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Good place to learn VB?

BeauJangles

BeauJangles

Lifer
Anyone know of a good site / book to learn Visual Basic? I can already program in Java, and a bit in C, so I'm not a complete moron when it comes to learning this stuff.


Thanks!
 
Honestly VB is so simple, if you can write batch files you can learn VB =)

If you can find a cheap/educational version just buy it and thumb through the help, it only took me a few weeks to get decent at it. Some of the 'advanced' stuff like importing fuctions from external DLLs is ugly, because VB wasn't really intended for things like that, but not too difficult.
 
VB is INCREDIBLY simple. I already had a decent Java/C/Fortran/C++/QBASIC background, and was able to pick up VB decently enough to make some cool little programs within 2 afternoons. It's simple and fun, but the language behind the controls will feel restrictive compared to C.
 
VB is simple until you get to the mor complicated enterprise development using MTS and message queues.
 


<< Honestly VB is so simple, if you can write batch files you can learn VB =)

If you can find a cheap/educational version just buy it and thumb through the help, it only took me a few weeks to get decent at it. Some of the 'advanced' stuff like importing fuctions from external DLLs is ugly, because VB wasn't really intended for things like that, but not too difficult. >>



What makes VB simple compared is that you can write bad code that still works. If you are writing quality code, VB is just as "hard" as any language, except maybe if you are doing real low level stuff that you can't do with VB. I've never done that kind of coding so I can't really comment. If the original poster just wants to get started, I agree that he should just open up VB and start messing around.

People think VB is a child's language, but a good deal of enterprise development is done with VB, probably the majority of development excluding Java.

To answer the posters question, the MS newsgroups are a good place to ask questions.
 
hey! thanks guys. I'll be checking out those sites. Oh, I didn't really expect it to be that hard, esp after finishing up my 3d graphics engine in java. (well sorta finished :confused😉 It only runs at about 15 fps, but I wrote all the code for it myself. It turned into a wireframe Astriods games... not too shabby 🙂
 


<< Honestly VB is so simple, if you can write batch files you can learn VB =)

If you can find a cheap/educational version just buy it and thumb through the help, it only took me a few weeks to get decent at it. Some of the 'advanced' stuff like importing fuctions from external DLLs is ugly, because VB wasn't really intended for things like that, but not too difficult. >>



That's a moronic statement. I hereby remove you from the list of people worth listening to. 🙂 I'm also willing to bet, you hardly even know VB. VB is a small, small tool used in a much larger concept, as coder1 notes below...



<< VB is simple until you get to the mor complicated enterprise development using MTS and message queues. >>



Finally someone who actually knows what they're talking about.



<< What makes VB simple compared is that you can write bad code that still works. If you are writing quality code, VB is just as "hard" as any language, except maybe if you are doing real low level stuff that you can't do with VB. I've never done that kind of coding so I can't really comment. If the original poster just wants to get started, I agree that he should just open up VB and start messing around.

People think VB is a child's language, but a good deal of enterprise development is done with VB, probably the majority of development excluding Java.

To answer the posters question, the MS newsgroups are a good place to ask questions. >>



Another person who knows what they're talking about. Unfortunately, dogmatic responses are common in threads like these. It's all immaterial anyway. For a software engineer, *any* language is really easy. A quality software engineer could pick up a new language (at least enough to start writing things) in a day or so. Learning Java isn't difficult, learning how to use Java in an enterprise solution within the MUCH larger concept, J2EE, is. Learning VB is not difficult, learning how to leverage VB in a Windows DNA style architecture, is.
 
Blinderbomber- What do you want to do with VB. VB isn't good for things like graphics. It's strengths are user interfaces, database work, and that you can download zillions of ActiveX controls and plug them into your apps.. What Descartes said is true. If you are a skilled developer, all languages are simple once you learn the syntax. VB does have flaws though. Its error handling sucks, and it is only partially Object Oriented. At times, you also have to resort to Windows API calls to do basic things, which always seems like a hack to me. Plus, MS hasn't released a version of VB in about 3 years. For these reasons and others, MS released Visual Studio.net. If you can get a copy of this, I highly recommend that you use it instead of VB6. There is no reason to use VB, unless you already have a copy of it and can't afford VS.Net, or if you have an existing VB code base.
 
That's a moronic statement. I hereby remove you from the list of people worth listening to

That's fine, I don't listen to anyone who thinks VB is a real language =)

I'm also willing to bet, you hardly even know VB. VB is a small, small tool used in a much larger concept, as coder1 notes below...

I'm also williing to bet I didn't know it inside and out, but frankly I'm glad I never got that far. I admit I'm biased but I'd much rather use a language that doesn't bind me to a specific vendor, OS and environment.
 


<< I'm also williing to bet I didn't know it inside and out, but frankly I'm glad I never got that far. I admit I'm biased but I'd much rather use a language that doesn't bind me to a specific vendor, OS and environment. >>



Ok, now you're making no sense. You think it's a bad language, yet you admit that you don't know the language that well. Hmmmmm. You're bound to one specific vendor, OS, and environment in every language unless you're writing in Java. Sure, C, or C++ have the capabilities of being platform independent, but only on the simplest level. Even then, riddling code with #ifdef preproc defs is hardly lucid code. If you don't want to use VB, don't use VB. Don't slander something you know nothing about as it just makes you look like a dolt.
 
Well said Descartes

Nothinman, you obviously are not a programmer. Moron remarks like that display your lack of understanding when it comes to Visual Basic.

VB= true language.

If anyone denies that then they have not done enough Enterprise/distributed applications using COM components created in VB.
 
Not directed at Nothinman, but I hate when people dismiss another language just because it isn't powerful enough for them. This used to happen in HS, when guys would ask, "Why aren't we using C++ or Java and not Pascal. Pascal is old and useless." Of course these are the people who never became any good at programming and could have never gotten far enough to know the real limitations of Pascal. Sometimes people just don't get it. Programming is not about the language- programming is the same in any language.
 
Well, I picked up Java pretty fast (about a week), but then dropped it for about a year, and finally got back to it last year where I wrote some fun stuff for school, an outlook express-type email client, an FTP client. Then I stopped again and, for a project for my computers teach, cuz he's lazy and was willing to pay me $30 bucks, I wrote the 3d engine. 🙂
 
Ok, now you're making no sense. You think it's a bad language, yet you admit that you don't know the language that well.

Makes sense to me, I worked with the language some and did some 'getting started' type applications and didn't like it. Part of that reasoning is because "What makes VB simple compared is that you can write bad code that still works." and part of it is MS Windows only, which thankfully is a small portion of my computing these days.

Sure, C, or C++ have the capabilities of being platform independent, but only on the simplest level. Even then, riddling code with #ifdef preproc defs is hardly lucid code.

So you would say Apache, GTK+, Ethereal, etc don't contain lucid code? Sure you have to touch the OS specific stuf eventually, but a few #ifdef's around #includes and wrapper functions isn't as terrible as some think.

Don't slander something you know nothing about as it just makes you look like a dolt.

If he wants to learn VB that's fine, we need more Access database programmers and VBS virus writers =)

I speak my opinion, if it comes off as slander to you, then that's fine. But I'll take my turn to voice my opinion against it, simply because I'm allowed to.

 
I'm just curious. What kind of programming do you do?

For the record, I never said I was a professional programmer =)

Recreational, nothing really big. Some small utilities I thought would be usefull for myself, some patches/fixes to open source apps, perl scripts and cgi.

I know VB is used in large organizations for projects, but so is IIS, that doesn't mean either is a good product =)
 
Well I think your opinion becomes somewhat clouded based on your lack of experience.

As far as IIS and VB being "not a very good product" You need to define what you mean by "not good". Not good at what? Creating 3d games. yes in that case you have a point. But for creating scalable Enterprise applications. I think VB is about as productive as you can get.
 
Since Coder1 brought up productivity, I'd like to mention what I use VB for. My mother has a large client base that is switching many of their tasks from mainframe to Windows. She handles the design and I do all the coding. In 2001, I wrote three separate apps, each with 20,000 to 50,000 lines of code. These are database apps with complex user interfaces. Because they are for business, they hade to be robust and professional looking. VB is professional looking without me doing anything. As far as robust goes, as I mentioned earlier, I really hate VB's error handling, but with good diligience robustness can still be achieved. If this is the kind of programming you want to do, then VB is the tool for the job. I could have written my stuff in C++, but it still would have been Windows only(which isn't even a concern in the business world) and it would have me at least twice as long to code all for unnoticeable 3 or 4 percent increase in speed. Also, since SQL Server is by far the best database choice for small to medium sized businesses for price/performance and ease of use, it makes sense to use VB because it integrates well.

All this being said, I am very excited to ditch VB and move to VB.Net.
 
Well I think your opinion becomes somewhat clouded based on your lack of experience.

Most of my lack of experience is by choice, not that it makes it any more valuable, but I realized that VB nearly promotes bad programming practices and forces you to stick with Microsoft products which is something I really didn't want to do.

As far as IIS and VB being "not a very good product" You need to define what you mean by "not good".

I've already defined not good in respect to VB, and I think IIS isn't good mainly because of security concerns.
 
The unfortunate thing is, that most people like Nothinman, get their opinion from VB based on an older version. These people still believe that VB is limited as it was in VB 3.0 when you get in to the thick of things with 6.0 you really see the evolution. And now with VB.NET, VB has evoloved into an object orientated lanuage.
And when I read a qoute like



<< That's fine, I don't listen to anyone who thinks VB is a real language >>

- Nothinman

It really irratates me. People like that just need to keep their mouth shut. They end up looking like bigger fool who knows nothing of what they are talking about.

Out of all of the lanuages that I've done development in, VB wins hands down for productivity and maintainability. When your boss gives you a project that involves some complicated MTS transactions, you do not want to have to write that in C++ ATL. Trust me, know one wants to spend 5 months on something that could be done in one with about the same performance and quality. I've been there.
 
I am taking a VB class at my university this semester. I don't like to program, somewhat because I suck at it, but some of my reason I suck at is because I don't like it. Its an infinte loop, which is what most of my programs end up being.

I barely passed C++, and that was only because the prof didn't want to see me again. VB I find much simpler to pick up though. I personally need Windows to have a chance at knowing what to do on a pc, and VB can be coded much more "Windows-like". I have also found my VB book to be much more helpful then my C++ books. Given the iniative, I think even I could learn visual basic on my own. If you simply want to learn VB for the sake of knowledge, I think you have the iniative. I wouldn't spend any more money on VB then the cost of a quality book and software.
 
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