Don't Freak Out About Visual Studio

Visual Basic Developer Center: Don't Freak Out About Visual Studio

"This is the first installment of the Visual Basic Newbie series written by MSDN staffer Betsy Aoki to help first-time programmers and 'Visual Basic Newbies' get accustomed to the concepts and the environment provided by Visual Studio. The series is no substitute for formal study, a book, a good developer-friend, or perusing the MSDN Library, but is meant in a kindly way.

Think of this article as a personal therapist. Together, we will explore Visual Studio, pointing out its quirks and ignoring everything that would give us phobias about the programming to come. Visual Studio is actually a great tool that makes learning Visual Basic .NET easier, and as good as the Express versions are, there's nothing like playing with all the bells and whistles.

...

And on that note, with luck you are feeling better about Visual Studio and Visual Basic. Sip your coffee, contemplate art and the meaning of life, and then go on and write the best darn Visual Basic you can. Cheers!"

I've had a number of people ask me, "I want to learn how to program, how do I get started?".

While this article is not 100% on message it's pretty darn close, helping to answer, "How do I learn how to program in Visual Studio?".

For a beginner, the first time seeing VS can be pretty scary. This article is meant to help get ove that initial fear.

And it's kind of funny...