Visual Basic .NET Standard 2003

Two things make Visual Basic .NET Standard 2003 easy to learn and use. One is the language itself, which is designed to be closer to natural English than others. The other is the array of tools and wizards that Microsoft provides, including a visual form designer for both Windows and Web projects. The Web technology, ASP .Net, enables easy creation of Web pages that query and update databases--a Windows Web server running .Net is required to do this. The programming environment is slick, with convenient features such as docking and tabbed windows, project wizards, auto-completion and pop-up help in the code editor. The .Net version of Visual Basic benefits from full object-orientation and a rich class library. It also supports advanced features such as multi-threading.

Whereas Visual Basic 6.0 and earlier versions needed a small runtime library, this .Net edition requires the .Net Framework, a runtime engine and class library that manages memory and enforces security. Framework applications perform well, since they are compiled to native code at runtime, but there is an overhead in terms of memory usage and the Framework runtime must be installed. These factors, together with less-than-perfect code compatibility, have made some Visual Basic developers reluctant to switch. While that's understandable, the .Net technology is now maturing and this release is probably the right moment to make the move. It's still important to note the heavy system requirements, and that .Net applications do not run on Windows 95. --Tim Anderson

I have been 'playing'with Java for a while now and having bought Visual Basic .Net I will be using this instead! In around 20 minutes you are creating windows applications with 'proper' windows interfaces. A great tool with a BIG future. 5 stars!


A must BUY product   July 12, 2004
14 out of 21 found this review helpful

this is a brilliant product at a brilliant price. It is easy to use and has all the features you need to make you're own programmes and installation files. The only problem is that PCs installing you're software need to .net framework.


.NET a JAVA Killer   July 2, 2004
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

VB.NET has been written to address all the complaints levelled at VB and for the most part it has suceeded.
The IDE alone is a big jump forward.
Microsoft have taken a big risk in evolving VB in this way and there is no doubt in my mind that it is going to kill off a lot of the cowboy programmers. It is still possible to produce poor code in .NET but it .NET is a lot less tollerant of such bodging.
The heart of all .NET languages is the common language specification, so if you buy this product make sure you buy a good book on the .NET functions.


Brilliant update of a brilliant language   March 3, 2004
32 out of 33 found this review helpful

After a few years programming in the previous version of BASIC (i.e. V6.0), this new .NET edition does take a little getting used to. After a while exploring the features and experimenting with the improved syntax though, you realise how powerful this new version of BASIC is.

The Development Environment created by Microsoft here is up to the usual high standard and is very easy to use and intuative.

Also this package is not plainly for BASIC development. There are also very useful tools for developing web pages, various XML technologies and scripting languages supported and also you can make icons for your applications.

This is a very good all-round software development package, at a very reasonable price (at first I thought the price was maybe a little high, but after playing with all the features of this package, it is worth every penny!). I would seriously recomend this package to anyone interested in developing Windows or web-based applications.


I'd recommend it to all VBA/VB6 developers   February 4, 2004
29 out of 30 found this review helpful

Beautiful! The updated interface is a dream for any long time developers, the libraries go on forever and the capabilities of the 'new' VB language stretch almost as far as C++ - it's a proper programming language now.

The ability to develop and deploy for both the web and for the desktop with almost exactly the same code future proofs all applications developed in this environment.

After years of doing battle with MS Access and VB6 dll hell Microsoft have finally pulled all of their rabbits out of all sorts of hats at the same time.

Those who are considering a move from VB6 don't hesitate in the slightest. The .Net framework is Microsoft's version of Java and you can tell they threw billions into developing it.

It only took Microsoft you 20 years but at last (at long last!) they're finally spent all those big fat profits on something good. I like it!