For most of my research, however, I still use Google. (Sorry Microsoft!)
I feel like I'm giving away my best secret here, but the way to find what you need at MSDN is to use the "Site" keyword with Google. Say you want to know about "reflection" in VB.NET. Enter this key into a Google search:
reflection Visual Basic site:microsoft.com
This will restrict your search to only the domain name "microsoft.com". The end result is to target your search in a way that is similar to using the internal search on a web site.
This trick works on my site too.
reflection Visual Basic site:visualbasic.about.com
There are 19 hits at VisualBasic.About.Com!
Google is also better, in my opinion, for searching groups, partly because Google searches all the newsgroups and partly because there is a more usable interface when you do find something you want to read or respond to. Again - Sorry Microsoft!
A short detour into an "official" Microsoft source of information that doesn't work is useful here too. At the top of that list is the search embedded into the Visual Studio Help system. You get approximately the same results as going direct using your browser but it's not as fast and the interface isn't as convenient.
And, finally, since the next topic in this lesson is a fast, compact discussion of Visual Basic language, keep in mind that you can find the most complete reference for Visual Basic syntax rules by using the search at Google with the search term, "Language Reference":
language reference Visual Basic site:microsoft.com
You'll find it handy since this tutorial will only cover the very highest of the high points. In fact, I cover them on the next page!
