It is possible to specify the requested storage size of a vector during construction like this: #include using namespace std;int main() { vector vi(1000); //initial storage for 1000 int’s //vi

The memory buffer returned by operator new is guaranteed to have the suitable alignment properties for any type object. This property enables you to construct objects on such a pre-allocated

The java.awt.FontMetrics class provides information on the properties of a font. For example, it can be used to determine how many horizontal pixels are required (i.e., the width) when a

Choosing the right hardware for your server can be a confusing task, especially given the frequency with which Intel and other manufacturers roll out new products. New CPUs, memory chips,

The common extension for an Include file in an Active Server Page is .INC. However, the included page, like the main page, may contain code that you don’t want to

If you’re writing an ActiveX control, you can create properties that return an enumerated value, as in: Public Enum SizeConstants SizSmall = 1 SizMedium SizLargeEnd EnumPublic Size As SizeConstants When

If you heavily use API calls and strictly follow the SDK documentation, you might be tempted to use the GetLastError API to retrieve the error returned by your last API

Visual Basic lets you test the state of mouse buttons only inside a MouseDown, MouseMove, or MouseUp event procedure. To determine the current state of mouse buttons you can use

Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib “kernel32” Alias “RtlMoveMemory” (dest As _ Any, source As Any, ByVal bytes As Long)’ Return the low word of a Long valueFunction LowWord(ByVal value As

It is highly unfortunate that Visual Basic doesn’t offer a way to execute a group of statements only when the program is interpreted in the environment or only when it

Using “pure” VB, the only way to build a generic routine that returns the number of dimensions of an array passed as an argument is using a loop that repeatedly

Short-circuit evaluation is an optimization technique automatically adopted by most modern compilers, including all flavors of C++, Borland Delphi and many others. Unfortunately, the Visual Basic compiler is not in

When you build your ActiveX controls and components, Visual Basic automatically creates all the GUIDs as necessary. The same also happens in other cases, without you even realizing it: for

Visual Basic lets you test the state of the Shift, Alt and Ctrl keys only within the KeyUp, KeyDown and all the mouse-related event procedures. If you want to test

When you write a procedure and you want to be sure that the procedure does not affect the value of any variable passed to it as an argument in the

At times it might be convenient to know how a given control got the focus, namely by means of the Tab key, an associated hotkey or a click of the

While Visual Basic offers the Hex$ function that converts a decimal value into its hexadecimal equivalent number, it seems that the inverse function is missing. Not true. Try out this

Any action that affects a form’s size or position should be inhibited when the form is minimized or maximized, because this causes a runtime error 384. Always double check your

Variants are the default type of variables that are declared without an As clause, as in: Dim name ‘ this is a variant or are not declared at all (which

Every now and then I see DefInt or DefLng directives spread over Visual Basic code modules, whose intended purpose is to revert the default data type from Variant to Integer

By default, textbox controls work in insert mode, where each new character never overwrites existing ones. If you wish to implement overwrite mode you can take advantage of the fact

The single statement that is most useful to avoid bugs is Option Explicit. Always use it in every module of your applications. Even better, let the Visual Basic IDE automatically

Private Declare Function GetSystemDirectory Lib “kernel32” Alias _ “GetSystemDirectoryA” (ByVal lpBuffer As String, _ ByVal nSize As Long) As Long ‘ The path of the System directoryFunction SystemDirectory() As String

The Timer function returns a value which is only accurate to about 55 milliseconds, therefore it is not very useful for doing accurate benchmarks. If you need a better resolution

Private Declare Function GetWindowsDirectory Lib “kernel32” Alias _ “GetWindowsDirectoryA” (ByVal lpBuffer As String, _ ByVal nSize As Long) As Long’ Return the path of the Windows directoryFunction WindowsDirectory() As String

Private Declare Function GetUserName Lib “advapi32.dll” Alias “GetUserNameA” _ (ByVal lpBuffer As String, nSize As Long) As Long’ The name of the interactive userFunction UserName() As String Dim buffer As

‘ Return True is a string is made only of spaces, tabs, and Null characters.’ This function is especially useful to test whether fixed-length strings ‘ are initialized.Function IsNullString(Text As

Visual Basic supports Property procedures to implement properties in your own CLS and FRM modules. However, it turns out that you can use Property procedures even within BAS code modules.

The Tag property exposed by many Windows Common Controls (including TreeView’s Node objects and ListView’s ListItem objects) is more versatile than the ListBox and ComboBox controls’ ItemData property, because it