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As we mentioned in the previous chapter, Sub procedures are procedures that do not return any value. We have been using the Sub procedure Main in all our examples. We have been writing console applications so far in these tutorials. When these applications start, the control goes to the Main Sub procedure, and it in turn, runs any other statements constituting the body of the program.

Defining Sub Procedures

The Sub statement is used to declare the name, parameter and the body of a sub procedure. The syntax for the Sub statement is:

[Modifiers] Sub SubName [(ParameterList)] 
    [Statements]
End Sub

Where,

• Modifiers: specify the access level of the procedure; possible values are: Public, Private, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend and information regarding overloading, overriding, sharing, and shadowing.

• SubName: indicates the name of the Sub

• ParameterList: specifies the list of the parameters

Example

The following example demonstrates a Sub procedure CalculatePay that takes two parameters hoursand wages and displays the total pay of an employee:

Module mysub
   Sub CalculatePay(ByVal hours As Double, ByVal wage As Decimal)
      'local variable declaration
      Dim pay As Double
      pay = hours * wage
      Console.WriteLine("Total Pay: {0:C}", pay)
   End Sub
   Sub Main()
      'calling the CalculatePay Sub Procedure
      CalculatePay(25, 10)
      CalculatePay(40, 20)
      CalculatePay(30, 27.5)
      Console.ReadLine()
   End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Total Pay: $250.00
Total Pay: $800.00
Total Pay: $825.00

Passing Parameters by Value

This is the default mechanism for passing parameters to a method. In this mechanism, when a method is called, a new storage location is created for each value parameter. The values of the actual parameters are copied into them. So, the changes made to the parameter inside the method have no effect on the argument.

In VB.Net, you declare the reference parameters using the ByVal keyword. The following example demonstrates the concept:

Module paramByval
   Sub swap(ByVal x As Integer, ByVal y As Integer)
      Dim temp As Integer
      temp = x ' save the value of x 
      x = y    ' put y into x 
      y = temp 'put temp into y 
   End Sub
   Sub Main()
      ' local variable definition 
      Dim a As Integer = 100
      Dim b As Integer = 200
      Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of a : {0}", a)
      Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of b : {0}", b)
      ' calling a function to swap the values '
      swap(a, b)
      Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of a : {0}", a)
      Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of b : {0}", b)
      Console.ReadLine()
   End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Before swap, value of a :100
Before swap, value of b :200
After swap, value of a :100
After swap, value of b :200

It shows that there is no change in the values though they had been changed inside the function.

Passing Parameters by Reference

A reference parameter is a reference to a memory location of a variable. When you pass parameters by reference, unlike value parameters, a new storage location is not created for these parameters. The reference parameters represent the same memory location as the actual parameters that are supplied to the method.

In VB.Net, you declare the reference parameters using the ByRef keyword. The following example demonstrates this:

Module paramByref
   Sub swap(ByRef x As Integer, ByRef y As Integer)
      Dim temp As Integer
      temp = x ' save the value of x 
      x = y    ' put y into x 
      y = temp 'put temp into y 
   End Sub
   Sub Main()
      ' local variable definition 
      Dim a As Integer = 100
      Dim b As Integer = 200
      Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of a : {0}", a)
      Console.WriteLine("Before swap, value of b : {0}", b)
      ' calling a function to swap the values '
      swap(a, b)
      Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of a : {0}", a)
      Console.WriteLine("After swap, value of b : {0}", b)
      Console.ReadLine()
   End Sub
End Module

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

Before swap, value of a : 100
Before swap, value of b : 200
After swap, value of a : 200
After swap, value of b : 100

When you define a class, you define a blueprint for a data type. This doesn't actually define any data, but it does define what the class name means, that is, what an object of the class will consist of and what operations can be performed on such an object.

Objects are instances of a class. The methods and variables that constitute a class are called members of the class.

Class Definition

A class definition starts with the keyword Class followed by the class name; and the class body, ended by the End Class statement. Following is the general form of a class definition:

[ <attributelist> ] [ accessmodifier ] [ Shadows ] [ MustInherit | NotInheritable ] [ Partial ] _
Class name [ ( Of typelist ) ]
    [ Inherits classname ]
    [ Implements interfacenames ]
    [ statements ]
End Class

Where,

• attributelist is a list of attributes that apply to the class. Optional.

• accessmodifier defines the access levels of the class, it has values as - Public, Protected, Friend, Protected Friend and Private. Optional.

• Shadows indicate that the variable re-declares and hides an identically named element, or set of overloaded elements, in a base class. Optional.

• MustInherit specifies that the class can be used only as a base class and that you cannot create an object directly from it, i.e., an abstract class. Optional.

• NotInheritable specifies that the class cannot be used as a base class.

• Partial indicates a partial definition of the class.

• Inherits specifies the base class it is inheriting from.

• Implements specifies the interfaces the class is inheriting from.

The following example demonstrates a Box class, with three data members, length, breadth and height:

Module mybox
   Class Box
      Public length As Double   ' Length of a box
      Public breadth As Double   ' Breadth of a box
      Public height As Double    ' Height of a box
   End Class
   Sub Main()
      Dim Box1 As Box = New Box()        ' Declare Box1 of type Box
      Dim Box2 As Box = New Box()        ' Declare Box2 of type Box
      Dim volume As Double