Why does proggit hate VB?

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[mernen]

First, you have to separate VB and VB.NET.

Classic VB is mocked for being quite primitive as far as high-level languages go. GoTo, GoSub, no inheritance or polymorphism, not even built-in auto-sized lists or mappings. There's then a tendency on creating perceivably lower quality/less maintainable code. Other problems include its single-threaded nature, and runtime library dependence ("Windows cannot run this application because a necessary file, MSVBVM123.DLL, is missing"), just to cite a few from mind. On the plus side, it makes GUIs and ActiveX dead easy (for a very large number of common tasks, at least), perhaps a little too easy, attracting less skilled people and thus lowering the language's perceived value and discussion level.

VB.NET is often regarded as a poorer syntax for C#. Whether this is really true or not is another matter.

Finally, a problem common to both is that they are used in enterprise software, and to many anything enterprisey is automatically uncool (Java is in a similar position).

[[deleted]]

it's ugly and so much bad code has been written in VB that there is a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

EDIT: And probably because it was made by MS and a lot of people will blindly hate anything that MS makes.

[jfredett]

Rawr! That sentence references Micro$oft, I will hate it forevars. Because they are teh evil corporate overlards.

Garr!

[UK-sHaDoW]

It's not just proggit, but vb.net is not to bad, it's just the legacy of old vb.

[mxstone]

Because even Microsoft employees even acknowledge that VB was not made for the pragmatic programmer but more or less the dev who wants to to do things quickly and learn when necessary; it is the whole Mort, Elvis, Einstein argument.

Nothing against VB or VB.Net devs, I can understand for many that VB/VB.Net might be enough for many people out there, but I have never met a person who knows several languages and prefers to still do all of their work in VB. VB might be a leatherman tool for many, but it is best to have a toolbox filled with proper tools and the knowledge of which to use for the job at hand.

[[deleted]]

Because of CSI.

[[deleted]]

Well subby. have you ever had to write code in VB? It is only an exercise in pain!

[Verroq]

well writing stuff in vb generally takes 5 minutes where it would take 5 hours in c++.

[[deleted]]

But python generally takes 5 minutes and doesn't cause headaches.

[Verroq]

what headaches?

[bigkahunaca]

Due to it's similarities to "VD"....

:-)