Introduction and Welcome

The initial release of the .NET platform (circa 2001) caused quite a stir within the Visual Basic programming community. One the one hand, many die-hard VB6 developers were up in arms at the major differences between VB6 and Visual Basic .NET (VB .NET). Individuals in this group were a bit stunned to see that VB .NET was not in fact “VB7” (i.e., the same syntax and programming con- structs as VB6 with some new features thrown in for good measure), but something altogether different.

The truth of the matter is that VB .NET had little to do with VB6, and might best be regarded as a new language in the BASIC family. This cold hard fact caused some individuals to recoil to such a degree that they coined terms such as “VB .NOT” or “Visual Fred” to express their displeasure. In fact, there are even websites (http://vb.mvps.org/vfred/Trust.asp) and petitions dedicated to criticizing Microsoft’s decision to abandon VB6 in favor of this new creature known as VB .NET. Beyond the major syntactical changes introduced with VB .NET, several VB6-isms were nowhere to be found under the .NET platform, which only added to the confusion. The core .NET programming models for data access, form development, and website construction are entirely different from their COM-based counterparts.

As time has progressed, and the .NET platform has become a mainstream programming model, it seems that even the most die-hard VB6 developer has come to see the writing on the wall: VB6 is quickly becoming a legacy programming tool. Even Microsoft itself has made it clear thatsupport for VB6 will be phased out over time. For better or for worse, the hand of change has been forced upon us.