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Understanding Classes

Visual Studio 2008

Classes are important in object-oriented programming because they allow you to group related items as a unit, as well as control their visibility and accessibility to other procedures. Classes can also inherit and reuse code defined in other classes.

In This Section

Classes: Blueprints for Objects: Provides an overview of encapsulation, inheritance, and shared members.
Walkthrough: Defining Classes: Provides a step-by-step description of how to create a class.
Classes vs. Modules: Explains the differences between classes and standard modules.
Object Lifetime: How Objects Are Created and Destroyed: Discusses creating and disposing of class instances.
How to: Implement the Dispose Finalize Pattern (Visual Basic): Explains how to ensure that an object's resources are released when they are no longer needed.
Using Constructors and Destructors: Discusses how to initialize new instances of classes and dispose of resources when they are no longer needed.
Class Properties, Fields, and Methods: Explains the fields, properties, and methods that make up a class.

Related Sections

Creating and Using Objects: Demonstrates how to create and use instances of classes.
Interfaces in Visual Basic: Describes what interfaces are and how to use them in your applications.
Inheritance in Visual Basic: Describes how to define classes that serve as the basis for other classes.