I have quite a few old GWBasic programs that I would like to convert to Visual Basic. Since I don’t know anything about VB, and will be learning from the ground up, would I be better advised to start with VB6.0 or VBNet?
VB.NET is the next generation programming language that replaces VB6.0 so I suggest that you go straight to .NET since there’s no point in learning old, superceeded technology.
If you want a second opinion, I’d agree with mecaenas, all other things being equal.
I third the motion. =)
Okay. Thanks for the input. Is one as easy (or as difficult) as the other?
VB.NET isn’t just a replacement for VB6 - it’s tied in with a whole load of stuff (I’m desperately trying to avoid the phrase “paradigm shift” here) - in starting from scratch I’d agree that you’re probably going to want to go down the .net route - but take some time to find out about the whole .net framework - and how a VB.net prog runs on a target system, before committing yourself (you’ll need to get your head round it anyway if you do commit, so it’s not wasted time)
Well, my intent is just to provide myself with a tool and a learning experience. I am, however reluctantly, semi-retired, and I don’t expect to ever use VB in any sort of business venture. I want to share some of the old GWBasic stuff with a friend and it was he who suggested VB—I’m not sure I can wrap my head around the net concept. My tired old brain just doesn’t grasp it.
Oh, come on, you want to say it.
He’s right - .NET comes built in with a lot of things that were standalone with VB6 (XML support, threading, asynch, etc.). Plus, .NET introduces the idea of DataSet, something foreign in VB / ADO.
A VB6 developer looks at a problem and thinks “how can I program this?”
A .NET developer looks at the same problem and thinks “is there an assembly that covers this?”
Okay, I’m sold. Net it is. Or will be, anyway.
Thanks for the input.