Advice..

[Jonah]

Okay,

I'd like to ask you guys whether you think I should start with Vb.NET as my first language or that I should start out with Vb 6?

Please explain why.

Thanks for your help!

[hellswraith]

VB.Net is now the newest version. Why would you want to master an older version, just so you can move to VB.Net later and have to learn a bunch of new concepts?

VB6 is in wide use throughout the world. That would be a good reason to learn it.

VB.Net is the new way that Microsoft is pushing. I can understand why they are pushing it, it is awesome. To me, I have much more at my disposal with .Net than I did with VB6. I could probably do everything in VB6 that I do in .Net, but it would take a lot longer.

My vote is for C# though, not for VB6 or VB.Net. It's the 'cool' thing to do. (I am going to get flamed for that...lol)

[Lethal]

Damn you for saying that hellswraith...j/k

Not gonna get flammed from me.. I also lean towards C# over vb.net...It all comes down 2 personal preference.

[Jonah]

Thanks for your help, but why do you think C# is the way to go?

[DevGrp]

Because Microsoft is pushing it. Also C# was design from the ground up to take advantage of the .NET Framework. It is also apart of the C language family so naturally it will be more popular.

[Lethal]

Not to mention the .NET framework was written in C#.

[Jonah]

Okay, learning any language requieres commitment, but would you say that Vb.Net is easier and less complex to learn than C#?

I really appreciate your help...

[DevGrp]

With .NET its all about the Framework. Neither one is easier than the other. The two languages are more or less the same with different syntax.
eg.
Here is a method. It was written in C# and VB.NET. As you can see only the syntax is different;

//C# Version
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
     Graphics g = this.CreateGraphics();
     g.DrawString("Hello GDI+", new Font("Georgia", 20), Brushes.Black,0,0);
     g.DrawArc(Pens.Blue,0,10,30,90,40,50);
     g.DrawPie(Pens.Black, new Rectangle(new Point(0,0), new Size(200,150)), 12.0f, 34.0f);
}

'VB.NET Version
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim g As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics()
        g.DrawString("Hello GDI+", New Font("Georgia", 20), Brushes.Black, 0, 0)
        g.DrawArc(Pens.Blue, 0, 10, 30, 90, 40, 50)
        g.DrawPie(Pens.Red, New Rectangle(New Point(30, 60), New Size(90, 90)), 90, 90)
End Sub

So it all comes do to syntax preference. If you are just starting out, you might find the VB syntax a little too verbose, so I would suggest going the C# route. So basically it all comes down to the .NET Framework classes (library). If you know the framework, everything else should come naturally.

[Jonah]

thanks!

[hellswraith]

I have found a lot of people that know only VB.Net, have a hard time converting C# code to VB.Net code. But you turn it around, it seems that most of the C# people know how to convert back and forth fairly easily. Maybe it is because a lot of us here on the board already know VB6.... don't really know for sure.

[DevGrp]

Well for me its not really that hard to convert between the two languages. Its actually a little harder to convert VB6 code to VB.NET and C# for me. Maybe its because I have'nt used VB6 in such a long time. Its been like a year now. I started learing VB.NET first, and when I saw that MS was pushing C# I dropped VB.NET and picked up C#. I had some experience in C/C++ so switching over to C# was'nt a problem. However I still keep up with VB.NET.

[Cander]

Learn both. trust me. i had no C++ background and learned C# in a week. It is pretty easy. The reason why should learn both is that you will find source code in one language, but need it in the other. With familiarity with both, you will have no problem translating the code to the needed language. Remember that most of the code you will see between C# and VB.NET will look pretty much the same when it comes to using the .NET classes. you just need to understand the Syntax for each language.