vb.net and asp.net: what to learn first?

[dsd17]

I've done some programming in college (mainly C++), but then went on to more of a web development role. Unfortunately, I have no graphic arts talent at all so my layouts are pretty bland. So I decided that maybe I could stay in the web development field, but go to more of a back end position.

My question: Do I need to know VB.net pretty well before I begin learning ASP or will it not make much of a difference?

 

[notfred]

I don't know VB at all and I'm learning ASP.NET, but then I'm using C#.

 

[kuljc]

me too... i'll be keeping this thread bookmarked

you should probablly ask also for some good book recomendations.

 

[CycloWizard]

I taught myself the basics of aspx and C# in one semester and had never programmed in anything but VB 6 before (and barely any of that ). From what I hear, if you know C++, then C# is a breeze. I've heard nothing but bad things about VB.NET, which is why I just picked up C# instead.

 

[AnyMal]

I'm learning VB.NET now and must say it has been very easy ride so far. This is my first programming language.

 

[mysticfm]

From what I've been told, VB.NET is only bad if you are coming to it as an experienced VB6 developer (because it's very much a different language from VB6 that is hiding beneath similar syntax). For someone like myself who hadn't done Basic of any flavor since childhood (spent most of my career with C, C++ and/or 4GLs), VB.NET has been quite comfortable and (surprisingly to me) not overly limiting, at least for use in back-end web development.

That said, I'd still have preferred to have been doing my recent web development in C# instead (I inherited a half-done VB.NET web project, so my language was more or less chosen for me).

 

[JoeCDaMan]

Personally this past summer I took a few months and learned VB.net which turned out to be not all that different of a feel to me when coding than C#, of course there are syntax differences. I chose to learn VB.net instead of C# because I just graduated with a BS in CS and spent the past 4 years coding C and C++ for the unix environment. I had been told numerous times that if you know C++ well the transition to C# is pretty smooth so I wanted to try something new and expand my skills. Shortly after graduation I accepted a position as a .net software developer which was quite a change for me not just in the web area, but just programing in the windows OS. I was forced to learn C# for the job and refamiliarize myself with the Visual Studio environment since VS 6.0, and I haven't looked back since. I have grown accustomed to programming in C# and probably prefer it to VB.net now. Honestly with respect to the power of the two languages I would say their capabilities are fairly equal, but I'm not an expert with either language as of yet so correct me if I'm wrong. Hope that helps

 

[torpid]

C# is probably a little better than vb.net, but mostly because microsoft seems to have spent more time on the language, and added features like xml comments and similar. You can also override an interface implementation in an inherited class, which allows for some tricky stuff. However, in VB.net, an interface implementation method does not get assigned merely by having the same name. In VB.net you use the implements keyword. This allows a class to use any method name it wants when implementing an interface, which can be useful for implementing multiple interfaces with similar method names.

Those are the main differences I have found.

 

[JoeCDaMan]

Torpid what you said makes sense. At least from the C# standpoint I read/write to xml files constantly while developing. Haven't worked with interfaces in VB.net though

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: JoeCDaMan
Torpid what you said makes sense. At least from the C# standpoint I read/write to xml files constantly while developing. Haven't worked with interfaces in VB.net though

I think you misunderstood. Writing and reading from xml files works either way. I am referring to using xml comments to document your code. VS extracts these into an xml file which can be used to generate documentation automatically. In VB.net you have to purchase or download an add-on that accomplishes this. The point was merely that MS has focused more effort on C#.

 

[dsd17]

asp can be executed with either C# or vb coding correct?

 

[dsd17]

also, are there any good books out there for beginners? I was thinking of getting one of the Teach yourself in 21 days to start me out and then get more detailed later.

 

[mysticfm]

Yes, ASP.NET applications can utilize either C# or VB.NET. As for books, someone else will have to answer. I just learned my way through it using the .NET SDK documentation (but I'm not a beginner).

 

[rsd]

If you have a good background in OOP then you can grasp .NET easily. Language is really a preference thing. I've been doing VB.NET for the last two years, but had done virtually no VB prior (we just use VB.NET because the other guy I work with only knows that).

.NET isn't too hard to grasp, but there can be a lot of subtle things too. God knows I've foun some strange bugs or features, that even took MS support several weeks to understand. Turns out it was a "feature" of theirs...bah.

 

[oog]

i think you should learn html first

 

[DJFuji]

if youre doing web development at all, i would seriously consider learning HTML/JS/ASP 3.0 first. Not only are they simple to learn, but they'll give you a strong background on web app dev. The one that that annoys the holy hell out of me is when developers suck at web design and they use VS IDE to drag and drop elements into a web form. The web isn't a rich client form-- you can't do that in web development and expect to get away with it. YOu'll either need web design experience or a guy specifically who handles the interfaces.

Your original question is worded strangely since VB.NET is a language and ASP.NET is more or less a technology or platform. If you meant to say "C# OR VB.NET" then it comes down to what you prefer. I personally use C# when coding asp.net but its really a matter of preference.

 

[kuljc]

still looking for people to post some books on either C# or VB .net

also what compilers do you guys use, would anyone suggest against using these
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/

i'm currently using visual c++ and it seems to be working fine.

 

[kuljc]

anyone?

 

[daniel1113]

I don't think it will make much of a difference. If you already have programming experience, picking up VB.NET and ASP.NET shouldn't be too difficult at all. You will learn more doing than reading, but I would suggest picking up a good introo book, such as the SAMS ASP.NET book, for reference. Although ASP.NET as a whole is pretty simple to use, there are some underlying concepts that are much different than other languages. However, once you learn those, you will be golden.

 

[brentman]

There is a GREAT book called ASP.NET Unleashed by Stephen Walther. Great book that walks you through everything from component usage, validation, web service creation, database programming, etc. Really quite a useful book. All code samples in the book are in VB.NET but the CD packaged with the book has all samples in VB.NET and C#.

I have used VB.NET for a while now, and I haven't felt limited by it. From everything I have been reading at MSDN and Microsoft Press books, none of the .NET languages are superior to any of the rest due to the fact that they all leverage the same class libraries and whatnot. I personally would like to transition to C#, but just haven't found the time to learn the syntactical differences between it and VB.NET.

Good luck to all those trying to learn the .NET environment, it is truly a useful and powerful set of tools.

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: brentman
There is a GREAT book called ASP.NET Unleashed by Stephen Walther. Great book that walks you through everything from component usage, validation, web service creation, database programming, etc. Really quite a useful book. All code samples in the book are in VB.NET but the CD packaged with the book has all samples in VB.NET and C#.

I have used VB.NET for a while now, and I haven't felt limited by it. From everything I have been reading at MSDN and Microsoft Press books, none of the .NET languages are superior to any of the rest due to the fact that they all leverage the same class libraries and whatnot. I personally would like to transition to C#, but just haven't found the time to learn the syntactical differences between it and VB.NET.

Good luck to all those trying to learn the .NET environment, it is truly a useful and powerful set of tools.

I concur... wonderful book. Lots of useful examples, especially since they are all done in VB.NET and C#.NET. Easy to read and learn from. Definitely recommended.