Is Visual Basic used much in the field?

[BCYL]

I mean, will employers look for this kind of knowledge when they are hiring?

How about SQL? Would SQL be more commonly used or would SQL Server be better?

Thanks in advance!

 

[catseye]

VB is still used a lot. I doubt you'll make a killing doing it, though. Somehow VB has a bad rap. Actually, if you program it for a while you'll see why it has a bad rap. It's still killer for some purposes, though.

Learn Java, Java Server Pages, Enterprise Java Beans, HTML, Javascript and Perl/Python/PHP if you want to make a fortune doing web-based programming.

Learn VB, C++, COM, ActiveX, and SQL if you want to do well programming windows applications.

At least thats what I hear from people trying to "place" me.

 

[catseye]

I don't do SQL, but I know that SQL is a language (Standard Query Language) and SQL server is not. By that I mean you program SQL, but you set up a SQL server for those SQL programs to get data from. So SQL is the programmers interface to the SQL server. Do you want to code or adminstrate a system? Now would be a good time to decide, as they are two very different jobs. My experience is programming, and I got a summer job doing administration, and the two are night and day.

 

VB is supposedly the most popular programming "tool" right now. You can make a lot of money doing it right now, but that's only if you are really good at it. There are a lot of VB coders out there and not many of them are good. Keep in mind that VB is a proprietary tool, not really a language so it's not really a good idea to put all your eggs in that basket because if it ever dies out you will be stuck working with dead technology.

I would suggest learning an object-oriented programming language (yes, VB 7.0 is finally getting into full OOP but I still say it's a no-no). Once you learn an OO language it's pretty easy to jump between anything out there be it Java, C++, Python, etc. Java is pretty easy to learn, C++ is hard to learn and hard to master.

All the stuff that catseye talked about is good to learn right now. Java is hot along with all the technologies that go with it. Those technologies are transferable too. Once you know JSP for instance, ASP or PHP is easy to pick up.

SQL is always good to know. You will most likely always be working with a database. You can learn the basics of SQL, which unless you are going into database admin is all you need to know, in a couple of weeks tops.

 

[T2T III]

<< but I know that SQL is a language (Standard Query Language) >>


Actually, SQL stands for Structured Query Language.

 

[FrogDog]

&quot;C++ is hard to learn and hard to master.&quot;

I'm learning it now and I don't find it that &quot;hard&quot;. It takes some thinking and a lot of reading...but I wouldn't consider it really hard. It depends on the person I guess...

 

I've known it (C++) for about seven years. Overall it is too difficult for what it's worth. Grafting object-oriented functionality on a low-level language like C was a bad idea and the more junk they pile on the language the more of a monster it becomes. There is just too much to the langauge at this point for it to be very effective. C is great for low-level non-OO stuff. C++, if not used right, can be a royal pain in the arse.

 

[LouisXIX]

Generally, knowing as many computer languages as possible is more valuble than just experience with one. Companies are looking for flexiblity from CS graduates and others in the technology sector. But experience with at least one of the 2 main languages - Java &amp; C++ - is important.

 

[archmage]

VB is used very widely in programming internal apps, and is actually pretty well suited for quickly developing certain types of apps. It is &quot;proprietary&quot;, but so are most of the comparable alternatives (such as Delphi) and it is far more widely used than such alternatives.

That's the good part.

The bad part is that (based on my observations) employers tend to see far more VB resumes than they have any interest in hiring. Good, experienced C++ or Java programmers looking for jobs are in short supply. VB programmers are abundant. This may be because it isn't very hard to get to where you can cobble together a working VB program.

Also, many hold the belief that it is easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than to convert a VB programmer to a productive C++ programmer. There is some basis to this, in that VB hides certain details from the programmer and allows you to do things that would be disasterous in C++.

SQL is something that most programmers should be familiar with, since it is a commonly used means for interfacing with a database. But unless you are planning to be a DBA instead of a programmer I would not recommend that you place exceptionally heavy emphasis on it.

Many of the most popular languages use a very similar lexical structure, with syntactical rules essentially derived from C. If you master any of the languages in this family (C, C++, Java, JavaScript, NewtonScript), it will make it easier to move from one to another. Note that JavaScript is a purely interpretive language that uses a prototype-based object model, as opposed to the class-based model used by Java and C++. You will still have a learning curve when moving from one of these languages to another (due to differences like the alternative object models, untyped vs. loosely typed vs. strictly typed, memory management, and different native APIs). But if you are good at one of these languages, you will at least be able to decipher most code written in one of the others.

 

[archmage]

Generally, knowing as many computer languages as possible is more valuble than just experience with one.

This is somewhat true, but please make sure that you are genuinely proficient in at least one of them. Familiarity with lots of languages is of little value if you have never learned any of them well enough to program with them.

Also, in most programming environments these days, familiarity with important APIs and standards is at least as important as the language. For example, most companies hiring Windows C++ programmers want you to be familiar with either MFC or the Win32 API, and they want you to understand COM (ActiveX).

 

[Dat]

Depends on where you ask.
There is still a great job market for VB programmers but its alot more crowded than Java and C++. However for pure application develoment time, nothing is faster than VB. VB7 is coming out with several key Object Oriented features that will make it very attractive. It will fully support inheritance and polymorphism. These were two key lacking features that C++ and Java had that VB did not fully support. Personally I program in all 3 and VB is without a doubt the easiest. Of course it is also alot more fun though.
SQL is a joke. It an extremely high level language and you can learn everything you need to be a database programmer using SQL in 1 day.
Might explain why most women (sorry for my bias) are usually found in Database and SQL stuff. Just plain easier.

Of course easy does not mean less money. An okay VB programmer working for a financial institution in New York will make more than a hardcore C++ programmer at Lucent.

 

[BCYL]

Thanks for all your replies! The reason I am asking is I am an ugrad CS student, and my school teaches mostly C++, which I am quite familiar with now... I am trying to learn some more stuff in my spare time during summer, and so far I have read a book on Java (which was pretty easy since it was so close to C++)... I am trying to decide what to read next, that's why I asked...

Looks like I will get another more indepth book on Java and really try to master it... Then probably I will get myself familiar with SQL also...

How about Linux? I have read in reports that employers don't use it very much... Is it useful in the field?

 

[catseye]

Yes, linux is useful in the field. A great deal of websites are served from linux, and php/perl/python run best on that platform. C++, Java, lisp, etc alro run great under linux. The only thing that doesn't is MS languages like VB, J++ and soon C#. Plus, its a killer platform for development. Some Windows apps companies program on linux and compile, run and test on the windows platform.

Also, linux is a POSIX compliant version of Unix. Many, many enterprise systems/apps run Unix, as do most schools, government agencies, research labs, etc. You'll be really selling yourself short in your CS education if you come out knowing windows only. Where I study, we do an even 50/50 windows linux split in our programs, and I'm in one of the top programs in the nation.

Another good reason to use linux is that it is free. You can get outstanding text editors (emacs), compilers/interpreters for literally dozens of languages, the most widely used web server (apache), and powerful debugging tools like ddd and gdb all for free. This stuff costs thousands of dollars for windows. Plus run of the mill free apps abound, though they are not as sophisticated generally as thier MS counterparts. Be prepared, though, the linux learning curve is steep.

So use linux. When it comes time to program linux, IE learn the linux APIs/libraries like CORBA, then you may wish to make up your mind about what platform you wish to base your career on.