3
Chapter 1
Exploring the Visual Studio
Integrated Development
Environment
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
n Use the Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment.
n Open and run a Visual Basic program.
n Change property settings.
n Move, resize, dock, and automatically hide tool windows.
n Use the IDE Navigator.
n Open a Web browser within Visual Studio.
n Get Help and manage Help settings.
n Customize IDE settings to match this book’s step-by-step instructions.
Are you ready to start working with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010? This chapter gives
you the skills you need to get up and running with the Visual Studio 2010 Integrated
Development Environment (IDE)—the place where you will write Microsoft Visual Basic
programs. You should read this chapter whether you are new to Visual Basic programming
or you have used previous versions of Visual Basic or Visual Studio.In this chapter, you’ll learn the essential Visual Studio menu commands and programming
procedures. You’ll open and run a simple Visual Basic program named Music Trivia;
you’ll change a programming setting called a property; and you’ll practice moving, sizing,
docking, and hiding tool windows. You’ll also learn how to switch between files and tools
with the IDE Navigator, open a Web browser within Visual Studio, get more information
by using the online Help documentation, and customize the IDE to match this book’s
step-by-step instructions. These are common tasks that you’ll use in most Visual Studio
programming sessions, and they will soon become second nature to you (if they are
not already).