when calling the procedure.
//param1 is passed by value and param2 is passed by reference

void procedure(type param1, ref type param2, out type param3)
//Calling this procedure would look like this

procedure(val1, ref val2, out val3);
14
Optional Parameters
Optional parameters give you flexibility with how much data is required to be
passed to a procedure. VB 6.0 and VB .NET use the Optional keyword to specify
optional parameters. C# doesn’t have optional parameters. As a substitute, you
can use the parameter array that is described in the next section. You can also
override methods as is discussed in Chapter 6.
Because a parameter is optional, you need a way to find out if the calling
procedure passed an argument or not. In VB 6.0 this is done using the
IsMissing() function. If IsMissing() returns True, no argument was passed and
you can assign a default value to the parameter. The IsMissing() function isn’t
in VB .NET because it requires optional parameters to be given a default value in
the procedure declaration.
A procedure can have as many optional parameters as needed, but they must
be the last parameters listed. No standard parameters can be listed after them.
VB 6.0
Optional parameters use the Optional keyword.
Sub procedure(Optional param As type)

If IsMissing(param) Then
param = default
End If
End Sub
VB .NET
Optional parameters use the Optional keyword. It is required that each optional
parameter has a default value assigned to it.
Sub procedure(Optional param As type = default)
End Sub
C#
There are no optional parameters in C#.
Parameter Arrays
Parameter arrays give you the benefit of being able to pass from zero to an
indefinite number of parameters to a procedure without having to declare each
one individually.
15
Chapter 2
Parameter arrays are declared in VB using the ParamArray keyword and in

C# using the params keyword. There are two restrictions with parameter arrays:
There can only be one parameter array declared per procedure, and it must be
the last parameter listed.
A drawback to using a parameter array is that every element in the array is
declared of the same type. To get around this obstacle, you can declare the
array to be of type Object.
VB 6.0
Use the ParamArray keyword to declare a parameter array.
Sub procedure(ParamArray param() As type)
VB .NET
Use the ParamArray keyword to declare a parameter array.
Sub procedure(ParamArray param() As type)
C#
Use the params keyword to declare a parameter array.
void procedure(params type[] param)
Modifying a Procedure’s Accessibility

You can determine which parts of a program can call a procedure by using an
access modifier. The access modifier is placed at the beginning of the line, in
front of the procedure declaration. The standard access modifiers for a procedure
are Public, Private, and Friend and internal.3
• The Public modifier allows a procedure to be accessed from anywhere in

the program or from a program using this assembly. There are no
restrictions. This is the default for VB .NET procedures.
• The Private modifier allows a procedure to be accessed only from within

its own declaration context. This includes being used within nested
procedures. This is the default for C# procedures.
• The Friend (VB .NET) and internal (C#) modifiers allow a procedure to be
accessed only from within the assembly.
3. There are other access modifiers available for classes. These are discussed in Chapter 6
and Chapter 8.
16
An interesting difference between VB .NET and C# is that they have different

default modifiers. In VB .NET, procedures and functions declared in a module
or class without an access modifier are treated as Public. In C#, methods
declared in a class without an access modifier are private by default.
VB 6.0
List the access modifier before the procedure name.
Private Function procedure() As type
VB .NET
List the access modifier before the procedure name. A procedure without an
access modifier will be declared as Public.
Sub procedure() 'This is Public
Private Function procedure() As type
C#
List the access modifier before the procedure data type. A procedure without an
access modifier will be declared as Private.
void procedure() //This is Private
public void procedure()
private type procedure()
Calling Procedures
Once you have declared a procedure, you need to call it so that its functionality
can be used. Although this seems fairly simple, you need to be aware of the
proper use of parentheses as well as how to properly pass arguments.
Before examining how to pass arguments, let’s look at a change from VB 6.0
to VB .NET. It is now required in .NET to use parentheses when calling a pro-
cedure. This simplifies things because you will no longer get compiler errors
stating that you need to have parentheses or that you are using them where
17
Chapter 2
they aren’t required. Now parentheses are always required, so you don’t have
to think about it. C# also requires parentheses when calling a procedure.
When passing arguments to a procedure, VB has the advantage over C#.
Normally, when you call a procedure you pass the arguments in the order that
they are listed in the procedure declaration. This applies to both VB and C#.
The advantage that VB has over C# is that in VB you can pass arguments by
name. In other words, you do not have to pass arguments in the order that the
procedure declaration says you should. This is very helpful when working
with optional parameters because you can state which parameters you want
to use and leave the others alone. You don’t have to use an empty comma list
and worry about inserting the correct number of commas. Simply list which
parameters get which arguments. This makes your code look much cleaner.
Because C# doesn’t have optional parameters, it doesn’t need the capability to
pass arguments by name.
It should be noted that regardless of the language, when calling proce-
dures that have a parameter array, you do not need to pass the procedure an
actual array. You only need to pass it arguments separated by commas. The
calling procedure will store these arguments in an array, but it is only expecting
standard single-value arguments.
VB 6.0
Call subroutines without using parentheses. Call functions using parentheses.
When passing arguments by name use := after the argument and give it a value.
procedure param1, param2

var = function(param1, param2)
procedure param2 := value
VB .NET
Call subroutines and functions using parentheses. When passing arguments by
name use := after the argument and give it a value.
procedure (param1, param2)

var = function(param1, param2)
procedure (param2 := value)
C#
Call all procedures using parentheses.
procedure(param1, param2);
var = procedure(param1, param2);
18
Example 2-1. Calculate Test Score Functions

This example takes up to three test scores and displays the high score and the
average score. Using reference parameters and an out parameter is demonstrated
in the CalcHighScore() procedure. It returns the high score. The parameter array
is demonstrated in the CalcAvgScore() function. It returns the average score via
the function name.
VB 6.0
'Calculate Test Scores sample application using VB 6.0

'Copyright (c)2001 by Bischof Systems, Inc.
Sub Main()
ProcessScores 80, 90, 75
End Sub
Public Sub ProcessScores(ByVal Score1 As Integer, ByVal Score2 As Integer, _

ByVal Score3 As Integer)
Dim HighScore As Integer
Dim avgScore As Single
'Write the scores we are working with
DisplayScores Score1, Score2, Score3
'Get the high score
CalcHighScore Score1, Score2, Score3, HighScore
Debug.Print "The high score is " & HighScore
'Get the average score
avgScore = CalcAvgScore(Score1, Score2, Score3)
Debug.Print "The average score is " & Format(avgScore, "##.00")
End Sub
'Display all scores using a parameter array

Private Sub DisplayScores(ParamArray Scores())
Dim CurrentScore As Integer
Debug.Print "The scores being used are: "
For CurrentScore = 0 To UBound(Scores)
Debug.Print Scores(CurrentScore) & " "
Next
Debug.Print
End Sub
19
Chapter 2
'Use an out parameter to return the high score

Private Sub CalcHighScore(ByVal Score1 As Integer, ByVal Score2 As Integer, _
ByVal Score3 As Integer, ByRef HighScore As Integer)
'Assume score1 is the high score
HighScore = Score1
'Is Score2 higher?
If (Score2 > Score1) Then
HighScore = Score2
End If
'Does Score3 beat them all?
If (Score3 > HighScore) Then
HighScore = Score3
End If
End Sub
'Use a function to calculate the average score

Private Function CalcAvgScore(ParamArray Scores()) As Single
Dim TotalScore, CurrentScore As Integer
For CurrentScore = 0 To UBound(Scores)
TotalScore = TotalScore + Scores(CurrentScore)
Next
CalcAvgScore = TotalScore / (UBound(Scores) + 1)
End Function
VB .NET
'Calculate Test Scores sample application using VB .NET

'Copyright (c)2001 by Bischof Systems, Inc.
Module Module1
Sub Main()
ProcessScores(80, 90, 75)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
Public Sub ProcessScores(ByVal Score1 As Integer, ByVal Score2 As Integer, _

ByVal Score3 As Integer)
Dim highScore As Integer
Dim avgScore As Single
'Write the scores we are working with
DisplayScores(Score1, Score2, Score3)
'Get the high score
CalcHighScore(Score1, Score2, Score3, highScore)
20
Console.WriteLine("The high score is {0}", highScore)

'Get the average score
avgScore = CalcAvgScore(Score1, Score2, Score3)
Console.WriteLine("The average score is {0:N2}", avgScore)
End Sub
'Display all scores using a parameter array

Private Sub DisplayScores(ByVal ParamArray Scores() As Integer)
Dim currentScore As Integer
Console.Write("The scores being used are: ")
For currentScore = 0 To Scores.Length - 1
Console.Write(Scores(currentScore).ToString & " ")
Next
Console.WriteLine()
End Sub
'Use an out parameter to return the high score

Private Sub CalcHighScore(ByVal Score1 As Integer, ByVal Score2 As Integer, _
ByVal Score3 As Integer, ByRef HighScore As Integer)
'Assume score1 is the high score
HighScore = Score1
'Is Score2 higher?
If (Score2 > Score1) Then
HighScore = Score2
End If
'Does Score3 beat them all?
If (Score3 > HighScore) Then
HighScore = Score3
End If
End Sub
'Use a function to calculate the average score

Private Function CalcAvgScore(ByVal ParamArray Scores() As Integer) As Single
Dim TotalScore, CurrentScore As Integer
For CurrentScore = 0 To Scores.Length - 1
TotalScore += Scores(CurrentScore)
Next
Return CSng(TotalScore / Scores.Length)
End Function
End Module
21
Chapter 2
C#
//Calculate Test Scores sample application using C#

//Copyright (c)2001 by Bischof Systems, Inc.
using System;
namespace C_Fundamentals_TestScores
{
class Class1
{
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ProcessScores(80, 90, 75);
Console.ReadLine();
}
static public void ProcessScores(int Score1, int Score2, int Score3)
{
int highScore;
float avgScore;
//Write the scores we are working with
DisplayScores(Score1, Score2, Score3);
//Get the high score
CalcHighScore(Score1, Score2, Score3, out highScore);
Console.WriteLine("The high score is {0}", highScore);
//Get the average score
avgScore = CalcAvgScore(Score1, Score2, Score3);
Console.WriteLine("The average score is {0:N2}", avgScore);
}
//Display all scores using a parameter array

static internal void DisplayScores(params int[] Scores)
{
Console.Write("The scores being used are: ");
for (int currentScore = 0; currentScore < Scores.Length;
currentScore++)
{
Console.Write(Scores[currentScore] + " ");
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
22
//Use an out parameter to return the high score

static private void CalcHighScore(int Score1, int Score2, int Score3,
out int highScore)
{
//Assume Score1 is the high score
highScore=Score1;
//Is Score2 higher?
if (Score2 > Score1)
{
highScore = Score2;
}
//Does Score3 beat them all?
if (Score3 > highScore)
{
highScore = Score3;
}
}
//Use a function to calculate the average score

static private float CalcAvgScore(params int[] Scores)
{
int totalScore=0;
for (int currentScore = 0; currentScore < Scores.Length;
currentScore++)
{
totalScore += Scores[currentScore];
}
return totalScore/(float)Scores.Length;
}
}
}
Example 2-1 Output
The scores being used are: 80 90 75

The high score is 90
The average score is 81.67
23
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fm Page 3 Wednesday, October 31, 2001 7:15 PM

Table 2-1. Program Fundamentals Equivalent Chart

' Comment ' Comment //Comment

Dim var As type Dim var As type type var;

Dim var As type Dim var As type = num type var=num;

Dim var1 As type = num,_ type var1=num, var2=num;

Table 2-2. Procedure Declaration Equivalent Chart

Public Sub procedure() Public Sub procedure() public void procedure()

Public Function procedure() As _ Public Function procedure() As public type procedure()

ByRef ByRef ref

Public Sub procedure(Optional _ Public Sub procedure(Optional _

Table 2-2. Procedure Declaration Equivalent Chart (Continued)

procedure param1, param2 procedure(param1, param2) procedure(param1, param2);

var = function(param1, param2) var = function(param1, param2) var = function(param1, param2);

Starting with the Code Template

this naming convention useful in VB .NET because I can immediately recognize

Writing Code across Multiple Lines

What can be even more important than comments is writing self-

'This is a comment on a line by itself

//This is a comment on a line by itself

/* This is the start of some comments.

Table 2-3. Standard Tags for Documenting Comments Using XML

<code> Mark a block of code

<example> An example to demonstrate how to use the code

<exception> Document a custom exception class

<include> Refer to comments in another file that describe the types

<list> A bulleted item list

<param> Describe a parameter

<paramref> Indicate that a word is a parameter

<permission> Describe the access to a member

<see> Specify a link to other text

<seealso> Text that you want to appear in a See Also section

<summary> Summarize an object

<remarks> Specify overview information about a class or type

<returns> A description of the return value

<value> Describe a property

2. Data types are described in Chapter 3.

'Declare an integer variable

'Declare an integer variable

//Declare an integer variable

Modifying a Variable’s Scope

• The Public modifier allows a variable to be accessed from anywhere in the

Static var As type

Friend var As type

private type var;

Public Sub procedure()

Public Function procedure() As type

Public Sub procedure()

Public Function procedure() As type

'Demonstrate returning a value with the Return keyword

public void procedure()

public type procedure()

Passing Arguments to Procedures

programmers is that in VB 6.0, parameters are passed by reference as the default.

//param1 is passed by value and param2 is passed by reference

//Calling this procedure would look like this

Sub procedure(Optional param As type)