VISUAL BASIC???

Hi, one of my friends says he is going to learn Visual Basic. Not wanting to
sound stupid, I just replied, "Good Choice". What is Visual Basic and what
does it do? Is it any good, Worth Learning? Thanks for any help.

Paul

Paul wrote:
> Hi, one of my friends says he is going to learn Visual Basic. Not wanting to
> sound stupid, I just replied, "Good Choice". What is Visual Basic and what
> does it do? Is it any good, Worth Learning? Thanks for any help.
>
>
Visual Basic (more commonly called "VB") is essentially a development
language, like C++ etc.

As to whether its any good, and worth learning, I couldn't comment. Last
time I saw VB was version 3.0, which was 10 years ago now.

Don't mean to be rude, but a Google on "visual basic" would have
answered this. Oh, and for the record, this is the wrong group for this
sort of thing. There's a VB group, no doubt.

Doug

In article <SPDtc.24189$_>,
says...
> Hi, one of my friends says he is going to learn Visual Basic. Not wanting to
> sound stupid, I just replied, "Good Choice". What is Visual Basic and what
> does it do? Is it any good, Worth Learning? Thanks for any help.

VB is Visual Basic. It's a programming language that lets people quickly
develop applications of all types in an easy to learn (compared to
others) language.

VB6 was the last version of VB that was produced by MS before they came
out with the .Net version. As a programmer of 20+ years, I would tell
your friend that it's a waste of time to learn VB and to start learning
VB.Net instead. The friend should also strongly consider C# (pronounced
as C-Sharp).

While I still code in VB (as well as many other languages, VB is going
by the wayside and is considered to be out-of-date at this time. With
the new systems (XP Prof and 2003) on the market VB.Net is a much better
choice. I personally found that moving from VB to VB.Net was a challenge
since I had the VB programming mind set and VB.Net is not really like
VB.

When I get jobs that I hire programmers for, it's VB.Net or C# skills
(in the MS world) that I look for.

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(Remove 999 to reply to me)

Leythos

Thanks! Much appreciated

Paul.
"Leythos" <> wrote in message
news:...
> In article <SPDtc.24189$_>,
> says...
> > Hi, one of my friends says he is going to learn Visual Basic. Not
wanting to
> > sound stupid, I just replied, "Good Choice". What is Visual Basic and
what
> > does it do? Is it any good, Worth Learning? Thanks for any help.
>
> VB is Visual Basic. It's a programming language that lets people quickly
> develop applications of all types in an easy to learn (compared to
> others) language.
>
> VB6 was the last version of VB that was produced by MS before they came
> out with the .Net version. As a programmer of 20+ years, I would tell
> your friend that it's a waste of time to learn VB and to start learning
> VB.Net instead. The friend should also strongly consider C# (pronounced
> as C-Sharp).
>
> While I still code in VB (as well as many other languages, VB is going
> by the wayside and is considered to be out-of-date at this time. With
> the new systems (XP Prof and 2003) on the market VB.Net is a much better
> choice. I personally found that moving from VB to VB.Net was a challenge
> since I had the VB programming mind set and VB.Net is not really like
> VB.
>
> When I get jobs that I hire programmers for, it's VB.Net or C# skills
> (in the MS world) that I look for.
>
> --
> --
>
> (Remove 999 to reply to me)

paul boyd

The advantage of learning VB 6 is that Visual C++
or C# is nothing but eye candy with absolutely no
documentation at all. Both are impossible to do
serious work that is not just re-writing some kind
of word processor or low-end CAD app. VB 6
will allow top down code to be embedded in a
visual model with ease, and there is a world of
documentation supporting it. I challenge a beginning
programmer trying to have a good learning experience
to add 2 + 2 in Visual C++. That is something you
should try right away, and get clued in to what a
total waste of time it is.

johns

johns

In article <c97noj$nmq$>,
says...
> The advantage of learning VB 6 is that Visual C++
> or C# is nothing but eye candy with absolutely no
> documentation at all. Both are impossible to do
> serious work that is not just re-writing some kind
> of word processor or low-end CAD app. VB 6
> will allow top down code to be embedded in a
> visual model with ease, and there is a world of
> documentation supporting it. I challenge a beginning
> programmer trying to have a good learning experience
> to add 2 + 2 in Visual C++. That is something you
> should try right away, and get clued in to what a
> total waste of time it is.

While you may like VB, and I do too, VB is on it's way out and being
replaced by VB.Net. C++ and C# are great languages, but not for the
casual programmer.

VB is a great language for beginners, but, in my experience, once a
person learns VB they will have a harder time learning C++ or C#.

What's really a shame is that MS didn't create an easy porting method to
move from VB to VB.Net.

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Leythos

Leythos wrote:

> What's really a shame is that MS didn't create an easy porting method to
> move from VB to VB.Net.

VB.NET has a built-in utility to convert existing VB applications to
VB.NET. Or are you talking about something else?


-WD

Will Dormann

In article <nVJtc.433$>,
lid says...
> Leythos wrote:
>
> > What's really a shame is that MS didn't create an easy porting method to
> > move from VB to VB.Net.
>
> VB.NET has a built-in utility to convert existing VB applications to
> VB.NET. Or are you talking about something else?

VB.Net does not properly convert a LOT of VB objects properly. I have
every version of VB and VB.Net and not one of my applications has fully
ported from VB6 to VB.Net.


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(Remove 999 to reply to me)

Leythos

"Will Dormann" <> wrote in message
news:nVJtc.433$...
> Leythos wrote:
>
>> What's really a shame is that MS didn't create an easy porting method to
>> move from VB to VB.Net.
>
> VB.NET has a built-in utility to convert existing VB applications to
> VB.NET. Or are you talking about something else?
>
>
> -WD

It will not even convert the simplest of applications without going back and
manually editing a truck load of code. You will never find anyone attempting
to convert anything of any real size, as only a re-write would make sense.

John E. Carty