The Microsoft Official Academic Course program is created for students to build and validate the skills businesses need to succeed in today"s information economy. This is the official curriculum of the Microsoft IT Academy, used in thousands of schools around the world. Microsoft Academic titles (ALS/MOAC) are intended for educational institutions only - secondary schools, college, university, privately owned business college, technical institutes, and polytechnics. Microsoft Learning textbook that teaches introductory programming skills and concepts using Visual Basic.NET as the primary tool. A complete program with textbook, lab manual, and software, this Academic Learning Series title provides everything students need to build the knowledge and skills necessary to begin programming, using Visual Basic .NET 2003 as the development tool. Coverage includes early treatment of debugging and database connectivity topics, enabling students to delve into real-world projects earlier in the course. The textbook provides a structure and approach that is flexible enough to meet the needs of students who are brand-new to coding, along with those who may have some experience in another tool or language. A complete set of instructor resources supports the book.