1. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-1 Programs, Business Applications, and Visual Basic chapter ONE

2. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-2 Programs, Business Applications, and Visual Basic After studying this chapter you should be able to: Evaluate alternative approaches for acquiring programs. Describe the characteristics of business applications. Explain what Visual Basic is and identify its strengths. Describe the process of creating programs using VB. Understand the “measures of quality” for business applications created in VB.

3. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-3 Operating Systems: The master control program for the computer. Every computer uses one. Utilities: Programs that perform a task to help manage the computer and its resources. Like finding and fixing disk problems, and defragmenting to consolidate file fragments, among others. Applications: Programs that perform a particular task for the user. Everyday examples include word processors and spreadsheets. Categories of Programs 

4. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-4 Some applications and their users and programmers 

5. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-5 Require some customization but do not rely heavily on sophisticated mathematical analyses. Two additional characteristics of business applications are: Business applications require customization because most businesses maintain important data in a database. Business environment is frequently changing and applications must reflect the realities of the environment. Characteristics of Business Applications 

6. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-6 Database - carefully organized set of data stored on a computer. Database management system (DBMS) - special application that manages the database. Definitions 

7. Used by a computer equipment retail outlet to record data regarding customer orders. Example Order Entry Screen  Allows user to use a mouse to click on boxes for text entry. Also enables user to click on buttons to initiate processing steps.

8. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-8 Visual Basic (VB) is a programming environment (program specifically designed to facilitate the creation of new programs) that provides two things to the programmer: A set of programming tools which enable the programmer to assemble and rearrange the components of the program under construction. A programming language which enables the programmer to compose the instructions that tell the computer how to perform the tasks required by the program under construction. What is Visual Basic? 

9. Toolbar and toolbox  Toolbar Toolbox Form tool Text Box tool Label tool Command Button tool

10. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-10 Completed Order Entry form  Text boxes Labels Command buttons

11. Irwin/McGraw-Hill © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1999 1-11 1. Identify user requirements. 2. Design the application. GUI Functionality 3. Construct the application. Build GUI Compose processing scripts Test A Formal Procedure for Creating Applications 