Since the past, scholars have predicted that the future of Visual Basic has uncertainty, which shows that people completely misunderstand the reason for a programming language, and it also ignores Visual Basic's own unique spirit. In the past ten years, people have always predicted that Visual Basic will die, but even after Visual Basic.net appears, there is still no change. From the recent report, VB.NET's future is challenged by its brother language C #. Even for so many years, people still can't understand VB - and the current VB.NET - still a world's most popular programming language. Indeed, some VB programmers will turn to C #, Java or Delphi, but the transformation factors considered by these languages have highlighted a fact - they are all evolved in the direction of ease and rapid development, and these features are Visual Basic is invented and advocated. No matter what happened, VB this language, its soul conquered the programming world and will continue to exist. In fact, the concept of VB advocates, has never been like this is so active.
Significant success
The early version of Visual Basic did not cause huge repercussions, but this language was innovative, and as a new programming example (PARADIGM) attracted considerable attention because it allowed programmers to create forms ( FORM. People can see the processes of the program by dragging the controls on the design interface by dragging the controls to the design interface.
Visual Basic reduces editing - compile - test cycle by performing termination operation (End-Run). Traditional VB is similar to a lot of early Basic implementations, which is an interpreted language that you can edit VB code at runtime (Runtime). Even if the program is still running, the VB integrated development environment (IDE) will immediately apply most code changes, which allows you to gradually perform a certain code, find an error, correct the error and retest the code, and retest the code in the debugger. Everything does not need to stop the program to recompile. This feature called "Edit and Continue" has greatly improved the production efficiency of VB, exceeding the old editing - compile - compile - test development mode.
The programmer likes to drag and drop the control, but they do not satisfy the built-in control. Fortunately, Microsoft has developed a architecture, and the programmer group can use it to create controls. Soon, enterprise developers have established hundreds of "VBX" controls (and later ActiveX controls), which covers the entire industrial field, and also promotes the concept of reusable code to a new level. .
Visual Basic is also a first popular programming language for generic purposes, which provides a true integrated database access. Through Microsoft Data Access Object (DAO) technology, the processing relational database in VB is very simple, so that the developer does not need to understand any information of the next-layer relational database work, they can put a perceived database (Database -aware) Control drag and drop onto the form. Even for more advanced developers, DAO (and its successor, such as RDO, ADO, and current ADO.NET) have also increased production efficiency.
In the third edition, VB becomes stable and fast. It holds the best IDE you can use at the time, and millions of part-time programmers can understand it. VB quickly became the most popular application programming language in the world, and no matter what it will disappear, it maintains its own location. Visual Basic has always maintained a popular reason lies in the six elements of the developer group:
1. Syntax similar to Basic, case-inSensitive
2. Ability of visual design
3. Great integrated development environment with integrated debuggers
4. Edit, continue to run (edit-and-continue)
5. A variety of cheap, firm follow-up controls
6. Simple, integrated database support
Some other languages also provide a subset of these features, but there is no such language to successfully occupy the huge market occupied by VB.
Other vendors have long been covered by VB's developers, and make huge efforts, I hope that VB developers migrate to other platforms. For example, Borland's Delphi language provides everything provided by VB, except for the syntax and editing of the Basic, continue to run. In fact, Delphi provides more capabilities than VB. For example, it's faster. The speed of the Delphi code is inherently the same as C . Delphi also provides controls for local aware databases for their own DBASE and Interbase desktop databases. Delphi's future version even provides ADO packaging.
But Delphi uses objects of Pascal language rather than BASIC core, and changes in this feature hinder its widely adopted. Regardless of whether the speed is faster or providing a true object-oriented programming (OOP) capabilities - in short, all features based on the COM package - Delphi is not an important competitor in VB.
C # can replace Visual Basic?
Microsoft realized that some characteristics made VBs and included these features into VB.NET. However, C # never designs as "VB killer". In fact, C # is more like developers used to attract C and Java. C # provides a syntax similar to C, similar to C and Java. However, it loses the first - similar BASIC's grammar in six characteristics. Although the syntax is not important for some developers, it is too important for other developers.
In addition, VB and current VB.NET are not sensitive languages. For example, "email" and "email" are the same variable. In C, C , Java, JScript, and other similar C, changing uppercase is wrong, email and email are not the same variable.
C # does have visual design and simple, integrated database support, and ultimately you will have a huge subsequent control library available - but this control library is the same as the control library owned by VB.NET developers.
C #'s IDE also requires more things. Even if C # is shared with VB.NET, the IDE corresponds to each language, respectively. For example, IntelliSense in VB.NET is much better than C #, you may guess that IntelliSense in C # is sensitive. Why do you not understand if you find unknown information and unregistered search characteristics? Worse, its case sensitivity is still inconsistent.
No one denies that C # syntax is more concise. If you hate input and do not use IntelliSense's code fill capabilities, or you are already using C language syntax, then you should use C #. But this does not mean that C # will eventually replace VB.NET.
A bigger problem is whether VB.NET will replace VB. One of the problems is that VB.NET also does not contain all the features of VB. In particular, VB.NET lost the editor to continue running, long-term promise, continued delivery, and they will become the key influencing factors that VB programmers migrate to .NET version. The incompatibility of code is another factor that hinders migration. Microsoft has not yet migrated from VB to VB.NET is simple enough. Although VB.NET syntax is very similar to traditional VB syntax, it is not the same. It is not only a change in grammar, but also adds to the framework. The upgrade wizard of VB to VB.NET is not only now, but also will never migrate all applications in the future.
At the same time, most VB programmers do not have a large vertical application to be migrated. They either write a small application, re-writing is not expensive, or plan to maintain existing applications with VB while establishing new. application. For this major programmers, the differences in language are welcomed, so that VB.NET becomes the uniquely threat of traditional VB.
Will VB.NET beyond the Windows platform?
Interestingly, some of the progress of the Java camp seems to have an impact on Visual Basic programming. Due to ignoring the cross-platform version of the establishment language, Microsoft has failed to make full use of the popularization of these languages. This means that Sun's Java will lead to cross-platform fields because they have the ability to run on any platform, and this will bring practical business benefits - in the server field. However, SUN also failed, it was not able to take advantage of Java's popularity, the result is that Java has become the king of server, non-GUI application market, while VB, C and .net rule Holding a desktop platform.
But the situation will not be constant, this requires the IBM's Eclipse project, and Java developers can now establish an easy response to Windows applications, which can be comparable to the application written in Microsoft programming language. And Sun has declared that Java developers will provide simplified RAD features for Java developers.
Challenge this trend is some projects that are busy migrating .NET framework components to open and shared source code on Linux and UNIX. If these projects have achieved results, .NET developers will eventually get a cross-platform capabilities similar to Java. These trends will result in some interesting conversion and change, but they have not directly threatened Visual Basic.
Keep a variety of choices
Visual Basic.net is a real successor of Visual Basic, as there is currently no language that can match VB's characteristic collections like VB.NET. But there is still a complaintish - once you decide to leave the traditional VB, you don't have to care about yourself in that language. If you decide to migrate to VB.NET, you will find it is complete, if you feel less appropriate, you can use C # or J # programming.
Even if you decide to completely comply with Microsoft and switch to Java or Delphi, you will find that after learning these languages and frameworks, switching to .NET is not very difficult. In addition to a few exceptions, all of these programming languages are the same. The syntax and IDE between them are far greater than the difference in concepts and capabilities.
Conclude
There is no uncertainty in the future of VB. VB is a set of characteristics. All popular languages are moving in a direction that adapts to these features, and the advocates of these features are traditional Visual Basic, and further development in Visual Basic.NET. Regardless of whether the syntax, platform and frame are the same, Visual Basic's spirit will continue.
