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  3. Why is VB being forsaken?

Why is VB being forsaken?

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  • G GuyThiebaut

    Oakman wrote:

    Truth be told, C# is VB.NET with C syntax.

    I thought C# was derived from Java?

    Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.(Winston Churchill)
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    Oakman
    wrote on last edited by
    #29

    GuyThiebaut wrote:

    I thought C# was derived from Java?

    It was supposed to be a Java-killer and was therefore an attempt to create a C-syntax language that those who couldn't or wouldn't deal with C++ that could be migrated to. But C# needed to be as attractive and useful on the desktop as it was on the Web, a task at which Java was failing. MSFT already had a kinder/gentler language that was useful in both environments so there is a goodly chunk of C# that was modeled on VB. Meanwhile VB was forcibly converted into OO, just as C had been shoved (kicking and screaming IIRC) into C++. 2000-2001 was an interesting time to be involved in programming. However, my point was that these days nothing but syntax differentiates the two languages. Folks who claim that one is better than the other are arguing about which flavor of ice-cream they like and trying to turn it into a holy war, and as I said to Alan, both VB and C# (at least on the desktop) are just ways of asking C/C++ to pretty please do the heavy lifting.

    The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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    • N NormDroid

      A good programmer should be able to learn any language with ease. The transtion to c# should be quite easy and the rewards will allow to learn other 'c' style lamguages like C, C++. The compelling reason is most technical applications are written in c#.

      www.software-kinetics.co.uk Wear a hard hat it's under construction

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      Slacker007
      wrote on last edited by
      #30

      well said.

      Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

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      • O Oakman

        Have you figured out stringbuilders yet or are you still concatenating in VB with "+"?

        The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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        Lutoslaw
        wrote on last edited by
        #31

        Sorry, no operator overriding in VB :omg: (& is a string cont op in VB)

        Greetings - Jacek

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        • L Lutoslaw

          Sorry, no operator overriding in VB :omg: (& is a string cont op in VB)

          Greetings - Jacek

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          Oakman
          wrote on last edited by
          #32

          Sure and there's no Optional Parameters in C#. Mouse-sized differences do not hide the mountain sized similarities.

          Jacek Gajek wrote:

          & is a string cont op in VB

          "&" has a different purpose than "+"

          dim z as string = 1 & 2

          is a legit statement in VB and will return "12" "&" was BASIC's equivalent of "Concat" in assembler, while "+" was the equivalent of "add". Since BASIC was intended to be a simpler and more easily readable version of Assembler, it made great good sense to have different operators. Although I stopped worrying about it a long time ago, the idea of adding two strings together struck me as very odd when I first was exposed to it. Adding is what you do to numbers, concatenating is what you do to words. Usually, if you are doing a number of manipulations of a string, you are far better off with stringbuilder - something that was created for VB.NET and ported recently to C# ;)

          The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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          • O Oakman

            PIEBALDconsult wrote:

            C# is just a way better language.

            I can switch back and forth with no problem. I occasionally make the kind of stupid mistake you talked about, of course, but I am way smarter than to blame that on the language.

            The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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            Roland71
            wrote on last edited by
            #33

            i too can switch back and forth very easily, yeah the occasional syntax leak over in both directions occur, but that simply boils down to me not paying attention. in a given day and all at the same time i am working on apps using several languages (each a seperate app) for example: PHP, C#, VB.NET, C++ at any given moment. and generally i have no real issues with any of them. it is not the language at fault, it is the fault of the developer for blaming the language. Plus just remember this (and this meant for all the C# only fan boys); if it was not for VB.NET C# would NOT i repeat NOT exist at all. So give it the respect it deserves as being one of the parent languages of C#.

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            • J jim norcal

              All the programming I have done has been with VB then VB.NET. Microsoft keeps continues to develop and release it along side C# and the rest. However, over the last few years, I have seen very little new information out there regarding VB. Very few articles on Code Project and other sites. Oh, and I'm a subscriber to MSDN magazine and I haven't seen a single line of VB.NET code in .. in .. I can't even remember the last issue. I can say at least the last four issues there hasn't been anything in VB.NET. It's all been C#, C++ and even F# but no VB! Is Microsoft trying to push it to the side so it whithers and dies and hope that no one notices or pays attention? Even here on Code Project I've noted next to nothing new on VB. Every week I get the newsletter with all the new articles and rarely do I see anything on VB.NET. There may be one article among the 30 C# articles but that's on a good week. So, what am I supposed to do? Just stop using it, pick up a "Learning C# For Lonely, Left Behind VB.NET Programmers" and just think of VB.NET as fond memories of long ago? I have a hard time with such a concept. VB.NET has evolved into a good language and is capable of doing pretty much anything C# can do (using the .net framework, of course) so why isn't it promoted more by MS and others?

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              adudley256
              wrote on last edited by
              #34

              There are tons of new tutorials for VB.Net, MS have just released Light Switch, and all the demos are pretty much exclusively in VB.NET. It won't die, MS make programming for all types of people, including people that shouldn't be programming, but they can, because of VB and VB.net. I'm not slating VB.Net, We use it for our major project without issue, and you've got to admit, XML literals are ace. We also use C# for another project, and I really miss the WithEvents keyword :)

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              • L Lutoslaw

                Sorry, no operator overriding in VB :omg: (& is a string cont op in VB)

                Greetings - Jacek

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                db7uk
                wrote on last edited by
                #35

                So is +

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                • O Oakman

                  Have you figured out stringbuilders yet or are you still concatenating in VB with "+"?

                  The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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                  realJSOP
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #36

                  In VB, it's "&", not "+", and I use StringBuilder (or String.Format()) in new code. I almost never use string concatenation. I have a rule that dictates never go back and change existing code (if I didn't originally write the file) unless changing the method is a part of the maintenance process. At that point, I may replace existing string concatenation with appropriate code, depending on a) how big the method is, and whether or ot I'm under an extreme time crunch.

                  ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                  -----
                  You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                  -----
                  "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997

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                  • O Oakman

                    Have you figured out stringbuilders yet or are you still concatenating in VB with "+"?

                    The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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                    Mikel Taylor
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #37

                    sure we do. string builders and generics are our friends, yes. (but we use a "&" ... we reserve the "+" for addition)... funny you ask because as i jump from project to project, I find myself concatenating string in sql with the "&" and in vb with a "+" kind of like when your grandma would call you and rattle off a list of your cousins prior to getting your name right, lol

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                    • A adudley256

                      There are tons of new tutorials for VB.Net, MS have just released Light Switch, and all the demos are pretty much exclusively in VB.NET. It won't die, MS make programming for all types of people, including people that shouldn't be programming, but they can, because of VB and VB.net. I'm not slating VB.Net, We use it for our major project without issue, and you've got to admit, XML literals are ace. We also use C# for another project, and I really miss the WithEvents keyword :)

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                      Mikel Taylor
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #38

                      ...and automatic event wireups ;)

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                      • J jim norcal

                        All the programming I have done has been with VB then VB.NET. Microsoft keeps continues to develop and release it along side C# and the rest. However, over the last few years, I have seen very little new information out there regarding VB. Very few articles on Code Project and other sites. Oh, and I'm a subscriber to MSDN magazine and I haven't seen a single line of VB.NET code in .. in .. I can't even remember the last issue. I can say at least the last four issues there hasn't been anything in VB.NET. It's all been C#, C++ and even F# but no VB! Is Microsoft trying to push it to the side so it whithers and dies and hope that no one notices or pays attention? Even here on Code Project I've noted next to nothing new on VB. Every week I get the newsletter with all the new articles and rarely do I see anything on VB.NET. There may be one article among the 30 C# articles but that's on a good week. So, what am I supposed to do? Just stop using it, pick up a "Learning C# For Lonely, Left Behind VB.NET Programmers" and just think of VB.NET as fond memories of long ago? I have a hard time with such a concept. VB.NET has evolved into a good language and is capable of doing pretty much anything C# can do (using the .net framework, of course) so why isn't it promoted more by MS and others?

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                        MSBassSinger
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #39

                        I started VB with 1, after years of programming in FORTRAN, COBOL, Clipper, and QuickBasic. I never did use procedural programming, but did modular programming. That made the transition to OOP inVB4 through 6 pretty easy. Since my VB6 programs were OO, they ported easily to VB.NET. I also learned C# several years ago. I program in C# where I work since C# is the comfortable choice for the decision makers with a Java and C background. I program in VB.NET for my own development. I find VB.NET to be more productive, even in complex n-tiered apps. VB.NET does everything C# does, so why should I program in a 1960s throwback style when I can program in a simpler, more powerful syntax? I hear the anti-VB folks talk about C# being more "elegant". Huh? What does that mean? My wife and daughter are elegant. I don't want my language of choice to be girly or curly. :) I think "elegant" is used in the context of programming languages when one is unable to give a coherent reason for using a language. Simply put, if Java or C/C++ is your background, then use C#. If VB6 is your background, then use VB.NET. If you want to be mire hirable, know both well. After all, 80% of being an excellent .NET developer is knowing the framework.

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                        • O Oakman

                          Sure and there's no Optional Parameters in C#. Mouse-sized differences do not hide the mountain sized similarities.

                          Jacek Gajek wrote:

                          & is a string cont op in VB

                          "&" has a different purpose than "+"

                          dim z as string = 1 & 2

                          is a legit statement in VB and will return "12" "&" was BASIC's equivalent of "Concat" in assembler, while "+" was the equivalent of "add". Since BASIC was intended to be a simpler and more easily readable version of Assembler, it made great good sense to have different operators. Although I stopped worrying about it a long time ago, the idea of adding two strings together struck me as very odd when I first was exposed to it. Adding is what you do to numbers, concatenating is what you do to words. Usually, if you are doing a number of manipulations of a string, you are far better off with stringbuilder - something that was created for VB.NET and ported recently to C# ;)

                          The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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                          Alan Meadows
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #40

                          Re StringBuilder versus appending text in VB... in VB6, there were several examples of doing an initially large string variable where you kept track of your own location within the string and used mid$ to place an appended string at the end of what was already there. This was only about a hundred times faster than stringA = stringB & stringC stuff. But, VB.Net obviously includes StringBuilder. The reason I (a former Microsoft Visual Basic MVP) went to C# was the arguement that learning the framework and OOP through C# was a better way than relying on VB6 preocedural styles to get into Dot Net. Best decision I ever made.

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                          • D db7uk

                            So is +

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                            Alan Meadows
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #41

                            Yes, but using the plus sign could get you in trouble if your strings were just numeric values.

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                            • A Alan Meadows

                              Yes, but using the plus sign could get you in trouble if your strings were just numeric values.

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                              db7uk
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #42

                              indeed. but who in the world concats numbers and strings in that manner anyway. :-D

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                              • M MSBassSinger

                                I started VB with 1, after years of programming in FORTRAN, COBOL, Clipper, and QuickBasic. I never did use procedural programming, but did modular programming. That made the transition to OOP inVB4 through 6 pretty easy. Since my VB6 programs were OO, they ported easily to VB.NET. I also learned C# several years ago. I program in C# where I work since C# is the comfortable choice for the decision makers with a Java and C background. I program in VB.NET for my own development. I find VB.NET to be more productive, even in complex n-tiered apps. VB.NET does everything C# does, so why should I program in a 1960s throwback style when I can program in a simpler, more powerful syntax? I hear the anti-VB folks talk about C# being more "elegant". Huh? What does that mean? My wife and daughter are elegant. I don't want my language of choice to be girly or curly. :) I think "elegant" is used in the context of programming languages when one is unable to give a coherent reason for using a language. Simply put, if Java or C/C++ is your background, then use C#. If VB6 is your background, then use VB.NET. If you want to be mire hirable, know both well. After all, 80% of being an excellent .NET developer is knowing the framework.

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                                Marcio_Coelho
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #43

                                Hummmmm! Interesting! I started with VB in 1994 and move to c# in 2000, then back to VB and again back to c#. If you are a vb developer I feel you will be able to make an easy transition to c#. I see they both are very similar in performance, and different in syntax. However, if you have developed web sites, chances are you have used JavaScript. I personally like C# better because I think it is more standard and in a certain way close to Java and JavaScript. As far as VB being retired, I do not think so. As far as c# being more popular, yes of course. At the end , the choice is yours.

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                                • J jim norcal

                                  All the programming I have done has been with VB then VB.NET. Microsoft keeps continues to develop and release it along side C# and the rest. However, over the last few years, I have seen very little new information out there regarding VB. Very few articles on Code Project and other sites. Oh, and I'm a subscriber to MSDN magazine and I haven't seen a single line of VB.NET code in .. in .. I can't even remember the last issue. I can say at least the last four issues there hasn't been anything in VB.NET. It's all been C#, C++ and even F# but no VB! Is Microsoft trying to push it to the side so it whithers and dies and hope that no one notices or pays attention? Even here on Code Project I've noted next to nothing new on VB. Every week I get the newsletter with all the new articles and rarely do I see anything on VB.NET. There may be one article among the 30 C# articles but that's on a good week. So, what am I supposed to do? Just stop using it, pick up a "Learning C# For Lonely, Left Behind VB.NET Programmers" and just think of VB.NET as fond memories of long ago? I have a hard time with such a concept. VB.NET has evolved into a good language and is capable of doing pretty much anything C# can do (using the .net framework, of course) so why isn't it promoted more by MS and others?

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                                  K Offline
                                  kenSemantics
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #44

                                  I dont care what others say but I still vote for VB. I can program with VB and C# with equal ease but prefer the former because it lets me concentrate on my programming and logic rather than syntax. This actually saves me a lot of time with capitalization of variables. Think of it and calculate. if you have one capital for a variable and you have 10 variables and use it 10 times in your class, that means in C# you are using the "shift" key 100 times more. doesnt it give us that much more time? VB does it for you. So what if isnt OOPS strictly. It gets the work done and thats it. And it lets me get the work done easily. And if MS were to dump VB I will write my own compiler for it and sit on a hunger strike till they give me the code for the compiler.

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                                  • O Oakman

                                    Norm .net wrote:

                                    A VB Luddite?

                                    or a C# luddite. There are a lot of folks who having gotten used to curly braces never want to learn another syntax rule in their lives.

                                    The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with these three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots. R. A. H.

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                                    John Stewien
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #45

                                    That was me. Until I learned SQL, which is fun.

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                                    • J jim norcal

                                      All the programming I have done has been with VB then VB.NET. Microsoft keeps continues to develop and release it along side C# and the rest. However, over the last few years, I have seen very little new information out there regarding VB. Very few articles on Code Project and other sites. Oh, and I'm a subscriber to MSDN magazine and I haven't seen a single line of VB.NET code in .. in .. I can't even remember the last issue. I can say at least the last four issues there hasn't been anything in VB.NET. It's all been C#, C++ and even F# but no VB! Is Microsoft trying to push it to the side so it whithers and dies and hope that no one notices or pays attention? Even here on Code Project I've noted next to nothing new on VB. Every week I get the newsletter with all the new articles and rarely do I see anything on VB.NET. There may be one article among the 30 C# articles but that's on a good week. So, what am I supposed to do? Just stop using it, pick up a "Learning C# For Lonely, Left Behind VB.NET Programmers" and just think of VB.NET as fond memories of long ago? I have a hard time with such a concept. VB.NET has evolved into a good language and is capable of doing pretty much anything C# can do (using the .net framework, of course) so why isn't it promoted more by MS and others?

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                                      icemclean
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #46

                                      Oh, sod it all, let's just use Python :D

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                                      • J John Stewien

                                        That was me. Until I learned SQL, which is fun.

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                                        jdperk
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #47

                                        To add my opinion to this topic. I for one like VB. I have used VBScript, VB, VB6, VBA, and VB.Net. It is easy to use since it is more readable than C# and other cryptic type code. I don't think VB is going away any time soon and here is why. VBA which is a subset of VB is in many applications Excel, Visio, Access, AutoCAD, and many others just to name a few. I work with VBA more than any other language these days. I can learn another language if I choose to I just can't be an expert at every language so I choose VB as my language of choice. VB.Net can do what C# can do so it is a wash and just a preference. When VB dies that is when I will move to C# or the new language at that time. I suggest stop comparing languages and use the one that you like and can get the job done that you are coding. If C++ is better then use it, if F# is better than use it, pick the right tool for the job.

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                                        • J jim norcal

                                          All the programming I have done has been with VB then VB.NET. Microsoft keeps continues to develop and release it along side C# and the rest. However, over the last few years, I have seen very little new information out there regarding VB. Very few articles on Code Project and other sites. Oh, and I'm a subscriber to MSDN magazine and I haven't seen a single line of VB.NET code in .. in .. I can't even remember the last issue. I can say at least the last four issues there hasn't been anything in VB.NET. It's all been C#, C++ and even F# but no VB! Is Microsoft trying to push it to the side so it whithers and dies and hope that no one notices or pays attention? Even here on Code Project I've noted next to nothing new on VB. Every week I get the newsletter with all the new articles and rarely do I see anything on VB.NET. There may be one article among the 30 C# articles but that's on a good week. So, what am I supposed to do? Just stop using it, pick up a "Learning C# For Lonely, Left Behind VB.NET Programmers" and just think of VB.NET as fond memories of long ago? I have a hard time with such a concept. VB.NET has evolved into a good language and is capable of doing pretty much anything C# can do (using the .net framework, of course) so why isn't it promoted more by MS and others?

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                                          Not Active
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #48

                                          jim norcal wrote:

                                          So, what am I supposed to do? Just stop using it

                                          Yes. Speaking from my recent and on-going experience of working, or attempting to, with a VB.NET project, the code is poorly sturctured, undocumented, unsecure and performs poorly. In general it has been my experince that C# developers are more versed in OO and actually code using these principles. In this recent project there are ~5000 lines of VB.NET in two files. I reengineered using C# with a nTeired approach so that it now has 17 files with ~3000 lines, including unit tests. This is why VB.NET can, and should, be phased out. Not that the language itself is bad, the developers using it, IMO, mostly, don't have the skills, training, or experience to write software in the best manner. C# is also more closely related to other langauages, such as JavaScript, so the transition between them in a web application would be much easier and developers more productive.


                                          I know the language. I've read a book. - _Madmatt

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