VB6 to VB.NET Comparison

[JonnyPoet]

There ARE a FEW excellent programmers, ...

No Geoge. There are lots of new programmers who never have learned the older stuff like I did. They came from univerities or other schools and they work with modern languages. There is no problem to go banrupt by this point,

.Net is clearly something that Microsoft itself considers a work in progress - they are evolving the platform at a great rate, because they are realising that what they have done before "IS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH"

Hey George come on, your sight of things...

You cannot stop progress in the world. You cannot go and say Edison has told people that a candlelight is bad and people needs to use electric light now. You cannot .. never .. turn the wheel backwards.

Development goes forward and forward and only people who tries to stay on a point will succumb while others, able to learn and adapt their knowledge will succeed

Thats nearly all about and thats how life generally works. And sorry, life isn't developed by Bill Gates you cannot make him guilty for that.

If MS wouldn't have gone into this direction others liek the Sun people would have done and MS would have gone down the river IMHO

You have been developing .Net projects in NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH technology (but you made it work because you are a professional)

Hahaha... Strange comment. Have you ever seen one of Wizzards programs .. ( I dont believe that ) But generally said I have never seen a program without bugs as this is impossible by the laws of nature. If the amount of codelines increases the mathematical risc of having a bug increases (see probability calculations )

Imagine the difficulites of all the newbees who did not have such an apprenticeship as yourself. They just go bankrupt. They fail. They just wonder

Newbees needs at first to go to school, sorry true. They wouldn't even learn VB 6.0 anymore in school.
They all will teach them net languages now. But maybe some of them fail because they forget to learn all the basics behind any language.

[JonnyPoet]

There is one point BadNews01 you have to understand.

Doing Forms inside Access is quite a quick and easy job which needs very small programmming knowlwdge and is the quickest way if you have permanently changing enviroment with permanently chanes of tables ( when I understand you correct )
It needs much more time to develop an application which can do that for you normally.
As time is money it will depend on what needs to be done with the data to decide if you are using VBA or if you will better do it with an application outside the database.
And this decision cannot really be made without knowing a bit more of the background.

You have to understand that VBA is like a tool added to Access to get people able to handle easy data aopproaches without the need to contact a programmer. On the opposit side maybe there could be done one solution which handles all the views you will need one time and you would only connect to the database and read out the data automatically. But this would be a much more complex application as you would be able to design as a newbie.

So as I told you learn VBA, use it and also learn VB.net and with the knowledge of both then decide yourself which approach is the best in a given situation. This may be different each time

[George1111]

Ah Jonny, you should know me by now ...

I put out the small fish to catch the big fish - and now you have bitten !

I hope we all enjoyed the playful conversation

But now I have your attention, read on please ...

If you really are ready to embrace something NEW, then this is where to look - it will leverage all you have learnt with .Net and take you into a new world - (ie, from Candle Light to Electric Light)

http://www.visualwebgui.com/

http://www.chillisoft.co.za/habanero/

(Both development platforms are FREE - Open Source)

[DataMiser]

VB6 had some problems in the early release as well, I remember the first time I used it that the first field in the first record was showing up blank in a datagrid control. I ended up going back to VB5 and then moved to VB6 about a year after it came out.

I tried the first release of .net but did not write any applications for a customer in it. I started using it as of 2003 version and aside from the non existant serial class I did not run into any real problems. It was difficult to get my IP routines to work initially after having been used to using the winsock control but once I figured it out I have to say the resulting .net is better than what I had in VB6 and is 100% reusable whereas the VB6 code had to be tweaked each time I added it to a new project.

So far the biggest portion of my dot net apps have been in the compact framework.

[BadNews01]

Well i already got basic...VERY basic vb6 knowledge...i am waiting for my book to come in the mail...STILL and can't wait to check it out...everyone's arguements and points had gotten me excited to check it out myself!

Yes i do know i need to learn vba but personally i feel like vb6 or vb.net would be way better as you said jonneypoet vba is only a tool...screw tools! i want the good stuff! lol so yah i think i might grab vba later on

[TheCPUWizard]

Just as a side note.... Support for VB 7.0 ended last month [14-Oct-2008]...This leaves:

8.0 (VS-2005) good until 4/12/2011,
9.0 (VS-2008) good until 4/9/2013.
10.0 (VS-2010) currently available in "CTP".....

[HanneSThEGreaT]

I know I shouldn't, but I am going to post

First, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love .NET, but I also feel the same about VB 6.

The main "issue" with .NET seems to be the the frequency they roll them out.
I mean, how long was VB 4 in use, how long was VB 5 in use, before VB 6 ¿

Now, the whole revolution of the .NET framework took over.

They released .NET 1.0 ( VB 2002 )
Then, .NET 1.1 ( VB 2003 )
Then, .NET 2.0 ( VB 2005 )
Then, .NET 3.0 and 3.5 ( VB 2008 )
Soon they'll release .NET 4.0

Because of the frequency, and ever changing of technologies, make it difficult to stay ahead.
For instance, with the introduction of the .NET Framework, things have changed, and you had to learn all the new concepts ( MSIL etc. )
Then WPF and WCF - who knows what is going to change again, and what new thing will be the new standard. I think all the morals and principles of programming are also starting to reduce, and as time goes on, who knows what will happen

I love both technologies, and with both I learn new things every day.

Moral of this post :
Let's stick to one Matrix, and stop reinventing it.

[DataMiser]

Actually VB4 and 5 were not really out that long, VB4 required windows 95 so I would assume that it came out around 95 or after. I barely used it at all. Not sure when VB5 was released but when I started my new job in spring of 97 they had already made the switch to VB5 and I had been using it for a while already. VB6 I think was released around 99 or so.

It seems that there is about a 2 year gap on average which still seems to be the case.

[HanneSThEGreaT]

I knew someone would respond

Actually VB 4 was released in 1996
VB 5 was released in 1997
And VB 6 was released 1998.

Right, now, what major alteringdifferences were there between those 3 ¿
Did the whole ball - game change, did VB 6 revolutionise such as the .NET Framework ¿ No.
Did they reinvent the wheel everytime with each of those 3 versions of VB ¿ No
I'm not talking about improved features of the language / product. In any case, I could still do most things with VB 5 & 4 & 6.

Now, look at .NET 1.1 ( actually any version prior to 3.0 ), then look at .NET 3.0 and higher

Get what I mean ¿

[TheCPUWizard]

Actually .Net 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 all use the exact same CLR.....Each release added new integrated functionallity be expanding the library.

There were (of course) bug fixes [including a few Service Packs] but that should be expected with any program.

VS-2010 will be using .NET 4.0 which DOES have some significant differences, but also a high compatibility level.

In fact the only language that really took a big hit between 1.x and 2.0 was C++ when Microsoft "realized" that the goal could be achieved within the "approved" extensibility methodology of C++, rather than in a non-conformant way.

[HanneSThEGreaT]

OK, explain the coming of WPF and WCF etc. then. That is the precise point I'm making....

[TheCPUWizard]

OK, explain the coming of WPF and WCF etc. then. That is the precise point I'm making....

What part of

Each release added new integrated functionallity by expanding the library.

Neither WPF nor WCF "broke" or "Changed" any existing behaviour.

who knows what is going to change again, and what new thing will be the new standard.

And how is this different then it has been for decades. Every time a vendor (and there are many) introduces a new library, this occurs. Are we going to standardize on Infragistics Controls? Are we going to use ABC's DatePicker,....

If WCF, WPF, and WF had each been introduced by other vendors and made available as addins to Visual Studio, comments such as this would NEVER be made.

However many people (not just you ) seem to react differently because Microsoft introduced them as part of the product.

[note: that I deliberately left LINQ out since it did add to the syntax of the language, but it was still an addition]

[HanneSThEGreaT]

I never said WPF, WCF, LINQ broke anything

It seems like I have to say what I meant, instead of letting people read between the lines - confusions will happen and are happening

Imagine you are starting off on your programming studies, towards a programming career. Now, imagine you have to keep starting afresh with all the changes ( whether they are addons or not ), just to keep abreast with technology. Now imagine, you didn't. Now, the problem is, you have to these days, in order to find work - which is absolutely ridiculous, IMHO.
Now, you get stupid companies wanting experience in ( say for example .NET 3.5 ), of 5 years ( yeah, it happens ). How the ____ is that possible ¿
Now, you've just finished studies on .NET 2.0, and now all of a sudden, it is just not good enough. OK, right, then you decide let's attempt .NET 3.5 ( costin more money, more time etc. ). When you learn .NET 3.5, you all of a sudden are introduced to a new "standard" - LINQ, WPF, WCF - and you have to learn these now - by the time you're finally finished with .NET 3.5, you have to do .NET 4.0. Comeon, it's ridiculous.
Why can't the powers that be, just decide on a product, and stick to it - yes, the world must go forward - but to what lengths ¿ The world has gone mad. Nowadays, you need to buy a phone, to take photo's with, tell me, do you get a camera that you can phone with ¿ No. Same is true about HD TVs, these days nothing seems to be good enough anymore... And guess what, it's all about money - this is just my opinion, of course there'll be people agreeing / disagreeing about my point of view, but, this is just my opinion.

[TheCPUWizard]

<snip>Imagine you are starting off on your programming studies, towards a programming career. Now, imagine you have to keep starting afresh with all the changes ( whether they are addons or not ), just to keep abreast with technology. Now imagine, you didn't. Now, the problem is, you have to these days, in order to find work - which is absolutely ridiculous, IMHO.</snip>

And nothing about this is new since I started programming back in 1972, and has nothing to do with .Net.

When I used to do presentations in secondary (ages 14-18) and college environments, I told the students that they had to be prepared to spend 15-20 hours a week in continued learning, once they had mastered their studies.

Even after 36 years, I still spend about that amount of time to keep up with technology (about 1/3 on .NET the remainder on other items).

Where alot of people get "fustrated" (and that is a nice word), is that in most cases employeers do NOT consider this part of the "work day" (at least here in the USA).

Consider that:

* There have been over 200 (major) processors over the past three decades (including more than 20 varieties of x86,x64.

* There have been over 30 (major) programming languages [not counting the assemblers for the various processors]

* There have been more that 500 (major) 3rd party libraries that have recieved wide spread adoption.

Now, lets consider .NET - 3 MAJOR generations (1.x, 2.0-3.5, 4.0) in a decade.

[HanneSThEGreaT]

And nothing about this is new since I started programming back in 1972, and has nothing to do with .Net.

Can't be 100% true.

once they had mastered their studies.

At the rate we are going, that will never happen. I also teach classes ( as you may / not know ), but in the 21st century. Continued learning is a broad term. Heck, there are new things I learn on VB 6 almost daily.

* There have been over 200 (major) processors over the past three decades (including more than 20 varieties of x86,x64.

* There have been over 30 (major) programming languages [not counting the assemblers for the various processors]

* There have been more that 500 (major) 3rd party libraries that have recieved wide spread adoption.

I wouldn't know, so I can't agree / disagree par se

Now, lets consider .NET - 3 MAJOR generations (1.x, 2.0-3.5, 4.0) in a decade.

Book stores don't see it like this. Software vendors don't see it like this. All they see, is money. The majority of people ( including me don't see it like this ) - they just see, another framework, another new standard, another eon of studying with the hope of eventually getting somewhere.
We can "talk" like this the whole day, the whole week, the whole, it still won't change my mind