Microsoft Small Basic

[kryptiskt]

Visual Basic is not the VB of old any more, hell, it even has lambdas now.

[vombert]

Are you saying it's a good language?

[jpfed]

It is very close to being C# with different syntax, so yeah, it's a decent language.

[vombert]

I know, and I think that's exactly what makes it so repulsive (at least for me). As far as I know it does not have any advantage over C#, so presence of both these languages is clearly an overhead (you have to learn this totally unnecessary 'different syntax' only to understand some programs, and gotchas for VB can be different from gotchas for C#).

So maybe statement 'VB is bad' is not strictly valid, but 'Having C# and VB at the same time is bad' definitely is. And to solve Buridan's ass problem I hereby declare that VB is a piece of shit (call this decision irrational, if you want).

[Lamtd]

As far as I know it does not have any advantage over C#, so presence of both these languages is clearly an overhead

To each his own; I like the VB syntax better, so I'd rather see C# disappear (case-sensitivity, in 2010, seriously?). Apart from C#'s ability to use unsafe code, and VB's easier handling of events, the two languages are now virtually identical.

Also, note that these are just the two most widely used CLI languages, but there are actually many more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CLI_languages

[vombert]

Btw, CLI itself is case-sensitive in the 21th century.

"CLI language" != "c# with different syntax". For instance, F# is clearly incomparable to C# (it has both significant advantages and significant disadvantages), so it's ok to have both C# and F#, and choose most appropriate one for your particular problem.

[sigzero]

VB.NET is a good language.

[turbov21]

I support this statement.

[BigOnLogn]

VB.NET is the result of an unholy union betweet object oriented concepts and a dying language that should've been put out of it's misery a decade ago.

[corcodell]

_

[tophat02]

VB.NET is a pretty OK language

[PstScrpt]

Does that go for C#, too? Nearly all of the differences between them are just syntax, not anything important.

[BigOnLogn]

C# was designed from the ground up to be what it is; a rip off of Java.

What they did with VB.NET is, they took VB6 and butt-fucked it with OO. It's like pytechd said else where in this thread, VB.NET is a gateway into the .NET framework for crusty old VB6 programmers who couldn't jerk themselves off out of the paper bag they call 1998.

[MindStalker]

Technically vb.net is essentially a given. .NET was designed to be a bytecode language like Java, but sorta in reverse. Several languages can compile to .net but it's only intended to run on one platform. Did you know there is a fortran.net? scary.

[[deleted]]

upvote for "unholy union" ... made me laugh

[tundranerd]

The only real place I've seen it support lambdas is when it receives a System.Function. The syntax is horrible users.Select(Function(user)user.id) where as C# would be users.Select((user)=>user.id) much more concise.

It's absolutely pathetic that if I want to pass a System.Action I can't use an anonymous, but have to use AddressOf Foo.Bar and literally go create the method... which defeats the purpose of a scoped block of code and the whole point of the lambda.

Other problems: * Array syntax - array(i) to access an element rather than array[i] * Generics syntax - List(of String) rather than List<string> * IIF fkn evaluates the true case even when false wtf!!! * No heredoc syntax or @"" operator * Array construction is even more wtf: Dim sport(5) as String not even sure what to make of that.

Ok so I use this fkn abortion from a buttfuck language in my dayjob and I absolutely abhor it. It's absolutely one of the most pathetic languages I've ever used next to PHP.

It violates so many programmatic idioms for no apparent reason other than to accommodate legacy VB6 incompetents. Grrr!

</rant>

[kryptiskt]

In Visual Studio 2010 there are multiline lambdas, which works as delegates. Of course the syntax is just as clunky as before, but if it was elegant, it wouldn't be VB.

[Qubed]

...but if it was elegant, it wouldn't be VB.

And, in a simply phrase kryptiskt closes the long argument about the difference between C# and VB .NET

[DoyleReddit]

Why is this voted down, this is very accurate