Visual Basic Programmer

MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC PROGRAMMING

Standardise on Visual Basic.NET or C#?

Visual Basic .Net and C# are the main programming languages using the.NET Framework.

C# is popular amongst the Object Oriented Programming gurus. It has gained many converts from the C, C++, Java and JavaScript language developers. Software packages (like graphics, games or media players) tend to be developed in C#. Business administration systems are mostly written in VB.Net. There is roughly equal adoption for VB.NET and C# by developers.

VB.NET and C# are syntactically very different. But they share the same Base Classes of the .NET Framework, run the same .NET Framework runtime libraries, and compile to the same intermediate language. Both languages have the same garbage collection, cross language inheritance, exception handling, and debugging. The same binary output can be produced from either .NET programming language.

There is not much to choose between the two languages in terms of functionality. There is little performance difference between a VB.Net and a C# routine. In any event, performance for a Company's administration systems is more dependent on database design optimisation, network traffic and data access efficiency – than programming language efficiency.

Why should administration systems be standardised on VB.Net?

• VB.NET is much easier to learn than C#
• VB.NET is not case-sensitive. Case sensitivity can make C# coding difficult to write, debug and maintain.
• VB.Net is easier to read and understand, being written in a pseudo-English style format. VB.Net uses the more understandable "If" and "End If" statements – rather than the curly braces {} and semi-colons of C#. VB.Net requires less comments and reads more intuitively. This makes Business logic much easier to program and maintain.
• The Visual Studio development environment is smarter and more intuitive when working with VB.NET. Intellisense is more helpful. Event handling is easier. With the help of Intellisense, there is often less coding to do. There are many commands in VB.Net that make programming easier.
• Legacy Visual Basic 6 and Microsoft Access applications can be more readily converted to VB.Net.
• VB.Net is safer than C# and less likely to cause system failures.
• For code execution efficiency, there is not much to choose between the two languages. Just ensure that "Option strict" and "Option explicit" are set for the best performance.
• VB.Net programmers are likely to charge less for their services than C# programmers.
• VB.Net programmers are less likely to get involved in the complexities of Object Oriented programming. To be productive, avoid OOP like the plague. See a word of caution about Object Oriented programming from Microsoft.
• There is very little that VB.Net cannot do, that C# can. Where a routine written in C# is available, it can be translated to VB.Net using freely available software.
• VB.Net tends to have less complexities. And simplicity, above all, reduces the cost of maintaining an application.

In the rare case when esoteric C# functionality is needed – isolate the code in a DLL, and call it from a VB.Net application.