Interest Calculator in Visual Basic

This project will give you a little taste of what computer programming is like, and show you the steps involved in creating a complete program. These instructions will lead you through the steps for creating a Visual Basic program that calculates compound interest.

Before you start, it's a good idea to create a folder in which to work. For now, create a folder on the Temp D:\ drive. Then, when you're done working, remember to copy that whole folder somewhere into your Digitallocker.

Starting & Saving Project

Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003.

Here's how to open it: Start Menu... Computer Science... Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003.... Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003.

Click the New Project button ( ), and when a window appears, select the Visual Basic Projects folder, the Windows Application icon should already be selected, type a name (maybe InterestCalc) and choose a location (use the Browse button to find the folder you created above), then click OK

Before starting, save the project by clicking on the Save Icon ( ).

Creating A Button

The next step is to add a "Button" on your "Form".

Open up the toolbox by clicking on the little toolbox icon. It may be helpful to click the pin, to keep the toolbox open. Then click on the button Icon, then draw a box on the form:

Toolbox Icon

Click pin to keep it open

Button Icon

Draw a box near the lower right of the form. It will say Button1 when you first draw it.

Now you need to change several of the the Properties of that button. These are located at the bottom right of the screen.

In the Properties window, change the (Name) to be cmdExit, and change the Text to be Exit:

To make this button actually do something, we need to add some code. To do this, double click on the button (which now should read Exit). This will open up the code window. Type in the word End so it looks like this:

Now it's time to try it. Click on the Save Icon (), then click on the Start Icon:

That will run your program. It should bring up your window with only the Exit button working. The next step will be to add some more buttons, text boxes and labels.