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Learning Visual Basic


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Ok, I will start off with I don't know if this is the best language to start with. I just want to write WPF apps and maybe start on Cocoa (a mac programming language) after mastering C. I have tryed learning WPF before, but it required knowing a lot of Visual Basic, and I heard that C just sits on top of Visual Basic. I don't know much about this stuff, but has Visual Basic always been a language from Microsoft, like what about Visual C, and all the other C programming languages. Isn't JAVA from Sun Microsystems, why do people go from C to Java if they are completely different, how is it the next step if it isn't even from the same company? Why would someone use Java, isn't it some ugly programming language that runs on just about everything and whatever it can run on it can run a Java program by emulating it? I thought Java was crappy because Second Life and LimeWire I think are both Java and they look like the developers didn't even take time to make a Mac OS X version and just compiled it for Mac OS X without making it run good on Mac OS X. Hell I don't think Java supports cleartype either because those 2 apps have ugly font. I know JavaScript is completely different from Java, in fact, I think JavaScript is awesome.

That looks very confusing, but can someone explain to me what the connections are between these languages, and just so you know, I have developed a functional browser in Visual Basic, I just got stuck on something and I feel like it is time to continue learning.

I got stuck on declarations, more specifically using the registry to store keys about the information used in the browser, I specifically got stuck on trying to do it first with the homepage setting. It kept saying homepage wasn't declared, I got frustrated, and I attempted to learn Visual Basic before using MSDN but they screwed up the articles and all of a sudden they were telling me to do something that linked me to like 20 chapters ahead of where I was, and spent countless hours trying to figure out what happened but I gave up. I attempted to learn again, and all of sudden I see those familar articles that screwed me up last time which led me here.

I need to learn Visual Basic, I think I'm positive, if you think I could learn something before Visual Basic, you can help me with doing that, but I just want to write WPF apps and make something with .NET Framework, I also am using Visual Studio 2008 Visual Basic Express Edition and Expression Blend (latest version).

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I'm a noob to this stuff in a way, but I'm not retarded, I have some experience with this stuff from ASP.NET development and some expermental projects in Visual Basic. Also I know my post just got bloated, but I just can't wait for a reply, I feel so motivated to do this, sorry for the bloated post that might have several grammar errors. :p

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just for clarifications

Java is based upon C++ language

Well isn't C++ from Microsoft, and isn't Java from Sun Microsystems? Why would Sun Microsystems take a programming language from Microsoft and build on top of it and call it theirs? This is what Wilkipedia is for, I'm going to just check up on this stuff. ;)

...I think I just should've checked before posting this, I have this feeling I am totally wrong and don't know what I'm talking about... :(

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Just checked... Well apparently Visual Basic sounds like a good language to start with, and after it sounds like Visual C++ or C#. I now understand that several of these languages came from old languages from back in the day, one improves another, one becomes a whole new one, one use that new one to make something new after that and so on. C++ is an updated version of C and Visual C++ is different from C++. Very confusing at first, but it's a good history lesson. ;)

Anybody know a good way to learn Visual Basic though?

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In no way does C sit on top of Visual Basic. C was designed in 1972 on top of Assembly language; it compiles directly into assembly and it can be used to design low-level components such as drivers, APIs and operating systems. It's not very friendly for designing high-level applications such as fancy GUIs, compared to other languages.

The language built on top on C is C++; it added support for object-orientation, generic and meta-programming.

Although Java looks like C++, it is fundamentally different because it is managed code and it runs on the J2EE or J2SE platform. I suppose it is possible to make good-looking GUIs in Java, but developpers tend to use the same look for different platforms and as a result they don't look quite right on any platform.

Visual Basic (.NET - versions 7 and above, not VB6) was released in 2002 and is an object-oriented language designed as a first-class citizen of the .NET framework. It is similar syntax-wise to BASIC but semantic-wise to C#. Visual Basic is managed code, like Java, but managed by .NET's CLR instead of Java's JVM. In terms of application domain, Visual Basic is pretty much the same as C#.

If you wish to write applications using WPF, Visual Basic is a logical choice, along with C#. Keep in mind WPF is Windows-only though.

If you have no prior experience with BASIC-based languages, I'd recommend you choose C# instead, because its syntax is closer to most other languages, it's more "pure" and you get payed more.

Also I'd like to add that new languages aren't simply designed as updates to older languages; new languages are designed to address new problems that were less of an issue before. They rarely replace older languages. C is still wildly popular and it's one of the oldest languages, Java hasn't been made obsolete by C#, etc.

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Well I thought that starting off with Visual Basic and moving to the language next in line would be easier since I would know a lot of that language already because of knowing Visual Basic. In this case I guess starting with Visual Basic and going to Visual C# after, would be a smart thing to do.

Many of you are saying to start with C#, but I always heard the letter C as something that is middle-class in programming, and I'm not saying I always heard C and not C++ or C#, just anything that started with C was a little bit more advanced than like Visual Basic. I'm guessing those people were saying C# if they were saying it was like the next step. I think Visual Basic is simple because anytime I came close to programming, I was using program statements in Visual Basic that were easy. I want to be able to program in Visual Basic for some of my apps that are easier to make because I think Visual Basic is easier to program with when dealing with WPF. But my goal is to program in middle-class languages such as Visual C#, so when I'm writing something big, I can be prepared to say no doubt I'm programming in Visual C# for this.

I like Visual Basic because the program statements look familar, because I have this feeling it has a closer connection to .NET Framework and integrates better, and because it probably works a lot better with WPF. I like Visual C# because it is middle-class programming, it sounds a lot more appealing to tell someone that you can program in it compared to saying you only know Visual Basic, it is more flexible and makes you more familar with other programming languages, and is a programming language developed by Microsoft. I say it is developed by Microsoft because obviously we know Visual Basic is made by Microsoft for Windows, but C# is just one of the C languages and you might be like me and get them confused and it is capable of .NET Framework which is my reason for wanting to program using it, others can't take advantage of WPF like Visual Basic and Visual C#. I hope you guys get my point on why I like these 2.

I heard of other programming languages, the one I remember seeing in Visual Studio is like Visual J or something like that, I'm going to google now and see how many programming languages are made by Microsoft and what their advantage is. ;)

update: nvm its just something that deals with java and something with virtual machines, I'm not looking for something like that. :p

Edited by Electric Bolt
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It's really not worth fighting C# against VB as they are the most similar languages in existence. They are both as high-level, as "advanced", and as tightly integrated with .NET (actually C# is more "pure" in that regard, since VB has its own reserved special namespace, C# does not); in fact, most of the time a feature is introduced in C#, it is at the same time introduced in VB, and vice-versa. The main difference is syntaxical; in VB you write If a = b ... End If, while in C# and most other languages you write if (a == b) { ... }. It's not more complex, really, and in fact learning the C-style syntax makes you more familiar with other languages.

But if you feel inclined towards VB, by all means, go for it, it's a great language in its own right. As you progress you will be able to compare languages by yourself.

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It's really not worth fighting C# against VB as they are the most similar languages in existence. They are both as high-level, as "advanced", and as tightly integrated with .NET (actually C# is more "pure" in that regard, since VB has its own reserved special namespace, C# does not); in fact, most of the time a feature is introduced in C#, it is at the same time introduced in VB, and vice-versa. The main difference is syntaxical; in VB you write If a = b ... End If, while in C# and most other languages you write if (a == b) { ... }. It's not more complex, really, and in fact learning the C-style syntax makes you more familiar with other languages.

But if you feel inclined towards VB, by all means, go for it, it's a great language in its own right. As you progress you will be able to compare languages by yourself.

QFT

I would go with C# though -- is probably more professionally accepted in the business field.

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It's really not worth fighting C# against VB as they are the most similar languages in existence. They are both as high-level, as "advanced", and as tightly integrated with .NET (actually C# is more "pure" in that regard, since VB has its own reserved special namespace, C# does not); in fact, most of the time a feature is introduced in C#, it is at the same time introduced in VB, and vice-versa. The main difference is syntaxical; in VB you write If a = b ... End If, while in C# and most other languages you write if (a == b) { ... }. It's not more complex, really, and in fact learning the C-style syntax makes you more familiar with other languages.

But if you feel inclined towards VB, by all means, go for it, it's a great language in its own right. As you progress you will be able to compare languages by yourself.

This probably concludes what I will choose then since you made it clear the difference, I get it now. Visual Basic is as good as Visual C#, I didn't know that, your saying the main difference though is that the syntax is different and in Visual C#, the syntax is very familar with other programming languages. Which is the reason why it is accepted in businesses more than Visual Basic. Because you would be somewhat familar with other programming languages then. Well seeing that syntax of Visual C# pushes me away, I can't understand it one bit, I fully understand an If...Then decision structure in Visual Basic. I guess this means Visual Basic is the best language for me since I already understand the syntax since it sounds like your talking to a foreign trying to get it through their head what your saying since they don't understand English, plus I tryed learning it before. The syntax in Visual C# sounds like programming, it sounds like extremely hard programming, that is because you say it is complex. Oh well I guess when I was thinking C# was the next step after Visual Basic for me it would be a little different for the better, but it looks like one of the biggest things that make a programming language different from another is different in Visual C# from Visual Basic - The Syntax.

Thoughts : Going with Visual Basic, going to program using it for a while, going to learn Visual C# and compare with Visual Basic, going to program using both to hold skill of programming in both those languages and get smarter with the syntax of the two, become a developer in the field of .NET Framework, ASP.NET, and, WPF.

How to start learning Visual Basic? Something free, something I can do on the computer and not have to wait for a book to come or must print 200 pages out, something in a PDF, unless you have this great idea. Thanks in advance!

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If you looking to start programming, then have a look at Visual Basic 2008 Express (or Visual C# 2008 Express).

Both are free downloads and are a great way to start programming before you feel you want to spend money on a more featured development environment.

Also there are a ton of tutorials on the internet about VB.NET (Google is your friend).

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Well seeing that syntax of Visual C# pushes me away, I can't understand it one bit, I fully understand an If...Then decision structure in Visual Basic. I guess this means Visual Basic is the best language for me since I already understand the syntax since it sounds like your talking to a foreign trying to get it through their head what your saying since they don't understand English, plus I tryed learning it before. The syntax in Visual C# sounds like programming, it sounds like extremely hard programming, that is because you say it is complex.

I think you're exaggerating slightly. The Visual Basic syntax might seem easier to understand at first glance, but it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to get used to the C# syntax. You should seriously consider it. The syntax shouldn't be the deciding factor if you're starting from scratch and have no prior experience.

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