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relate to each other。
Imagine building a car。 A project could be the steering wheel； engine； or car body。 Putting
all of the car projects together creates a plete solution called the car。
A solution contains projects。 For the examples in this chapter； our solution will contain
three projects representing each of the three different program types。
When using Visual Basic Express； creating a project implies creating a solution； because
creating an empty solution without a project does not make sense。 It’s like building a car with
no parts。 When I say “project” or “application” in this book； from a workspace organization
perspective； it means the same thing。 Solution is an explicit reference to one or more projects
or applications。
Our plan of action in terms of projects and solutions in this chapter is as follows：
o Create the solution by creating a Windows application called WindowsApplication
（creating this application also creates a solution）。
o Add to the created solution a console application called ConsoleApplication。
o Add to the created solution a class library project called ClassLibrary。
Creating the Windows Application
We’ll dive right in and start with the Windows application。 With Visual Basic Express running；
follow these steps to create the Windows application：
1。 Select File New Project from the menu。
2。 Select the Windows Forms Application icon。 This represents a project style based on a
predefined template called Windows Forms Application。
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3。 Change the default name to WindowsApplication。
4。 Click OK。
These steps create a new project and solution at the same time： Visual Basic Express will
display only the plete project； as shown in Figure 1…2。
Figure 1…2。 The Visual Basic Express IDE with the new WindowsApplication project
Viewing the Source Code
When you create a new application； Visual Basic Express automatically generates some source
code for it。 Right…click the Form1。vb item in the Solution Explorer and select View Code from
the context menu。 The following source code will appear in the area to the left of the Solution
Explorer。
■Note To shift between the user interface and generated code； right…click Form1。vb in the Solution Explorer。 A
submenu appears with the options View Code （to see the code） or View Designer （to see the user interface）。
Public Class Form1
End Class
In Visual Basic； the source code is spartan because Visual Basic is what was once called a
rapid application development （RAD） environment。 The idea at the core of Visual Basic is the
ability to develop an application as quickly as possible without the esoteric details of the language
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getting in your way。 This legacy is both good and bad。 Figure 1…2 shows a simple project with a
single file； but another file exists at the hard disk level； as shown in Figure 1…3 （you can see this
file by clicking the Show All Files icon in the Solution Explorer and expanding the Form1。vb node）。
Figure 1…3。 All files that make up the WindowsApplication project
In previous versions； the Form1。Designer。vb file used to be a binary file that you could not edit。
Now it is a text file that you can edit； but you should not make any changes to this file because it is
maintained by the IDE。 Contained within the Form1。Designer。vb file are the details of how to
construct Form1； as is shown in Figure 1…2。 At this point； Form1 does not contain anything note
worthy； and neither does the text file。 However； if you were to add a button or text box to the
form； those details would be added to the text file Form1。Designer。vb。
Visual Basic is a plete programming language that still adheres to the RAD model。 For
example； the following code creates a user…defined type （which you’ll learn about throughout
the rest of the book）。
Public Class Example
Public Sub Empty（）
End Sub
End Class
The main elements to note are as follows：
Class： An organizational unit that groups related code together。 This grouping is much more
specific than a solution or a project。 To use the car analogy again； if a project is a car engine；
then a class can be the carburetor。 In other words； projects are made up of multiple classes。
Sub： A set of instructions that carry out a task。 Also called a method； a sub is analogous to a
function in many other languages。 The Empty（） method can be called by another piece of
code to carry out some type of action。
Saving the Project
After you’ve renamed the solution； it’s good practice to save your changes。 To save the project；
follow these steps：
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1。 Highlight the project name in the Solution Explorer。
2。 Select File Save WindowsApplication。
3。 Notice th