You can change property settings either in the design environment or through code. To change properties in the design environment, click on the object whose properties that you wish to change. The properties window will update to list those properties associated with the object that you are allowed to modify. Select the property that you wish to change and enter a new modified value. To change properties through code, you first need to decide on the relation to the code and the object.
Many people teach themselves over a rather short period of time.
Visual Basic has a rather small learning curve for beginners while still offering a much more advanced aspect for continued learning. Visual Basic does not generate machine code like most compilers do. Instead it creates what is called pseudocode or P-code. This is basically a compiled set of instructions written in such a way that the Visual Basic run-time environment can translate the instructions to run the program. You can certainly find a better description somewhere on the web.