Move to VB6 Professional Edition from VB6 Learning Edition

[Españolita]

Years ago, my brother gave a vb6 Learning Edition and that is what I use. When I tried to write a CD player programme, I realised that Microsoft Multimedia Control is not included (as, I assume, will be several other things).
Not long ago, a friend, who used to be a Microsoft Registered Engineer gave me an old copy of VB Professional Edition. It says on the cover "Designed for Windows 95" so you can see it is really old. I assume it is VB6 like my copy Learning Edition.
So, my questions, should I "upgrade"? Is MMC included in the Professional Edition? Will it cause any problems with the programs I have already written? Should I just sell the Professional Edition?

I have scanned the internet for days now looking for these answers and found nothing. The nearest I got was a link in THIS forum which said definitive answers are about as rare as hen's teeth. Therefore, Thoughts, ideas, suggestions and personal preferences would be welcomed

[Shaggy Hiker]

Ha! I think I read the exact quote that you mention.

If the cover talks about Windows 95, it probably isn't even VB6, since that would have come out after Windows 98. There is still a chance that it is VB6, of course, but more likely it is VB5 and quite possibly it is VB4. In those cases, even selling it would be tough, as it would be little more than a novelty, anymore. MS stopped supporting VB6 years ago, so an even older version....well, why would anybody bother?

The best advice is probably that you move into the modern age with one of the free VB.NET versions (you can probably still find 2008 Express, but the current one is 2010 Express). However, if you know VB6, then moving to VB.NET would be moving to a language that is familiar, but quite different. VB.NET is generally considered a different language from VB6 and earlier, though the syntax is pretty much the same. If you are new enough to it that you don't feel that you are an expert at VB6, then the move to .NET may not bother you any.

In any case, that's the choise: To move to .NET, or not. The price for a pretty complete version (Express) would be $0, so the price is right, but if you don't feel like moving to a different language, then you might not want to take that step. Either way, that Professional Edition probably isn't worth much to you or anybody else.

[dilettante]

A brief description of the differences in VB6 Editions is outlined in Visual Basic Editions. The limitations of Learning Edition might account for things like the fear of data binding we see in VB6 discussions here today, since it only included the barest bones of database support forcing people to fall back on techniques more appropriate in scripting.

The MMC is definately part of VB6 Pro.

But there is no question it is now very late in the life cycle of VB6. By rights the product should have been replaced by new versions several times by now.


One road might be VB.Net, but if you are willing to make such a large change you might look at alternatives first. Java is much more mature than it was when VB6 came out in 1998, and now has IDE support approaching VB6 in most ways and exceeding it in several ways.

While very distinct from JavaScript, Java does bear a close syntactical similarity on first glance. They are even closer than VB and VB.Net in this regard. They are also both multiplatform.

Microsoft is making a stronger commitment to JavaScript in Windows 8 - even to the point of JITting JavaScript to native code in the new version of the Chakra engine. JavaScript is intended to be a first class development language for Metro/WinRT in Windows 8. See How (and why) is Microsoft tweaking its 'Chakra' JavaScript engine in IE10?

[Españolita]

OK, so the "upgrade" is really a downgrade so that's out of the window and the CD in the bin.
My choice is VB .Net, Java or C++. Many many moons ago (on my Sinclair Spectrum! ) I got a C compiler but couldn't make much sense of it.
In reality, I think I am more inclined to .Net because it's basic and it's what I'm most comfortable with. The leap from Sinclair, BBC, Pick Databasic and QuickBasic to VB was a difficult enough one for me.
The next question is, what is the difference between these 3 languages as far as the kinds of application that can be produced. For example, are they all capable of writing windows based apps that manipulate a database and format and display the results? That is the main thing I would be using it for since I am nothing more than a hobbyist.

[Niya]

There is very little you cannot do with VB.Net. Its main weaknesses are:-

• Its most developed and complete implementation exists only on the Windows platform.
• Its very easy to decompile.

[dilettante]

OK, so the "upgrade" is really a downgrade...

Hard to see how you came to that strange conclusion.

In reality, I think I am more inclined to .Net because it's basic and it's what I'm most comfortable with.

So go ahead, Express is free.

... since I am nothing more than a hobbyist.

So you don't need Pro features anyway, and even job market considerations aren't important.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Hard to see how you came to that strange conclusion.

From the description, I would guess that it was the pro version of either VB4 or VB5, so it was a step back.

I would go with VB.NET Express.

C++ can write faster code, but you can't write it faster. In fact, if you felt C was complicated, C++ is even more so. The advantage it provides is that you can write very low level code (you can even inline ASM into C/C++), which is useful for drivers, and occasionally for wringing every last cycle out of a procedure. Other than that, the only real advantage is that the code will run faster, which matters for cutting edge, graphics-intensive, games.

[Españolita]

[*] Its very easy to decompile.[/LIST]

Really!? You want to see how easy Pick Databasic was, I wrote decompiler for that when I was a trainee programmer many many years ago. However, that may give me another little project when I get underway with it

Speed is of no interest to me so no reason really to go to C so that's decision made for me. Thank you everyone for your guidance.

[Niya]

It has nothing to do with the fact that its a basic dialect but all do to with the fact that .Net compilers embed a lot of metadata into its binaries which aid de-compilers immensely.