Class notes: Visual Basic

Week: 1

Review Syllabi

Go over class format

BREAK

Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Computers and Visual Basic

Mouse Pointers – pg. 4

Different Types – pg. 5

• Arrow
• Hourglass
• Etc (finger, resize, move to name a few)

Mouse Actions

• Pointing (moving)
• Clicking
• Double Clicking
• Dragging – pg. 6

Using Notepad – the different sections of Notepad – pg. 7

• Title bar
• Menu Bar
• Work Area
• Horizontal/Vertical Scroll bars
• Scroll Box
• Drop Down Menu – pg. 10
• Short cut keys
• Dialog box – pg. 11

Disk and Folders – pg. 15

• Organizing files
• Creating new Folders – pg. 18
• Creating Files – pg. 19

Problem Solving – Chapter 2

Program Development Cycle – pg. 32

First task should be to determine the output of the program.

Second task is to determine what input is needed to achieve the output.

Third and last task is determine the steps necessary to obtain the output
from the input. (This is called processing, or the process.)

Program planning – you wouldn’t build a house without a plan of it, why
would you write a program without a plan? – pg. 33

Six steps to the program development cycle

• Analyze
• Design
• Choose the interface
• Code
• Test and debug
• Document – pg. 34

Algorithms are methods used to solve a problem – consider computing the
distance traveled over a given time. The algorithm is:

Distance = time traveled * speed traveled

Three program design tools are used by programmers: – pg. 35

• Flowcharts
• Pseudo-code
• Hierarchy charts

Symbols used by Flowcharts – pg. 35 and 36

Pseudo-Code – abbreviated version of code – pg. 37

Hierarchy Charts – shows relations between different parts of programs, and
modules, but leave out details – not used as often

If-Then condition – pg. 38

Looping – pg. 40