Microsoft Forcing C# ??

[sthomas]

Anyone else feel this way.

It seems that any coding examples are written in C#. Not only from Microsoft but others. Example: I want to find a way to include the .Net framework with my VB.Net application. I go to microsoft and they say download this code and it will give you an example. I spend 15 minutes downloading and it is written in C#. They do not state that it is written in C# and they do not include code for both VB and C#. It seems Microsoft just assumes that everyone is writting in C# and all further examples will be written in C#.

The learning curve from VB6 to VB.Net is tremendous. If I am going to learn a new language I just as well figure out which one is best and I am really starting to wonder if I should switch to C# rather than VB ???

Any feedback would be helpful.

[fungi]

I personally think MS (for once) have done a decent job promoting VB.NET.
Between MSDN and their sample aplications, I haven't had any problem finding VB specific code.
Another handy place to go is gotdotnet.com

I also find C# grammer fairly easy to follow and not difficult to convert to VB.

I deliberately stayed with VB instead of jumping to C# mainly because I
also still do VB 6 and VBScript and wanted at least a fighting chance of working
with a common syntax. It's bad enough when I have to jump into JavaScript every now and then.

[DevGrp]

Learn both. If you know VB.NET, it should'nt be hard to convert C# code. Its basically curly braces and semicolons. There are some minor differences other than syntax, but nothing too tough.

[Pirate]

I agree with DevGrp , better you learn both . Start with VB.NET as the conversion hopfully would be fairly easy . The switch from VB to C# took me around a week .

[hellswraith]

They are not forcing it, but they are promoting it heavily.

I have said from the start, C# will ultimately have more code samples than VB.Net will. The reason I claim this is:
1. It is now MS's baby, like VB was back in the day.
2. Mono project. It seems that the mono project pushes C# a lot.
3. A large base of Java and C++ programmers out there that know the syntax, and are instantly comfortable with it. (same could be said for VB6ers, but see last item)
4. Those C++ and Java programmers tend to be more experienced. A lot of people start with VB6, and stick with it. Those that go on become better coders, and end up able to write more samples.
5. MANY VB6 developers refuse to go to VB.Net because they feel MS is screwing them.

Just my view, I could be wrong... But I am finding when searching for code, I find all the easy stuff in VB.Net, but the more complex samples written in C# (which is why I came up with numbers 3 and 4).

[Edneeis]

I'd like to add that VB.NET is still derived from a previous language where as C# is completely new. So C# people don't have any previous examples to go by but VBers do because some old stuff still works.

[Pirate]

Originally posted by Edneeis
I'd like to add that VB.NET is still derived from a previous language where as C# is completely new. So C# people don't have any previous examples to go by but VBers do because some old stuff still works.

Yah , This makes more sense Ed.

[crpietschmann]

Originally posted by Edneeis
I'd like to add that VB.NET is still derived from a previous language where as C# is completely new. So C# people don't have any previous examples to go by but VBers do because some old stuff still works.

VS.NET also has a conversion tool to automate most of the conversion process from VB6 to VB.NET. It'll open up a VB6 project and write a VB.NET project. It's pretty neat.

I have learned both VB.NET and C#. I went from VB6 to VB.NET in a two week period. I know nothing of .NET when I started. Then as I discovered that there weren't very many VB.NET code exampls, and mostly C#, I started learning C#. It's easy to interpret C# and then go and write VB.NET code. C# isn't all that different from VB.NET, it's all .NET. The main difference is the basic syntax of the language.

[BukHix]

For small bits of code this site works nicely Convert C# to VB .NET I have used it many times and so far have never had any problems converting sample / demo codes in it.

[nemaroller]

Originally posted by BukHix
For small bits of code this site works nicely Convert C# to VB .NET I have used it many times and so far have never had any problems converting sample / demo codes in it.

Wonderful resource by the way... thanks for linkifying!

[hellswraith]

All VBers should learn C#. It will only help you out in the long run. Those little translaters can only do so much....

LONG LIVE C#!

[nemaroller]

Originally posted by hellswraith
All VBers should learn C#. It will only help you out in the long run. Those little translaters can only do so much....

LONG LIVE C#!

I know C#, but at the same time, our project is being written in VB, and when we find a piece of (long) code in C#, this will make the transistion time null, and the whole process just easy