interpreted language blues

[scuzymoto]

Will I be able to write a VB.net application that will be able to run without the presence of the VB runtime files. For example, could I write a simple hello world program that could run from a CD without having to "install" anything? I have heard that it will but was wondering if that is true.

[kovan]

no
ALL languages use ONE runtime dll
you STILL need to have soemthing

almost every language requires runtimes
even java

so you still need that dll installed somewhere
(windows will suplly this with windows of course)

[Warmaster199]

Originally posted by kovan
no
ALL languages use ONE runtime dll
you STILL need to have soemthing

almost every language requires runtimes
even java

so you still need that dll installed somewhere
(windows will suplly this with windows of course)

C, C++, and Assembly don't need no runtimes. They make stand-alone apps that don't require runtimes at all. Using C, C++, and ASM, you can even create your own OS's!

[kovan]

your right
but maybe i wasnt clear on my reply
i was refering to visual c++
(microsoft stuff)

[Warmaster199]

Visual C? YES, that's interpreted. I think that is only interpreted if you use COM or MFC. Otherwise, I don't think you need anything to run it.

[scuzymoto]

No one has answered the question yet? C, C++, Visual C++, even Pascal and Delphi (oo pascal) can all make programs that don't need any additional files to run. Just a single executable could feasably be written that would run on a purely DOS system, its so simple. VB currently can't do that. If it doesn't have its runtime files it worthless.

VB is that way currently because it is an interpreted language... meaning. VB is actually an application that was written in C++. The code you write in VB gets translated to C++ before it can do anything. Thats why some peole (i.e. C programmers) say VB isn't a real programming language. To them VB programmers are like people who claim Microsoft Access is a programming language because you can make forms and reports with it. Like VB and its runtime files however, those forms and reports can't run outside of an access application on their own.

I have been told that VB.net is no longer interpreted, it compiles right to machine language. So my question is... is this true?

[reeset]

Nope. It is not true. Microsoft's .Net will be much like Java, it will be a JIT Language. This is why programs written in .Net will eventually (cross your fingers) be portable to a Mac or even Linix. All that would be necessary is the .Net runtime environment. (Just like Java). The difference between java and .Net will be that on a Windows Machine, the interpreter will be integrated into the OS, theoretically making these application faster then current windows applications. But only time will tell.

[scuzymoto]

Ahhhh, I understand. So you could copy a VB application right to a system and it would run without any other files but thats not because it doesn't require the support files or libraries anymore, its just because what it does require (the JIT compiler) will already be present in the OS. Makes sense. Thanks reeset.