Greetings Everyone.

[love.to.code]

I hope you all are ok.
My name is Carl and I want to learn a programming language and i have selected visual basic 6.0 to start from.. But there is something that has been bothering me from a long time and that is i can't seem to learn a programming language at all, i tried to learn php, c++, etc in the past but couldn't.. May be it is because i don't understand how the programming really goes..
I would really like to take an advice from you guys to help me in learning the programming language. and for the record, i have never programmed before at all..

[Lenggries]

First, VB6 is not a good language to start learning to program in 2012.

Second, if you have never found success teaching yourself, take a class.

[love.to.code]

I understand your concern about vb6 but ain't it the easiest language around?
and moreover it doesn't need the latest framework right?

[DataMiser]

See my reply to your question on CodeGuru.

http://www.codeguru.com/forum/showpo...48&postcount=4

[si_the_geek]

Welcome to VBForums

I understand your concern about vb6 but ain't it the easiest language around?

No it isn't.

It certainly isn't the hardest either, but it does make many things much more tricky than they are in newer languages.

For example, if you want something simple like loading the text from a file, it takes about 5 times as much code (which can easily have bugs - as we see more often than not).

If you want something 'modern' like icons in menus, it is ridiculously more complex than it is in newer languages (several days of work and hundreds of lines of code, rather than a few seconds and no code).

Even things like making controls on a form resize when the form resizes is far more complex (you write/test your own code for each control [and even then are likely to have bugs in it], rather than just ticking a box in the properties window).


On top of that, it is a "dead end" language, in that it wont really help you to move on to others later - whereas most newer languages tend to have more things in common with each other.

and moreover it doesn't need the latest framework right?

No, it needs a framework that is going to be killed off at some point, and is already in an extremely limited support phase... we were surprised to hear that it will work on Windows 8. For the version of Windows after that (which could be 3 years time), will VB6 programs work at all? We have no idea.

If you use .Net, you don't have to use the latest framework - you can pick an older one instead (which is pre-installed on Vista/7/8, and is an "important" Windows Update package for XP, so almost everyone has it already).

There are also non-MS options to choose from, but I don't know about them myself.

[Doogle]

@Carl:

I think the mistake you might be making is in 'jumping in at the deep end' before you're really ready.

A key skill required for a Programmer is the ability to take a problem, break it down into manageable sub-problems and then solve them. i.e. work out the logic, prerequisites and information required to solve the overall problem. This can be described as 'Computational Thinking'.

Once you've got the logic right you can implement the solution in whatever language you want. Take a very simple 'problem'; that of making a cup of hot traditional English Tea. What steps would you need to take in order to solve that 'problem'?

In this case the 'information' you require is; what strength of tea you want, and whether it should contain milk and / or sugar; the prerequisites are: a supply of water, a container for the water (eg Kettle), a means of heating the water (eg a stove), a container for the Tea (eg a Cup), some tea (or tea bag), perhaps some milk and perhaps some sugar and a spoon to stir it.

Given you've got all that then the problem is solvable. You just need to work out the steps required and the order in which you do it.

So, the steps might go like this:

1. Put the water into the water container
2. Turn on the heating mechanism
3. Put the water container onto the heating and wait for it to boil
4. Remove the water container from the heat and turn off the heating mechanism
5. Put the Tea / Tea bag into the Cup
6. Pour the hot water into the cup
7. Wait for it to brew to the strength required
8. If milk is required than add milk
9. If sugar is required then add it to the tea
10. Stir the mixture
11. End

Now that looks quite straightforward, but if you look closely at, for instance, step 1. That can be broken down into a sub-problem, such as;

(a) Put water container under the tap
(b) Turn on tap
(c) Fill container with at least sufficient water to fill the cup
(d) Turn off tap


Also note that steps 5, 8 and 9 can be done at any time, but steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 have to be performed in that order and you only perform steps 8 and 9 conditionally (ie if the requirements include milk and sugar)

Additionally, you can see that some time is 'wasted' in step 3; whilst waiting for the water to heat steps 5, 8 and 9 could be performed so we could 'optimise' the logic to make better use of time, thus:

1. Put the water into the water container
2. Turn on the heating mechanism
3. Put the water container onto the heating
4. While waiting for the water to boil:
(4.1) Put the Tea / Tea bag into the Cup
(4.2) If milk is required than add milk
(4.3) If sugar is required then add it to the tea
(4.4) If water has not yet boiled, wait
5. Remove the water container from the heat and turn off the heating mechanism
6. Pour the hot water into the cup
7. Wait for it to brew to the strength required
8. Stir the mixture
9. End

This might seem to be a 'silly' example but it highlights the attention to detail required to thoroughly analyse the problem and determine the steps required, that a Programmer has to apply before attempting to write any code.

You can practice by taking any everyday 'problem' and determing the steps required to solve it. e.g. Cooking Christmas Dinner; boiling an Egg; getting dressed in the morning. You don't need a Computer or a Computer language at all!

It's implicit that, in order to create a program to solve a problem, you must be able to solve it yourself. There's no 'Magic' involved.

As has beein pointed out, VB6 is not the best language to use since it's obsolete and the investment you will have to make in purchasing a copy could well be wasted. There are loads of (free) computer languages around - including versions of Basic - it doesn't really matter which one you start with, since, as time goes by, you'll probably want to learn others.

[incidentals]

the problem with new languages and newbies is that you need to learn all about the other stuff that the new languages revolve around like

class, inheritance, property and method and so it goes on!

the simpler "dead end languages" teach problem solving skills in a less abstract way..

once you can think a problems solution through, you can solve it in any language you want.

learning .net will not help you use miranda or eifel or hugs or umpteen other functional languages.

It will not help with assembler or embedded coding used in small devices.

It will not help in forth or even turtle.

But it will help in D,E and now F#

learn to think first and program later!

here to help ( and lessons if needed )

[techgnome]

Sometimes it's all about knowing the right objects to call....

private function MakeTea() as ICup(Of Tea)
	Dim myTeaPot as New Vessels.TeaPot
	'1. Put the water into the water container
	myTeaPot.Fill(new Water(KitchenFaucet))
	'2. Turn on the heating mechanism
	mStove.Burner(FrontLeft).Start
	'3. Put the water container onto the heating
	mStove.Burner(FrontLeft).Add(myTeaPot)
	'4. While waiting for the water to boil:
	AddHandler myTeaPot.Boiling, AddressOf teaPotHandler_Boil
	'(4.1) Put the Tea / Tea bag into the Cup 
	Dim myCup as new ICup(Of Tea)
	'(4.2) If milk is required than add milk
	myCup.Add(Milk)
	'(4.3) If sugar is required then add it to the tea
	myCup.Add(Sweetner)
	'(4.4) If water has not yet boiled, wait 
	Do While not myTeaPot.IsBoiling
		Me.WatchPot(False)
		Me.DoEvents 'Yes it's a busy wait but there isn't much choice
	Loop
	'6. Pour the hot water into the cup
	myCup.Fill(myTeaPot)
	'7. Wait for it to brew to the strength required
	Thread.Wait(300) 'Takes about 5 minutes
	'8. Stir the mixture
	myCup.Stir
	'9. End
	return myCup
End Function

private sub teaPotHandler_Boil(s as sender, e as EventArgsBoil)
	'5. Remove the water container from the heat and turn off the heating mechanism 
	mStove.Burner(FrontLeft).Remove(DirectCast(s, Vessels.TeaPot))
end sub

-tg

[dilettante]

You could start with .Net: http://smallbasic.com/

[dilettante]

Also note:

Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows 8

Synopsis:

“It Just Works”

[Shaggy Hiker]

I knew the Cup (of T) was found in the British namespace!

Another reason to go with .NET is the price. To get VB6, you either need to get it from some alternate source or steal it. Neither of those options is a good one. With .NET, you can download the free VB2010 Express, which is pretty much the whole thing.

[DataMiser]

Actually you can still get VB6 Enterprise Edition directly from Microsoft or at least you could the last time I checked. I got it from them early last year because my VS6 pro would not install on Windows 7

I do not know if they make it available as a standalone purchase but as a member of MSDN I was able to download it from thier site.

[Doogle]

As OP hasn't acknowledged any responses I guess that, either we're off target, or between us we've totally confused them, or they've got a solution elsewhere.

C'est la vie

[DataMiser]

The same thread is posted on CodeGuru. I do not think the OP has responded there either.