[RESOLVED] Is VB.NET the right language for me?

[HunterTTP]

First off I just wanted to humbly thank you guys for answering all my tediously mundane questions.

Over the past year I have made simple programs with VB.Net. One of which has almost 5000 downloads. I'm 18 years old and I can see my High School graduation on the horizon. So my question is, should I lean towards VB.NET in college, or should I pick another language? I've written in C++, Java, Flash, and HTML; but VB.NET has definitely been my favorite. Despite that fact, I definitely want to be able to get a job once I get out of college. So is VB.NET the language that I should stick with?

[.paul.]

i prefer vb.net myself, but java has a huge advantage in being platform independent

[kareninstructor]

I use VB.NET because that is the primary language in a division while the last division (roughly 10 years ago) used Borland Delphi so that was my primary language. If I were to re-tool myself now looking at classifieds, C Sharp has been in demand while VB.NET less than one percent of job offering or as Paul suggested Java. Best too focus on a language like C or Java not to exclude VB.NET down the road.

Also since, you have mentioned Flash that is something I would spend absolutely no time with. We develop a good deal of internal and external web applications that relied on ColdFusion widgets (which used Flash i.e. for grids) and learned that using JQuery was much faster and lighter.

[Shaggy Hiker]

There are lots of jobs in VB.NET. However, they seem patchily distributed. I don't know if that is a general case, or a faulty observation, but some people report that VB jobs are common in their area, while others, such as Kevin, report a prevalence of C#. One thing that seems to be generally true, though, is that C# jobs pay more than VB jobs. This is probably due to ignorant stereotyping, so it could vanish at any time, or be absent in any particular location.

[ThomasJohnsen]

I honestly don't think that it will matter much. Switching from VB.Net to C# or back isn't a big deal. IMO the various programming languages are more similar today than programming languages have ever been (well except for blasted HTML that is like something out of the distant past). I can see nothing wrong with working on several platforms and being none the worse a programmer for it.

[techgnome]

It also depends on what you want to do with it... what kind of development...
I've managed to parlay my VB knowledge into a 20+ year career.
So it's certainly possible... but again, it depends on what you want to do. One more thing to note... after the first couple of languages, it gets easier... if you can combine that with database skills too ... it make you just that much more desirable.

-tg

[HunterTTP]

I really appreciate the input guys. I guess I really just need to decide between VB.Net and C#. But from what I understand, C# uses VS Studio as well? (2012 for me)

[kareninstructor]

I really appreciate the input guys. I guess I really just need to decide between VB.Net and C#. But from what I understand, C# uses VS Studio as well? (2012 for me)

A version higher than Express Edition of Visual Studio has C Sharp and VB.NET.
Some of my solutions incude mixed project types, i.e. C Sharp project for a control (DLL), VB.NET project for data access (DLL) with a VB.NET project for UI (EXE) etc.
Best not to discount either language but at least to start concentrate on making one a primary language.

[HunterTTP]

All my programs so far revolve around video games. They are not games of course, just utilities. At this point, I don't think making video games is my calling but it is definitely my field of interest. I guess I'm just trying to decide between C++ and C#?

[wakawaka]

I would say learn C++ just to understand it, but like others mention C# is in the biggest demand, even though they can accomplish the same things....but anyway, for games, the XNA framework exists and it supports but c# and vb now.

For getting a job, c# is your best bet.

[HunterTTP]

I see, so there is the XNA Framework and the XNA Game Studio. Does the game studio have a free version like Visual Studio? Also, is XNA Gamestudio only for Xbox and Phone related content or can it be used to make computer games as well?

[wakawaka]

More info. A little old but still relevant

[HunterTTP]

Thanks!

[Shaggy Hiker]

You can use XNA even for drawing a single control within an otherwise Windows project. However, the versions of XNA, and where it ends up in VS, can be a bit confusing. For instance, I have some higher level version of VS (I didn't buy it, and don't pay attention to the version). I installed the XNA downloadable, but not the XNA Refresh (I'm not sure what the difference is). At first, I was baffled by the fact that I couldn't find any XNA templates in VS, though I could reference the libraries. Eventually, I found that all the templates were under C#, regardless of the fact that you could just as easily use XNA with VB. I suspect that the templates were all built for C#, and VB versions of them haven't been created. Perhaps they never will be. The two languages are sufficiently similar that converting the templates may not be justifiable within MS.

[ThomasJohnsen]

You can use XNA even for drawing a single control within an otherwise Windows project. However, the versions of XNA, and where it ends up in VS, can be a bit confusing. For instance, I have some higher level version of VS (I didn't buy it, and don't pay attention to the version). I installed the XNA downloadable, but not the XNA Refresh (I'm not sure what the difference is). At first, I was baffled by the fact that I couldn't find any XNA templates in VS, though I could reference the libraries. Eventually, I found that all the templates were under C#, regardless of the fact that you could just as easily use XNA with VB. I suspect that the templates were all built for C#, and VB versions of them haven't been created. Perhaps they never will be. The two languages are sufficiently similar that converting the templates may not be justifiable within MS.

Is this also true for 2012? Are there other versions than the 2010 Phone that supports XNA for VB?

#EDIT: I'm asking because if 2012 dosen't support XNA for VB, then VB-XNA is pretty much a lost cause IMO.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I haven't tried 2012, and I don't have 2010 Phone, either, but I do have XNA.

Frankly, I'm not sure that there really is such as thing as XNA for VB. There are libraries you can reference, but that doesn't mean that they have anything to do with VB. The objects that I had to use were based on an example written in C# that I converted over to VB. At that point, exactly what has MS supplied me? I didn't use an existing template, I had to convert some C# to VB, and I referenced a bunch of libraries, but there's nothing language specific about the latter point.

I'm not entirely sure what changed.

[Evil_Giraffe]

...but VB.NET has definitely been my favorite.

That suggests to me that you've got into the VB.NET groove. If you're comfortable with VB.NET then that's a big mark against continuing with it, in your situation. What you would be best doing is keeping VB.NET going on the side and learning something radically different, such as C++ (unmanaged), Lisp/Schema/Haskell (functional), etc. Don't bother with C# or Java because they're similar to VB in terms of philosophy (managed, primarily OO, etc) and you'd be only learning a slight difference in syntax (semi-colons ahoy!) and (for Java) a different set of library classes.

What I'm suggesting you need right now is exposure to different paradigms that take you out of your comfort zone.

[ThomasJohnsen]

I haven't tried 2012, and I don't have 2010 Phone, either, but I do have XNA.

Frankly, I'm not sure that there really is such as thing as XNA for VB

There is! Only product supporting it, I have come across till date though, is the aforementioned Phone Version.
Btw how did you create a Content project - do you have a version of VB that supports it? Or did you use a lower version of XNA besides the 4.0?

[Shaggy Hiker]

I followed something I found on the web. Perhaps the content project was C#. Frankly, I don't remember by now, but it wasn't hard.