Programming Views

[thebigman]

I was getting back into programming and was in a dilema what to do. I used to mess about with dbase III and foxpro also i was into basic and cobol etc i was wondering if visual basic might be the way to go. Is it quite easy to learn. Can you do a lot with it apart from games? Also what version would I use to begin?
Any views would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[RhinoBull]

... Can you do a lot with it apart from games? ...

That's a silly thing to say... (no offence please). World's best enterprises run (not completely, though) off VB apps...

Anyway, VB has gone a long way since DBase and early Foxpro, though. It is as powerfull as it gets. Is it easy to learn? Depends on a person but takes lots of practice - that's for sure. Since you're looking for new adventure I would suggest to step through .Net - if you're more familiar Baisc then look at VB.Net or C# if C type language makes you feel more comfortable.

Good luck.

[szlamany]

I entered the PC world from the mainframe world 5 years ago. We decided to use VB6, because VB.Net was too new.

What a mistake that was.

By the time we reached completion of our big VB projects, .Net is fully in use. We should have gone VB.Net immediately. Now we have to learn .Net and re-write what we've done in the past 5 years...

As for databases - MS SQL SERVER, or MSDE the free version for small-scale use, is the only DB to use (in my opinion...)

[thebigman]

is visual studio the same thing

[szlamany]

VS.Net included VB.Net and other stuff...

I've got VS.Net Enterprise on my laptop.

[dglienna]

I agree that you should move straight to vb.net. After a lot of years with Basic and other mainframe languages, I decided to write an app in VB6. I needed a lot of help, which is why I got started here. It wasn't that hard to pick up some of the finer points, but, just as i finished my app, it seems that vb6 isn't going to be supported for very long, and I'll have to get a .net version going sooner than I expected.

I have a few clients that are still using the DOS version of my app. Trying to motivate them to switch is a problem. That app used only the keyboard. Now that I allow use of the mouse, one suggestion was that I make it useable with only the mouse! Hard for me to explain the differences. Textboxes are validated, whereas a combo can't validate to only allow valid choices.

[szlamany]

Now that I allow use of the mouse, one suggestion was that I make it useable with only the mouse! Hard for me to explain the differences. Textboxes are validated, whereas a combo can't validate to only allow valid choices.

It's amazing what the users think they can suggest!

I also did 25 years of mainframe/greenscreen apps. You could not leave a field with invalid data and move to another field.

Not we have a mouse - users click all over the place...

Now we have to mark invalid textboxes and comboboxes with "yellow" background. Turn off the SAVE button...

Now if a user leaves a cell in a flexgrid with 100 rows "invalid" they have no clue what to do to fix the bad data before continuing...

Ok - that's enough of a rant - I'll sit down now

[RhinoBull]

...As for databases - MS SQL SERVER, or MSDE the free version for small-scale use, is the only DB to use (in my opinion...)

I wish you wouldn't say that - as much as I like MS products I think Oracle is simply the best RDBMS out there. Period.

[RhinoBull]

...Ok - that's enough of a rant - I'll sit down now

Oh, common, that was just warming up time...

[szlamany]

I wish I had more occasion to use ORACLE - I've seen it used and it seems strong. I certainly wasn't beating up ORACLE with MS...

[dglienna]

Anyone read anything or know anything about PostResSql? I read that is was a popular Apple product, and I don't know much about it.

[thebigman]

anyway
back to my original question
i have visual studio .net coming is this recommended or someone said .net whats the difference.
What kind of things can you produce with vb?

[si_the_geek]

Visual Studio.Net (VS.Net) is a development environment for .Net languages. If you want to write .Net code you should use some sort of development environment, and VS.Net is the official one.

What kind of things can you produce with vb?

Depending on your skill level, pretty much anything you like.

[thebigman]

Ok thanks will stick with vs. I have been looking at foxpro, filemaker and now vs and have been undecided.
Would like to try and do a league standings type thing with league tables etc.
Will keep on slogging on.
Thanks for the advice.

[overclock.king]

That's a silly thing to say... (no offence please). World's best enterprises run (not completely, though) off VB apps...

Anyway, VB has gone a long way since DBase and early Foxpro, though. It is as powerfull as it gets. Is it easy to learn? Depends on a person but takes lots of practice - that's for sure. Since you're looking for new adventure I would suggest to step through .Net - if you're more familiar Baisc then look at VB.Net or C# if C type language makes you feel more comfortable.

Good luck.

You can make games with vb?!?!?!?!??!!

[kaffenils]

I wish you wouldn't say that - as much as I like MS products I think Oracle is simply the best RDBMS out there. Period.

To be honest I think SQL Server 2005 will kick Oracle's ass in both price, performance and functionality.

[RhinoBull]

To be honest I think SQL Server 2005 will kick Oracle's ass in both price, performance and functionality.

Have you kaffenils graduated from high school yet?
If not then I'll wait untill you do so we can talk like (what they say) "pros"...
Untill then you have a great life (and watch you language).

Cheers.

[RhinoBull]

You can make games with vb?!?!?!?!??!!

Not sure if you're asking or confirming...

[umilmi81]

I agree with what everyone is saying here.

Start with .NET. C# if you don't care either way. VB gets you into some bad habits after a few years

[RhinoBull]

...VB gets you into some bad habits after a few years

Like what for instance (if you don't mind me asking)?

[kaffenils]

Have you kaffenils graduated from high school yet?
If not then I'll wait untill you do so we can talk like (what they say) "pros"...
Untill then you have a great life (and watch you language).

Cheers.

It wasn't my intention to hurt anoyones feeling .
It is just my personal opinion. The same way you mention Oracle:

I think Oracle is simply the best RDBMS out there. Period.

No need for insulting comments!

[umilmi81]

Like what for instance (if you don't mind me asking)?

You forget to pay attention to case when checking strings, and using variables.

It's easy to forget to do application cleanup like setting your objects to null and closing your files.

You can also get into the habit of not declaring variables and just relying on type Variant.

VB has exception handling unlike any other language.

Once you've invested your time into learning VB syntax, it's hard to force yourself into learning the syntax of another language. If you learn C# however, you have a much easier time branching out to C++, Java, and Perl.

[dee-u]

You forget to pay attention to case when checking strings, and using variables.

It's easy to forget to do application cleanup like setting your objects to null and closing your files.

You can also get into the habit of not declaring variables and just relying on type Variant.

VB has exception handling unlike any other language.

Once you've invested your time into learning VB syntax, it's hard to force yourself into learning the syntax of another language. If you learn C# however, you have a much easier time branching out to C++, Java, and Perl.

Are you talking about VB.Net here? I don't think Variant still exists in it...

[RhinoBull]

You forget to pay attention to case when checking strings, and using variables...

And you call that a bad habit ?

...It's easy to forget to do application cleanup like setting your objects to null and closing your files...

That should be a "habit" in any lalnguage, though.

...You can also get into the habit of not declaring variables and just relying on type Variant...

You might have had a bad instructur...

...VB has exception handling unlike any other language...

Which is GOOD or BAD ?

...Once you've invested your time into learning VB syntax, it's hard to force yourself into learning the syntax of another language. ...

I would agree - that's what happened to most of COBOL programmers.

[Hack]

You can make games with vb?!?!?!?!??!!

Take a look at our Games And Graphics Programming section.