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February 15th, 2013, 06:01 AM
#16
Re: Please help save VB6
One main difference between VB6 and .net is that .net code can be decompiled back to usable source code. This makes it unacceptable for commercial distribution. That is unless you don't care if your work is stolen. But then, there wouldn't be much point to trying to sell it.
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How can something be both new and improved at the same time?
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February 15th, 2013, 07:29 AM
#17
Re: Please help save VB6
That is an issue for sure. There are ways to make it harder to get the code but I have not tried to crack them to test how well they work. Most of the apps I work on are not for mass distribution so it is not an issue there but there are some main stream commercial applications which are written in .net and seem to be doing just fine.
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February 15th, 2013, 11:06 PM
#18
Re: Please help save VB6
But it is hard to claim that vb"7" (aka .Net) is an evolutionary change in the vb line. It really is a drastically different language. And clearly, there has been a huge backlash from customers who are frustrated with MS over moving away from the vb "structure". Again, I point to QT for Basic...It is syntactically identical to vb6 and although completely re-written on the inside, did not require changing any of vb6's style (commands, procedures, etc.). MS brain-****** by not appreciating what they had, and more seriously, not appreciating how much they gave the finger to their largest programming product, customer base. If this were not true, there would not be the backlash we still see today, FIFTEEN years later. I am not saying that .Net should not have been created...Just don't confuse it with vb6 and its popularity. Sell it as another programming product. But don't **** off the customer by essentially saying, "**** ***, you get what we give you and you'll buy it." And it is not as if MS doesn't have the money to keep developing both. For a company that insists on creating different versions of one operating system all at the same time, and even multiple OSs, I doubt they don't have the funds. Especially when you tell the people that give you money for your product to essentially take a hike.
Five years ago, I was developing a large app in vb6, only to get a third of the way through and being told that 6 was not going to be supported in Windows 7. So despite my frustration with MS, I ported everything over to .Net, only to find that GDI+ was dog slow compared to GDI32. I no longer had a program with great performance. Quite frankly, it sucked. So I found out that basically, "Oh, you don't want to use GDI+ anymore...That's obsolete. You want to use WPF". I see, so how many times is this going to happen? How many times is MS going to change something and constantly require me to learn something new, when they could have considered the CUSTOMER, and allow me to get a product done without constantly changing the rules?
Oh, and despite MS's claims, vb6 IS compatible with Win7 and Win8! I know there are some who claim that it is not COMPLETELY compatible anymore, but I have not experienced any of these issues on my systems.
So, not only did they change the rules, they lied to the customer to get them to make the switch.
I was so ***** off, I could not bring myself to work on the app for a good solid year. Guess what I am developing it in now? vb6. Guess where I'll go when MS decides to cut the head off of vb6? QT for Basic.
Last edited by HanneSThEGreaT; February 16th, 2013 at 01:53 AM.
Reason: Edited profanity
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February 15th, 2013, 11:37 PM
#19
Re: Please help save VB6
Ever try to run VB6 on an APPLE product? .Net can
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February 15th, 2013, 11:56 PM
#20
Re: Please help save VB6
But it is hard to claim that vb"7" (aka .Net) is an evolutionary change in the vb line. It really is a drastically different language.
I have VBDos Pro on one of my machines still. When I made the jump to VB3 it was a drastic difference. It was almost like a completely different language and I found that there was a learning curve to get even a simple application done. An app I could have done in an hour in VBDos would have taken a day in VB3, and then there were all of these support files, VBX, DLL. My VBDos could build a stand alone exe and there were no need for any of those vbxs or dlls nor even Windows. It could run fine under dos, windows or OS/2. It was a different world.
Sound familiar?
This really isn't anything new, the language has evolved over the years and VB6 now is even more ancient than my VBDos was when I started using VB6 and that program I could have written in an hour in VBDos would now take me 30 minutes in VB6 or VB.Net and probably a week in VBDos due to the 1000s of things that have been added since then.
True there are a bunch of people online complaining about .Net, I would wager most of them just haven't really gotten deep enough into to appreciate it. I personally have came in contact with lots of VB programers. There are those who write in VB6, hate VB.Net and complain yet it seems that they really have not given the .Net a fair shake and really do not see the advantages it offers. Then there are those who are new and have not really used VB6 so clearly they favor .Net but then there are those who like myself loved Vb6, used it for years and still use it if for no reason other than that they can quickly through together a simple app and are very confident in their VB6 knowledge. Then there are those who even though they used VB6 for years and thought it was great have taken the .Net plunge and will never go back, some of them could not imagine ever having to write in VB6 again and loose all of those 1000s of extra helper classes and code re usability they get in .Net.
Personally I find it harder all the time to write in VB6 just due to the fact that I am getting more used to the .Net environment and structure. One big point for me is that using VB.Net I can easily develop applications for Windows CE devices, Windows Mobile devices, Windows Phone, as well as Windows Services, Web Services, ASP.Net web sites, Xbox360 as well as the traditional Windows apps I had always used VB6 for. About 90% of the projects I get now require me to use .Net as they simply can't be done in VB6. and others are just easier to do in VB.Net
Oh anothe rbig advantage with vb.net is the multi threading support is great on modern multicore PCS. a properly built VB.Net program could run 2 to 6 times faster than one written in vb6 on the same machine depending on number of cpu cores
Last edited by DataMiser; February 16th, 2013 at 12:02 AM.
Always use [code][/code] tags when posting code.
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February 16th, 2013, 12:34 AM
#21
Re: Please help save VB6
DOS is a bit different than the Windows style...
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February 16th, 2013, 03:05 AM
#22
Re: Please help save VB6
I totally agree about the multi-threading in .Net. I have used it myself and the performance increase was really cool (roughly 20%). But I was vastly annoyed at the awful performance of GDI+. That was definitely a step backwards in my opinion. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they just could not get that right, and instead, reinvented the wheel again with WPF. But you echo my opinion about the ease of use of vb6. THAT to me is the key point that MS missed when they moved to .Net. Again, the beauty of vb6 was simplicity, yet power via GDI32. REALLY great performance with that API.
I know we all think differently, and so our minds all have different requirements to work quickly and efficiently. For me, vb6 was it. It just needed to be taken further in that direction rather than jump the tracks and head off in an entirely different direction at the expense of vb6.
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February 16th, 2013, 04:06 AM
#23
Re: Please help save VB6
Originally Posted by treddie
I know we all think differently, and so our minds all have different requirements to work quickly and efficiently. For me, vb6 was it. It just needed to be taken further in that direction rather than jump the tracks and head off in an entirely different direction at the expense of vb6.
I think most have felt like that sooner or later.
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February 16th, 2013, 04:06 AM
#24
Re: Please help save VB6
Originally Posted by treddie
I know we all think differently, and so our minds all have different requirements to work quickly and efficiently. For me, vb6 was it. It just needed to be taken further in that direction rather than jump the tracks and head off in an entirely different direction at the expense of vb6.
I think most have felt like that sooner or later.
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February 16th, 2013, 05:04 PM
#25
Re: Please help save VB6
Yep. Like a new model of a car that looked great until they ruined it.
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February 17th, 2013, 01:50 PM
#26
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February 17th, 2013, 02:19 PM
#27
Re: Please help save VB6
An improvement to VB6 would be to enable it to produce true, stand-alone executables. In other words; without the need for any runtime dll files. But .net takes it completely in the opposite (wrong) direction, with an entire "framework" monstrosity (runtime dependencies), managed code, and more overhead than in our wildest dreams. IMHO, .net is not much more than a competitor to Java. And like Java, .net finds a place within companies who need proprietary software, which is not for wide commercial distribution.
Please remember to rate the posts and threads that you find useful.
How can something be both new and improved at the same time?
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February 17th, 2013, 05:36 PM
#28
Re: Please help save VB6
And many moved to Java for just those reasons.
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February 17th, 2013, 05:48 PM
#29
Re: Please help save VB6
If someone made a serious offer to BUY the program from MS, then they'd get the source code, and be free to add whatever they wanted. Kind of hard to implement the CLIPBOARD from Metro to Desktop. Until MS Research released CLIP in the Window Store. Now it works!
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February 17th, 2013, 07:36 PM
#30
Re: Please help save VB6
Originally Posted by WizBang
An improvement to VB6 would be to enable it to produce true, stand-alone executables. In other words; without the need for any runtime dll files. But .net takes it completely in the opposite (wrong) direction, with an entire "framework" monstrosity (runtime dependencies), managed code, and more overhead than in our wildest dreams. IMHO, .net is not much more than a competitor to Java. And like Java, .net finds a place within companies who need proprietary software, which is not for wide commercial distribution.
Ironically VBDos does have the ability to produce true stand alone exes as does Quick Basic this ability was removed with the introduction of the Windows environment.
There are many commercial programs done it .Net. I can't tell you which off the top of my head but I have had several that required a version of the dot net framework to run.
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