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A statement is a complete instruction in Visual Basic programs. It may contain keywords, operators, variables, literal values, constants and expressions.

Statements could be categorized as:

• Declaration statements - these are the statements where you name a variable, constant, or procedure, and can also specify a data type.

• Executable statements - these are the statements, which initiate actions. These statements can call a method or function, loop or branch through blocks of code or assign values or expression to a variable or constant. In the last case, it is called an Assignment statement.

Declaration Statements

The declaration statements are used to name and define procedures, variables, properties, arrays, and constants. When you declare a programming element, you can also define its data type, access level, and scope.

The programming elements you may declare include variables, constants, enumerations, classes, structures, modules, interfaces, procedures, procedure parameters, function returns, external procedure references, operators, properties, events, and delegates.

Following are the declaration statements in VB.Net:

Dim number As Integer
Dim quantity As Integer = 100
Dim message As String = "Hello!"

Const maximum As Long = 1000
Const naturalLogBase As Object 
= CDec(2.7182818284)

Enum CoffeeMugSize
    Jumbo
    ExtraLarge
    Large
    Medium
    Small
End Enum 

Class Box
Public length As Double
Public breadth As Double   
Public height As Double
End Class

Structure Box
Public length As Double           
Public breadth As Double   
Public height As Double
End Structure

Public Module myModule
Sub Main()
Dim user As String = 
InputBox("What is your name?") 
MsgBox("User name is" & user)
End Sub 
End Module

Public Interface MyInterface
    Sub doSomething()
End Interface 

Function myFunction
(ByVal n As Integer) As Double 
    Return 5.87 * n
End Function

Sub mySub(ByVal s As String)
    Return
End Sub 

Declare Function getUserName
Lib "advapi32.dll" 
Alias "GetUserNameA" 
(
  ByVal lpBuffer As String, 
  ByRef nSize As Integer) As Integer 

Public Shared Operator +
(ByVal x As obj, ByVal y As obj) As obj
        Dim r As New obj
' implemention code for r = x + y
        Return r
    End Operator 

ReadOnly Property quote() As String 
    Get 
        Return quoteString
    End Get 
End Property

Public Event Finished()

Delegate Function MathOperator( 
    ByVal x As Double, 
    ByVal y As Double 
) As Double 

Executable Statements

An executable statement performs an action. Statements calling a procedure, branching to another place in the code, looping through several statements, or evaluating an expression are executable statements. An assignment statement is a special case of an executable statement.

The following example demonstrates a decision making statement:

Module decisions
   Sub Main()
      'local variable definition '
      Dim a As Integer = 10

      ' check the boolean condition using if statement '
      If (a < 20) Then
         ' if condition is true then print the following '
         Console.WriteLine("a is less than 20")
      End If
      Console.WriteLine("value of a is : {0}", a)
      Console.ReadLine()
   End Sub
End Module

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

a is less than 20;
value of a is : 10