Several Languages and What to code

I have recently been looking for applying for jobs throughout the Visual Basic programming language, however, most jobs need something else as well as VB or instead of VB (eg. .Net, C#, C++).

The most recent job I looked at said this:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Job

• ASP.net (VB or C#) minimum 6 months experience • XML • .Net Framework • SQL Server / MS Access • Ability to show initiative • Good team player • Experience dealing directly with clients • Ability to work to deadlines • SEO awareness • Good understanding of security considerations for web design and hosting If you have the following it would certainly be an advantage but by no means essential….

• Exposure to Ecommerce • Web hosting experience • Email • Web Services • MYSQL • Source Control Software • Dreamweaver • SMS Integration

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I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how I could run my own little project to link VB (maybe a little C# - but i would need a little help with this bit), XML, .NET, SQL and Dreamweaver (php and html). I would be able to then use this as evidence to show employers what i have been able to create and how i can link them together. This would also gain me some experience and maybe lead way into new languages as im not so good with C# yet and i dont think i see much of a difference between VB and VB.Net :confused:?

I am not asking for help on a project yet im just asking if anyone had an idea what type of things i could do to link all those things together?

Replies would be appreciated
Thanks
Connah

What do you mean by VB and what do you mean by .NET? In general, .NET could refer to VB.NET, C#, and others, but you clearly distinguish between .NET and C#, as well as VB and .NET. Do you mean VB6 when you say VB, and VB.NET when you say .NET?

If you have done any database work, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with SQL. If you don't find much difference between VB and VB.NET....well, that's a bit different, but the syntaxes are the same. You can download a free version of 2008 Express if you want to play around with VB.NET, which would allow you to play with XML and SQL (via databases). On the other hand, it is FAR easier to learn if you have some project that gives you a goal.

yes i mean VB6 When i say VB and VB.NET when i say .Net sorry i thought thats what everyone thought they were? im a little confused now that im in the grounds of .Net and the likes...

What i do understand is that C# runs off of .NetFramework which im guessing everything with .Net does... Why doesnt VB6 do this when VB.Net does and the coding is the same?

I have VB6, Visual Studio 2010 Beta and i have HAD Visual Studio 2008 (but i upgraded to 2010)

Well, that's a bit hard to answer. VB6 certainly preceded .NET, and compiled to a binary that used a small framework-like thing. .NET compiles to an intermediate language (regardless of whether it is VB.NET or C#, and I hear that MS is dropping the .NET, such that VB.NET is becoming VB). The IL is then turned into executable code by the JIT compiler. That adds a step to what VB6 was doing. The reason for this change is debatable, but I would say that MS was afraid that Java might someday actually attain the write-once, run-anywhere promise that it always held. Since MS was fighting with Sun over the not-really-open Java standard, they decided to create a set of their own languages with the same promise. The IL produced by VB or C# can run on any platform that has a JIT compiler to convert the IL to native for that platform.

Along the way, .NET added many language features that were not available in VB6, such as OO design, multi-threading, and many others. There is enough similarity, and backwards compatibility, that you can write for .NET code that is very similar to VB6, but such things as database connectivity, web, and TCP/UDP communications are VERY different from what was available in VB6. That means that the similarties are mostly only there for small, independent programs.

so the coding of vb.net and vb6 (for all the basic and advanced (but not expert) functions) is pretty much the same?

so in answer to my first question... what kind of project could i do to link VB6 VB.Net (if different) C# and Dreamweaver together?

cheers you have helped alot :)

I would not attempt to link VB.NET and C#. It isn't hard to do, as you could write a dll in one and a different dll in a different one. The two languages are very nearly interchangeable. The major difference is the syntax, and they both compile to the same IL. If you are thinking of career implications, you might choose to make a project in C#, as there still appears to be a slight pay benefit to that language, despite it being so utterly similar to VB.NET. Others have speculated, and I agree, that this is some kind of holdover bias from when VB6 was considered a 'toy' language, while C/C++ were considered real. Still, the benefit does appear to be there.

The design of programs is different between VB.NET and VB6 due to VB.NET being fully object oriented. Some items were added to .NET to make the jump to OO design a little less daunting to VB6 people, but most of those items (such as modules) really don't amount to much, and others (such as default instances of forms) are more detrimental than anything else, since they keep people from really understanding what they are doing, until they realize what a default instance is.

However, the syntax between the two languages is the same as far as flow control and keywords, are concerned. I would say that most people feel that the two are not really all that similar, though any one, simple, function can look virtually identical between the two languages. The fact that everything is objects and methods or properties of objects, is the main difference that people see right away. That wasn't entirely unlike VB6, though, so you may be able to learn the implications of that in stages.

Also, remember that most people posting job applications are using a "shotgun of acronyms". Not even THEY know what they are or if they use them all. They're just buzzwords to human resources.

The job posting you give as an example is well thought out though. They want an ASP.NET programmer which means it's for a web-enabled application that'll run on an IIS server. Also, they don't care if the person is schooled in either VB.NET or C# since ASP.NET can be done in each. ASP.NET is a bit different than standard Windows Forms application programming mind you.

They want knowledge of XML, which means you should know the basics of what XML is and how to manipulate it in .NET. They want ".NET Framework" which goes without saying if they are looking for an ASP.NET programmer.

Finally, they want "SQL Server / MS Access" which means you need to be familiar with the ADO.NET end of the .NET framework for talking to databases. Likewise, if you know ADO.NET, then using it with MySQL as well is given.

Rewritten, that example job posting is looking for: A .NET programmer who is versed in either C# or VB.NET with a minimum 6 months experience and has knowledge of using .NET with XML files and ADO.NET for talking to SQL server and MS Access databases.