An introduction to the Microsoft Visual Basic 6 developer environment and to the basic techniques every professional developer must master to build modern Windows and cross-platform applications. Unlike earlier editions, this volume assumes the reader is a programming professional, with experience in one or more languages, including, potentially, earlier versions of Visual Basic. It therefore concentrates on the the features of Visual Basic 6.0's developer studio, the use of its "lifecycle" tools (from the compiler to the debugger, testing tools and on basic app-building techniques), from control-creation and event handling to GUI construction, data access and use of Win32 functionality.