Why Visual Basic 6 Still Thrives

theodp writes "Microsoft recently extended 'It Just Works' compatibility for Visual Basic 6 applications through the full lifetime of Windows 8, so VB6 apps will have at least 24 years of supported lifetime (VB6 shipped in '98). So why has VB6, 'the un-killable cockroach' in the Windows ecosystem, managed to thrive? 'Cockroaches are successful because they're simple,' explains David S. Platt. 'They do what they need to do for their ecological niche and no more. Visual Basic 6 did what its creators intended for its market niche: enable very rapid development of limited programs by programmers of lesser experience.' But when Microsoft proudly trotted out VB.NET, the 'full-fledged language' designed to turn VB6 'bus drivers' into 'fighter pilots,' they got a surprise. 'Almost all Visual Basic 6 programmers were content with what Visual Basic 6 did,' explains Platt. 'They were happy to be bus drivers: to leave the office at 5 p.m. (or 4:30 p.m. on a really nice day) instead of working until midnight; to play with their families on weekends instead of trudging back to the office; to sleep with their spouses instead of pulling another coding all-nighter and eating cold pizza for breakfast. They didn't lament the lack of operator overloading or polymorphism in Visual Basic 6, so they didn't say much.'"

Comments

Having just built a C# app

[codepunk]

Having luckily escaping windows programming for nearly 10 years now I was asked to write a fairly simple application last week in C#. So I downloaded a copy of Sharp Develop and got to work. A couple of hours later I was finished. Mind you I had never written anything in C# before and it was trivial easy.

The primary reason I had such a easy time with it is that C# is nothing more that Visual Basic with curly brace syntax. Ok to be honest they did clean up a bunch of hacks in it but it is still Visual Basic rehashed.

Don't let the C# fanbois fool you, what the really mean is they code in Visual Basic.

Why VB6 thrives.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Those who used VB6 way back when they were entry level analysts have been promoted appropriately to their level of incompetence. They have never renewed their programming skills. But they insist their underlings program in a language these guys can understand. That way they can sprinkle GOSUB hack-du-jour in the code and add their own nuggets of wisdom in. They get best of both worlds. They get to satisfy their own ego that they are as good or better than their underlings. But when such stupid tricks blow up on their face they can blame their underlings for writing stupid code. It is a self selection process. All competent underlings will leave looking for better pastures. A whole eco-system of pointy haired bosses and spineless underlings develop around VB6. It won't die anytime soon.