I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Introduction to Visual Basic and Scripting

2. Course Prefix & Number:
COMP 2222

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course provides an overview of Visual Basic programming and scripting and entry-level programming fundamentals including variables, controls, data types and structures, emphasizing design and development considerations for Windows based application programs and operating systems. Students will write Visual Basic code to perform operations using arrays, manipulating strings, and performing file input and output functions. Topics include: the Visual Basic and scripting development environment, intrinsic controls, data types, control structures, procedures and functions, arrays, user-defined types, file handling, Visual Basic as an object oriented language, and writing scripts for systems calls and command line arguments.  Career Preparation: The studies in this course will help students begin preparation for careers in information technology such as Computer Support Specialist and Network Administrator, Network Engineer, Systems Analyst. Systems Engineer and Business Analyst.

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

8. Prerequisite (Entry) Skills:
Efficiency with a current Microsoft operating system such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

3. Prior Learning - the following prior learning methods are acceptable for this course:

• American Council on Education
• Military Experience
• Specialty Schools
• Written
• Oral
• Demonstration
• Portfolio

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

Computer Information Technology, AAS

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

Expected Outcome

• Understand the WSH (Windows Script Host) environment
• Understand the capabilities and limitations of WSH, PowerShell and Visual Basic
• Explain how the WSH interacts with the operating system
• Understand the WSH Core Object Model and its purpose
• Explain the difference between WScript and CScript execution
• Understand the VBScript syntax rules
• Instantiate objects to access and manipulate their properties
• Comprehend object properties and how they can be manipulated
• Utilize methods and functions as part of a script
• Understand and implement constants, variables and arrays in a script
• Define pseudo code and explain its use in program development
• Utilize “IF” and “SELECT CASE” statements and the nesting of IF statements in program development
• Process data using looping logic in scripts
• Understand how to work with special folders through scripts
• Create their own subroutines and functions for use in different scripts
• Utilize VBScript’s run-time objects to open, close, write to and read from files and folders
• Understand the different types of errors (syntax, run-time, logic)
• Understand error messages and debug scripts based on those messages
• Explain RAD (rapid application development) tools
• Understand and utilize the tools available in the Visual Studio 2010 integrated development environment
• Explain the phases of the Program Development Life Cycle
• Define procedure and procedure call statements
• Create an event planning document
• Understand the different data types and how they are used in conjunction with each other
• Demonstrate the use of arithmetic operations within their program
• Apply the use of concatenation to join values into strings
• Understand the different relational operators available
• Troubleshoot coding errors using Visual Studio’s GUI

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

• Getting started with WSH and VBScript
• Understanding the WSH Core Object Model
• VBScript Basics
• Constants, Variables, Arrays
• Conditional Logic
• Handling Script Errors
• Intro to Visual Basic 2010 Programming
• Program and Graphical User Interface Design
• Program Design and Coding
• Variable and Arithmetic Operations
• Decision Structures
• Loop Structures
• Using Procedures and Exception Handling

2. Laboratory/Studio Sessions