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VB 6.0 or VB.NET


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Hi,

I want to get a software developed but am not sure if I should use VB 6.0 or VB.NET or ASP or PHP etc.. The database will either be SQLServer or Oracle.

I do know that later (or maybe to start with) I may shift to a web based software and therefore need help in understanding the difference especially between VB 6.0 and VB.NET. What does VB.NET offer which VB 6.0 does not?

Any help will be appreciated since I do not know much about these tecnologies.

Thanks

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I've been using VB professionally since 1993. You are going to hear a number of people saying to avoid VB completely. I won't completely disagree with that, it has it's quirks. However what you language you start with should be determined by the types of applications that you are going to build. I would avoid VB6 since .NET has been around nearly 10 years. .NET is an OO language so what you learn will translater to C#, F#, C++, Java, etc. VB6 is not OO and the language syntax is similar to .NET but still different. If you're just starting out, start with an OO language. It will take an extra effort at first, but you won't have to unlearn some things.

As for databases, if you're starting with MS products, (VB, C#) then start with the MS database. The SQL langages (PL/Transact) are similar enough that if you use SQL Server you'll be able to translate to Oracle, MySQL, etc.

Best of luck.

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VB6 is based on COM, VB.NET is based on .NET. .NET was designed both as a direct competitor to the Java platform and as a replacement to COM. COM is still supported by Microsoft, but nowhere near what they are have been investing on .NET for the last 10 years. As a result, .NET is a more modern and powerful solution.

As a language, VB.NET is very close to C# and Java, VB6 is not.

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VB6 is based on COM, VB.NET is based on .NET. .NET was designed both as a direct competitor to the Java platform and as a replacement to COM. COM is still supported by Microsoft, but nowhere near what they are have been investing on .NET for the last 10 years. As a result, .NET is a more modern and powerful solution.

As a language, VB.NET is very close to C# and Java, VB6 is not.

That's not really true. .NET wraps COM more than VB6 ever did. And COM is hardly a dying technology. Windows 7 added new COM functionality. COM has nothing to do with either VB6 or VB.NET.

But that's beside the point. This question has been asked millions of times. Short answer: use C#. Or VB.NET. It doesn't really matter. Use whatever tool will get the job done fastest. That's for you to decide - not a bunch of random schmos.

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I tend to agree with the decision for VB.Net, but you also mentioned ASP (classic I assume) and PHP. If you're building a web application that needs to be portable (can be installed on different OSs), PHP with MySQL might be a good solution as well. PHP is not inherently (natively) object oriented and it's syntax is based on C, but there are several frameworks that will help with the development of larger applications.

Perhaps if you give some details about the application, we could help with some of the architecture recommendations.

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The only reason why you would consider VB6 would be for full compatibility on Win 3.1/95/98/ME platforms.

Even .NET works on Windows 98

Edit: A bit of clarification, is it a desktop or a web app? and who's writing it (are you? are you just getting started?, etc.) If you're writing it and just getting started, VB.NET would be the easiest to start with, the syntax is easy to understand.

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That's not really true. .NET wraps COM more than VB6 ever did. And COM is hardly a dying technology. Windows 7 added new COM functionality. COM has nothing to do with either VB6 or VB.NET.
I never said COM is dying: it's just not what Microsoft is currently pushing. Consider that they use the term "upgrading" to name the transition from VB6 to .NET. .NET does allow easy interoperability with COM, but it's does much more than wrap COM interfaces: it's a fully-fledged managed software platform, including a rich set of APIs and technologies, and a variety of programming languages.
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