Slashdot Mirror
Is Visual Basic a Good Beginner's Language?
Austin Milbarge asks: "Ever since the .NET framework came along a few years ago, Microsoft had promised VB developers that their language would finally be taken seriously. To be honest, I never understood why some non-VB developers thought of VB as a 'toy' language, but that is for another article. Anyways, Microsoft made good on their promise and transformed VB from an easy to learn language into an object oriented power house, with lots of OOP functionality thrown in. The old VB has been discontinued, and the new VB is no longer a simple language. With all the fancy changes, is VB still the great beginner's language it once was? Would you recommend it to a beginner over C#?"
Let's stop referring to it as a programming language too, please.
Next question.
Yes, we understand these tags always apply: fud, dupe, typo, slashdotted, topic name
learn assembler first so that you know what's REALLY going on inside that computer.
Try machine language! And entering it directly into RAM using paddle switches. Then setting the CPU bootstrap address to the beginning of your code. And the RAM LED addressses to where you placed you results.
(Did this in the advanced digital class)
- - - - - - - - - - -
I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
OMG! Flamebait?!
Certainly obnoxious, but it is closer to true than it is to false, and I was actually trying to make a point about the pathetic floundering of the democratic party.
Really, my political leanings are pretty much what-should-be-libertarian-but-- prefer-social-justice-
they-the-party-are-bat-shit-insane-and-I-slightly
to-low-taxes-so-the-republicans-are-just-as-bad, this isn't flamebait.
Oh well, back to the vodka.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
go on to get PhD's and disover better sorting algorithms
Jesus. Christ. They don't even teach you people to sort properly anymore? That was CS/CE101 when I was still a computer engineering focus. And yes, I mean a multitude of sorts. Good ones. The only time I ever saw a bubble sort was when I had to pick one out of a list of assembler programs on a test.
====
Crudely Drawn Games
...it's what's for breakfast.
the pundits launch into tirades about how VB.Net is a toy compared to C# (which are both the same CLR language), Java, Ruby, PHP, Perl, and some whack job will likely even recommend Python.
The reason why it's called the CLR is because it's Common to multiple Languages that Run on it. It does not mean that the things that run on it are the same language. If it did, then VB.NET, C# and the Python that you despise would be "the same CLR language", seeing as Python runs on the CLR as well.
VB.Net by default has explicit and strict options off, turning those two options on makes its compiler just as strict as the C# compiler.
That's a nonsensical thing to say. They are different languages, you can't have a compiler that is "just as strict" as a compiler for a different language, unless you define "strict" in some way that doesn't involve the language - i.e. nonsensical.
The only substantial differences from VB.Net to C# is syntax
Perhaps you've never been around somebody trying to get into programming. I've been surrounded by newbies at school, college, university and I've taught people at work. Syntax is a big deal to newbies.
C#:
If Var1 == Var2
You don't know the first thing about C#. Anybody who's spent more than five minutes with it knows that you need to surround the expression that goes with the if statement with parentheses like this:
Clearly you've never touched C# in your life if you get such basic things wrong.
-1, Troll, people. Everybody who modded this up to +5, Insightful should be embarrassed.
How much did MS pay for this crap??? This is the next to worset thing I've ever seen posted on Slashdot.
Did someone from Slashdot remember to send Microsoft a bill for doing their PR work?
500+ comments? You should all be ashamed for paying too much attention to this garbage. It's a troll.
First and foremost because of the tab/whitespace idiocy that stumps thousands. But also because it's a language for non-programmers. It does not teach you how to program. It teaches you how to repeat some statements for some common tasks. It's woefully inadequate for anything even remotely complex due to it's "my way or the highway" design.
Sorry. Not that VB is much better, but Ruby, C# or even Perl are better choices (cue the guys who once saw some Perl code in 1998).
Bondage does not make a programmer.
You are such a fucktard.