aff1993

Hello,
I am a 13 year old kid in Australia, i have started reading VB 2005 in 24 hours, i have been doing computers and using IDE for about 2 years now and have had a computer since i can remeber, i know all about windows and at school people are amazed as i made the program http://gimme.50webs.com/ and i can help even the IT teachers with the PC's.
Is Visual basic going to be easy and fun for me, i am already up to hour 6 and can write some code(like Me.Close() ).
Thanks

alphonso

Wow, you can write a Peer-to-peer program? You say you're only 13? Amazing...
Hope you can take the complaints and responsibility the people will be throwing at you when they try to sue you...remember the case of the US versus Groekster? How about Napster?

Anyway, back to your question: It depends on what you call easy...I myself know the book you're talking about (written by James Foxall, right?), and I am already at hour 11. Yes, basically, VB2005 is easy, if you have a good book to teach you.

Is VB2005 going to be fun? Not all the time...Case in point, I did not have fun when I was trying to figure out what syntaxes, DLLs and SDKs I need just to run a voice recognition program...In my opinion, it's fun when you know what you're doing and what you're gonna do, but not fun when you don't know where to start...

Bottom line is: If you wanna help people by writing Windows-based applications, and if this is enjoyable, then go right ahead, by all means.

However, if you want to challenge yourself, and see how much comprehension you can take at your age, then try programming in Java or C++. These 2 are good foundation ProLans, as you'll easily understand the concept of Object-Oriented Programming.

__________________
"The most incomprehensible idea about the universe is that it is comprehensible" - Albert Einstein

Polyphemus_

While VB.net is way better than previous versions like VB6, I still don't think it is a great language. It teaches you bad habit, and has a weak syntax (IMO).
Personally, I would recommend C#. It has a more modern syntax, is fully object-oriented and is great for RAD.

I started in Visual Basic 6 myself when I was 8 or 9, and used it way too long. I still feel sorry about it.

alphonso

In what way?

__________________
"The most incomprehensible idea about the universe is that it is comprehensible" - Albert Einstein

Booooze

Most would say that it teaches you bad habits. I did vb6 for quite a while, and was quite good at it. The reason it "teaches you bad habits" is because of syntax (as polyphemus said). For instance, when it comes to data conversion, such as string to int, it does it all internally for you. In vb6, it tends to be sloppy, and do the internal work for you, so sometimes doesn't clear memory properly. Of course, some will argue that. That's what I remember from experience. Now I don't know if this carries through to vb.net, but if you are looking to move on a bit, I highly suggest finishing that book on vb.net, and then move to C#. The libraries are all the same, so it's not like you have to start over. But in the real world, C# will take you a lot farther than vb will.

Eoin

If you've to a cross roads I'd suggest trying C#. It should be pretty much as easy to get to grips with as VB.net but should be alot more marketable in the future.

C++ would also be a wise choice, but GUI's will be alot harder. Well perhaps managed C++ wouldn't by too much harder but I haven't tried that.

P.S. Your source code download doesn't contain any source just images.

__________________
Visit my website BinaryNotions.

Polyphemus_

Managed C++ is pretty awesome. You can use the framework just like in C#, but you can integrate the code very easily with native C++, even in the same source file.

alphonso

Ahh, I see...And here I was thinking that I'll buy "Mastering Visual Basic 2005" by Evangelos Petroutsos when it won't do me any good...thanks for the tips

By the way, I've been eyeing the book package of Microsoft entitled the Visual C# Deluxe Learning Edition, but with a tag of about $60...It's a bit heavy on the pocket; anyone there with this book? How is it?

Oh yeah, before I forget: My programming friend says VIsual C# is definitely more powerful thatn Visual Basic 2005...any truth to that? Thanks

__________________
"The most incomprehensible idea about the universe is that it is comprehensible" - Albert Einstein

Eoin

VB.net and C# have alot in common but C# IS the language for the .net framework, the two see to have been designed almost in parallel while other languages have been adapted to it and so might (I'm not an expert I'll freely admit) not be able to avail of all its advantages.

__________________
Visit my website BinaryNotions.

melbolt

either way, it is a very good thing to have on your resume nowadays, if you don't believe me, try a search on a jobsite like monster.com, lots of jobs out there that want people with VB .NET knowledge.

not sure what you mean by "won't do me any good".
I myself program VB nearly everyday. One example: its good enough to make a information management system for the US Army, which i'm currently taking part in. VB .NET in my opinion is one of the best languages for rapid development. It has come a very long way since the old VB I think many of you are confusing with .NET

For someone who has used both VB .NET and C#, I feel these langauges are way to similar to share the opinions of the other posters above me.

At my place of employment, I hop around between many languages all the time C++, VB .NET, C#, php, actionscript, Java, etc

VB still remains one of my favorite languages to program in and it was the language that I first started programming large-scale software in out of college. When I have just finished writing a program in Java and come back to VB .NET I have a "thank god" feeling. Anyone who has tried to make a GUI programmatically in Java can probably sympathise lol.

VB .NET can create complex apps, our current VB .NET solution contains over 150 projects and millions of lines of code, the back end is very in-depth and contains layers upon layers, its not always "the wimp's langauge" if you get a chance to use it fully.


when you say C# is more "powerful" than VB .NET, I'd say there is very little truth to that, afterall, they both run off the .NET framework.

As for me, I have barely even felt the need to "learn" C# after programming VB .NET for awhile, I was able to hop right over and use C# pretty much instantly, any differences between the languages were overcome with a single google search, and about 2 minutes of reading.

So in my opinion, VB .NET is a great language, to me it doesn't carry that "child's toy" feel to it that many other programmers express it as.
It is a serious language meant for professional development and is used everyday by many companies to do so.

what it is not however,
it is not your portable code langauge, but then again, there are many limitations in .NET in this area.

as for your general system software, its a great langauge to know.

but that's just my opinion

__________________
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. -Mark Twain-

Xbox live gamertag: melbolt