If you're not using Visual Studio .NET (any edition) to run the examples in the book you'll need to include Imports statements within your code. See page 261 for details about the Imports statement. At the very least, you'll need to import the System namespace for every example:

System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox.Show("Hello World", _
    "A First Look at VB.NET", _
    System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons.OK, _
    System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon.Information)

The version number of an assembly takes the form: Major.Minor.Build.Revision, not Major.Minor.Revision.Build.

The example programs on pages 64 - 66 use Debug.WriteLine to print statements instead of Console.WriteLine. In each case the call to Debug.WriteLine should be replaced with a call to Console.WriteLine, in order for the statements to be printed to the command line.

The final sentence of the first paragraph should read, "Consider the following code, which uses the System.Text.StringBuilder class:"

The final paragraph on this page should refer to Singles, not Shorts - as reflected in the code.

The first line of code on this page should check if lngLong is less than Short.MaxValue rather than greater than:

The final paragraph on this page refers to "Object Strict". It should refer to "Option Strict".

The 4th bullet in the summary should read, "Beware that parameters are passed ByValue by default so changes are not returned."

The final two lines of code on this page contain parantheses that break the code. The code should read:

The final paragraph of the Method Signatures section states that the ByRef and ByVal modifiers can be used to create distinct method signatures. This is incorrect. ByVal and ByRef cannot be used as a differentiating feature when overloading a property or procedure.

mdtBirthDate should be declared as a Date, not a String:

The code that checks if a key is present in the HashTable should read:

The code that checks if a key is present in the HashTable should read:

The 2nd paragraph on this page should read, "..., we also need to comment out the lines that refer to the OfficeNumber property, ..."

The MyBase keyword cannot be used to invoke a Friend element from the parent class if the parent class is in a different assembly.

The code that checks if a key exists in the HashTable should read:

The final paragraph on this page should read, "We can then move on to implement the other two elements defined..."

The third paragraph of the Reusing Common Implementation section should read, "..., our Value method is linked to IPrintableObject.Value using this clause:"

The first paragraph on this page should read, "... Do this by clicking on the project name in the Solution Explorer window and..."

The method declaration for PrintPage() should include an underscore character at the end of the second line top indicate that the declaration continues onto the next line:

The fourth paragraph should read, "... Selecting the Microsoft Visual Basic.NET Compatability Runtime component..."

In order to use the example code on page 289 you will need to import System.IO, by adding a Imports System.IO statement to your code. In addition, so that the code will run even if the C:\mytext.txt file does not exist the first statement in the LoggingExample2() sub should read:

Please not that "prescription" is misspelt as "presciption" several times in the example code in this chapter.

The first line of code on this page should read:

The final sentence of the first paragraph on this page should read, "An example code snippet that uses the GetXml method is as follows:". The code is presented as a snippet only and so is not included in the code download for the book.

The XML shown on this page should read:

Please note that the code on this page is extracted from the TraverseDataReader method on the following page. You'll need to wait until page 354 to find the complete code necessary to run the example demonstrating the Command object.

In response to reader feedback some clarification about stored procedures is required. The book states stored procedures are compiled prior to execution. In fact, a stored procedure in SQL Server 7 and 2000 is compiled at execution time, just like any other T-SQL statement. The execution plan of the SQL statement is cached and SQL Server uses algorithms to reuse these execution plans efficiently.

[You can find more information about stored procedures in SQL Server in the Stored Procedures and Execution Plans section of SQL Server Books Online.]

The code that checks if the password is blank should read:

Using a <DefaultValue> attribute will allow designers (such as Visual Studio .NET) to set the property to a default value but please note that your property still needs to be set to an intitial value in code so that it can be used outside of such designers.

Private Function DefaultMaxSelectedItems() As Integer
  Dim attributes As AttributeCollection = _
    TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(Me) ("MaxItemsSelected").Attributes
  Dim myAttribute As DefaultValueAttribute = _
    CType(attributes(GetType(DefaultValueAttribute)), _
      DefaultValueAttribute)
  Return CInt(myAttribute.Value)
End Function

The first paragraph refers to CheckedListBox1; it should refer to LimitedCheckedListBox1.

The first line of the OnPaint() method code should read:

The first line on this page should read, "Client-side events are automatically processed in the client browser without making a round trip to the server. So, for..."

This page incorrectly states that you cannot use a @OutputCache directive in a Web User Control, when in fact you can.

Note that you will need to alter the code for the table element of the navigation bar in order to use the BackColor custom property

The menuSaveChanges_Click method is missing a Handles statement. It should read:

The thirds stored procedure on this page has a spelling mistake (sp_exectsql instead of sp_executesql) and doesn't declare the third parameter. It should read: exec sp_executesql N'UPDATE authors SET city=@p1, state=@p2 WHERE au_id=@p3, N'@p1 varchar(10), @p2 char(2), @p3 varchar(11), @p1 = 'Scottsdale', @p2 = 'AZ', @p3 = '238-95-7766'

The code for the ColumnChanged() event handler should be:

The comments in the code on this page include some dots where there should be double-quote marks. The correct comment is:

The first line of the final paragraph on this page should read, "To test this out, take the HTTP URL and add ?WSDL on to the end."

The screenshot and instructions on page 836 for adding a strong name are incorrect. In the final release of Visual Studio .NET 2002 the Strong Name tab in the Common Properties section of the Property Pages dialog has been removed.

Instead, you should use the AssemblyKeyFile attribute in an Assembly Information File, as described here.

The SendKeys class has been moved to the System.Windows.Forms namespace not the System.IO namespace.