1st signs of VB7

[Crazy D]

check this out...
VB is becoming a true programming language...
ingeritance, threads... woohoo http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/nextgen/language.asp

[JazzBass]

Hey Crazy D,
Do happen to have more info on VB7? I just clicked on the link you had and it gives a Visual Studio Page not found error. I tried going to it a couple of different ways from MS's site with nothing.
Thanks,
JazzBass

it works for me.

Originally posted by JazzBass:
Hey Crazy D,
Do happen to have more info on VB7? I just clicked on the link you had and it gives a Visual Studio Page not found error. I tried going to it a couple of different ways from MS's site with nothing.
Thanks,
JazzBass

[Crazy D]

see if this works....
[quote]
Visual Studio Enables the Programmable Web
Language Innovations

Introduction
To rapidly build enterprise Web applications, developers must rely on business logic that is scalable, robust, and reusable. Over the past several years, object oriented programming has emerged as the primary methodology for building systems that meet these requirements. Using object oriented programming languages helps make large-scale systems easier to understand, simpler to debug, and faster to update.

While Visual Basic® has set the standard for rapid development of Windows applications, the lack of object-oriented language features has limited its acceptance for creating middle-tier components. To address this issue, the next generation of Visual Basic will add object-oriented language features to simplify the development of enterprise Web applications. With these new language features, Visual Basic will deliver all the power of C++ or Java while maintaining the instant accessibility that has made it the world's most popular development tool.

This next generation of Visual Basic will provide a first class object oriented programming language with new features such as inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism. Additionally, developers will be able to create highly scalable code with explicit free threading and highly maintainable code with the addition of modernized language constructs like structured exception handling. Visual Basic will provide all the language characteristics that developers need to create robust, scalable distributed Web applications with the following new features:

New object oriented programming features


Inheritance
Encapsulation
Overloading
Polymorphism
Parameterized Constructors

Additional modernized language features


Free Threading
Structured Exception Handling
Type Safety
Shared Members
Initializers
A History of Language Innovation
The Visual Basic language has a long history of updates that map to fundamental changes in the Windows® platform. For example, the significant changes made to QuickBasic® to support Windows 3.0 GUI development resulted in the first release of Visual Basic. In Visual Basic 4.0, the shift to COM-based programming resulted in language constructs for creating DLLs. And in Visual Basic 5.0, the language evolved to support the creation of COM controls.

With each successive revision, the popularity of Visual Basic has soared. The power that the new Visual Basic object-oriented language features provide developers building enterprise Web applications will most certainly continue this trend.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Object oriented programming
There are several weaknesses with traditional structured programming where data is stored separately from procedural code. Any code that is written as structured code is not modular. Because data elements are accessible from any code, it is possible for data to be modified without the developer's knowledge. This can result in runtime errors that are very difficult to debug. Additionally, maintenance becomes very tricky. Trying to understand the global impact of changing a line of code with structured programming can be very difficult. Finally, this reliance on having the programmer manage both code and data results in much lower rates of reuse.

Object oriented Programming (OOP) solves these problems. It packages data, and the methods that act on that data, into a single unit called an object. An object's data can be hidden to prevent unauthorized modification. The object surfaces a set of public methods to operate on this data. This concept is called encapsulation. Because implementation details are separated from the interface, the underlying programming logic can be changed at a later date without fear of breaking code that calls the object.

OOP allows developers to reuse code and data together through inheritance. By inheriting from predefined objects, developers can more rapidly construct complex applications. Since writing new code always has the potential for incorporating bugs, reusing tested code minimizes the chances of additional bugs.

In order to address these needs, the next generation of Visual Basic will provide additional language features that will make it a first class Object Oriented Programming language with all the benefits described above.

Inheritance
Consistently the number one most requested feature for Visual Basic is support for implementation inheritance. Developing in Internet time requires rapid assembly and massive reuse. To facilitate implementation inheritance, Visual Basic will add the Inherits keyword to the language.

Developers can use the new keyword Inherits or the class property sheet's Inherits property to derive from an existing class.

Class1
Function GetCustomer()
...
End Function

Class2
Inherits Class1
Function GetOrders()
...
End Function

The Inherits statement supports all the usual properties associated with inheritance.

Instances of the derived class support all methods and interfaces supported by the base class
The derived class can override methods defined in the base class using the Overrides keyword
The derived class can extend the set of methods and interfaces supported by the base class
Encapsulation
Encapsulation means that developers can contain and hide information about an object, such as internal data structures and code. It isolates the internal complexity of an object's operation from the rest of the application.

For example, when you set the Caption property on a command button, you don't need to know how the string is stored. Visual Basic will help you do this by letting you declare properties and methods as private protected or public.

Why would you want to protect class members? Let's assume that certain properties of a class represented an object's state. If you couldn't prevent those properties from being accessed directly from outside the class, how could you ever guarantee the state of that object? If you protect the property, you could then create a custom method that would be used to assign values to that property. The method could contain validation code to ensure that the value is set properly. Since the property value is assigned in just one place, the code becomes much easier to debug and maintain. In the example below, "me" refers to a specific instance of a class.

Protected cName as string

Protected Function ChangeName(NewName)
Me.cName = NewName
End Function

Overloading
Overloading is a feature that will allow an object's methods and operators to have different meanings depending on its context. Operators can behave differently depending on the data type, or class, of the operands. For example, x+y can mean different things depending on whether x and y are integers or structures. Overloading is especially useful when your object model dictates that you employ similar names for procedures that operate on different data types. For example, a class that can display several different data types could have display procedures that look like this:

Overloads Sub Display (theChar As Char)
...
Overloads Sub Display (theInteger As Integer)
...
Overloads Sub Display (theDouble As Double)

Without overloading, you'd have to create distinct names for each procedure even though they do the same thing:

Sub DisplayChar (theChar As Char)
...
Sub DisplayInt (theInteger As Integer)
...
Sub DisplayDouble (theDouble As Double)

Polymorphism
Polymorphism refers to the ability to process objects differently depending on their data type or class. Additionally it provides the ability to redefine methods for derived classes. For example, given a base class of Employee, polymorphism enables the programmer to define different PayEmployee methods for any number of derived classes, such as Hourl

[1buddylee]

[JazzBass]

Azzmodan,
It seems I get redirected to another page. It shows I'm going to the right page at first, then it sends me elsewhere. I'm using Netscape Comm 4.5.
JazzBass

[JazzBass]

Crazy D,
Good Grief! Man, that's a lot of info. Some of it I understand , some I don't
It does sound cool and a pretty big improvement. Any idea as to doing away the runtime files?
Thanks for the info,
JazzBass

[mjoseph]

There may be an option for static linking its not yet certain. Though developing for the web is going to take over traditional Desktop programming, and they have already managed to allow vb to work independant from windows over the web. You whip up a site in minutes and convert it straight to ASP and HTML which means UNIX MAC Windows, anything can ultimately view it. It's awesome!

[J Staniforth]

They bandie the words "next generation" and "next version", I wonder if this implies that not all of these features are in the next release?

[Crazy D]

Well don't be negative.. let's hope they add all these features in the new version :-)

[StarFaqer]

Tis is a M$ Page and u need definitly IE to explore it

[Jeff Penchoff]

Actually, according to the zdnet website, Microsoft has postponed Visual Studio 7.0 until 2001!! They are doing this to concentrate more on Windows DNA 2000. My guess is that VS 7.0 will be available in beta within the next 3-4 months though I haven't heard anything definite. Maybe now we'll all be able to catch up on some of the technology we've wanted to explore/use but haven't had the time?

[Jeff Penchoff]

Sorry. I forgot to give out the URL for the VS 7.0 story. It's http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_4472.html Check it out.

------------------

[swine]

Anyone know when VB7 release date is supposed to be?

[Serge]

According to Microsoft, new Visual Studio should be out 3-4 months after they release Windows2000, so let's wait a few more months.

------------------

Serge

Senior Programmer Analyst
[email protected]
[email protected]
ICQ#: 51055819

[JungleMan]

Here it is a year later...still no VB7...

[chrisjk]

You mean 2 years later