Microsoft Developers opinion needed

[Inquisitor]

Ok, anyone else know some common difference? Give me a better idea of what i should be aware of.
I know "dim" is like creating a variable. iteration is stright forward.
Object creation different?
Method creation? "Ref" can be used?

Take a look at this:
http://www.harding.edu/fmccown/vbnet_csharp_comparison.html

 

[spoonjaffa]

Take a look at this:
http://www.harding.edu/fmccown/vbnet_csharp_comparison.html

Thanks, great link!

And i get the idea that VB.net versus C#.net is pointless argument and in the end both can accomplish the same.

As for my own thoughts on it; although im in the C# camp at the moment i somehow get the feeling i'd find less over-engineering show offs in VB than in C#. But thats just a guess.

 

[NathanE]

The whole concept of the .NET CLR (common language runtime) is to allow any language to compile .NET programs. The only differences are, obviously, the language syntax and what it supports. Hell there is even a PHP compiler available for .NET...

That's the key advantage of .NET over Java. Java is a framework AND a language intrinsically tied together. .NET isn't. It is a framework and a CLR on top of which languages can be built.

Yes each compiler may emit different MSIL but the differences are very small, especially between C# and VB.NET (as these compilers were made by the same company!)... the instructions that MSIL provides are fairly high level so most compilers tend to output the same or very similar boilerplate code...

But do ignore the comments about Vb.Net not been used by 'real' companies. I'm not at liberty to say but I'd have the biggest smug grin here if I name dropped a few major companies that have their entire department running, dare I say, VB.Net code.

Agreed I just didn't want to throw an axe into the seemingly "VB.net is crap" consensual opinion around here!

 

[NathanE]

Hey I use PHP

But yes it's terrible language.

No offence intended. Just that most people I know wouldn't rate PHP's syntax above VB.NET's. Even die hard C/C++/C# types like myself wouldn't.

PHP has become very convoluted - mostly the fault of the terribly "underscore_this() and underscore_that()" framework though. Where VB.NET is at least elegant, logical (even if the syntax is incredibly "marmite"/verbose) and has the famous .NET framework to build applications quickly with.

 

[Inquisitor]

No offence intended. Just that most people I know wouldn't rate PHP's syntax above VB.NET's. Even die hard C/C++/C# types like myself wouldn't.

None taken; I agree that PHP is a complete mess. I only use it because I love Kohana so much

 

[topbanana]

You'll soon get used to it. I have to do the odd bit of VB for clients, and you do switch modes after a couple of weeks.

 

[Haircut]

Just seen this thread and thought I'd add my thoughts.

If you've been coding C# for 5 years then you should be able to work in effectively in VB.NET within a week or two at most.
I'm currently working on a VB.NET project - as far as I'm concerned it's a .NET project that happens to be coded in VB. I've worked on C# for the last few years before this project and it just takes a little bit of time to get used to the syntax, but nothing major.

IMO a good developer should be as language agnostic as possible anyway, whether it be Microsoft languages or whatever.
There will obviously be some differences between languages (and probably larger differences between frameworks) but a good developer should know the way to approach problems and language is a small barrier that needs to be learnt to be able to tackle the problem in a specific way.

 

[RockLobster]

VB.NET would be fine for writing Applications as long as they are not too complex.

What a ridiculous comment. I've been involved in many enterprise applications which are written purely in VB.NET.

I haven't done any serious programming since Uni and could not remember all the terms...

Ahh that explains it then.

The only real difference between C# and VB.NET is in C# you can write unsafe code and you can have explicit interface implementation. I find a lot of programmers who think because they use C# they are superior in some way, errm get over it you are not, both languages are practically the same except for their syntax.

To spoonjaffa this link may help: -

http://www.harding.edu/fmccown/vbnet_csharp_comparison.html

 

[Eriedor]

.Net is more about learning the framework than a specific language, vb and c# are so similar its trivial.

As Haircut said, a good developer should be able to move from language to language without too much hassle.