Visual Basic.NET: A Programming Language From Microsoft

Imperative, Object-Oriented, Declarative, Generic, Reflective and Event-Driven

In this article, I have shared essential information like Overview, Brief History, Features and Applications of VB.NET programming language.

VB.NET is a simple, modern, object-oriented computer programming language developed by Microsoft to combine the power of .NET Framework and the common language runtime with the productivity benefits that are the hallmark of Visual Basic.

Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET) is a multi-paradigm computer programming language implemented on the .NET Framework. Although it is an evolution of classic Visual Basic language, it is not backwards-compatible with VB6, and any code written in the old version does not compile under VB.NET.

Like all other .NET languages, VB.NET has complete support for object-oriented concepts. Everything in VB.NET is an object, including all of the primitive types (Short, Integer, Long, String, Boolean, etc.) and user-defined types, events, and even assemblies. All objects inherit from the base class Object.

VB.NET is implemented by Microsoft’s .NET framework. Therefore, it has full access to all the libraries in the .NET Framework. It’s also possible to run VB.NET programs on Mono, the open-source alternative to .NET, not only under Windows but even Linux or Mac OSX.

The following reasons make VB.NET a widely used professional language:-

1. Modern, general-purpose.

2. Object-oriented.

3. Component oriented.

4. Easy to learn.

5. Structured language.

6. It produces efficient programs.

7. It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms.

8. Part of .NET Framework.

The .NET Framework

The .NET framework is a revolutionary platform that helps you to write the following types of applications:-

• Windows applications
• Web applications
• Web services

The .NET framework applications are multi-platform applications. The framework has been designed in such a way that it can be used from any of the following languages: Visual Basic, C#, C++, Jscript, and COBOL, etc.

All these languages can access the framework as well as communicate with each other.

Integrated Development Environment (IDE) For VB.NET

Microsoft provides the following development tools for VB.NET programming:-

• Visual Studio 2010 (VS)
• Visual Basic 2010 Express (VBE)
• Visual Web Developer

The last two are free. Using these tools, you can write all kinds of VB.NET programs from simple command-line applications to more complex applications. Visual Basic Express and Visual Web Developer Express edition are trimmed down versions of Visual Studio and has the same look and feel.

Brief History:-

1. VB.NET is a multi-paradigm programming language developed by Microsoft on the .NET framework. It was launched in 2002 as a successor to the Visual Basic language. This was the first version of VB.NET (VB.NET 7.0) and it relied on .NET version 1.0.

2. In 2003, the second version of VB.NET, VB.NET 7.1, was released. This one relied on .NET version 1.1.

3. In 2005, VB.NET 8.0 was released. The .NET core portion was dropped from its name so as to distinguish it from the classical Visual Basic language. This version was named Visual Basic 2005.

4. In 2008, VB 9.0 was introduced. In 2010, Microsoft released VB 2010 (code 10.0).

5. In 2012, VB 2012 (code 11.0) was release together with .NET 4.5.

6. In 2015, VB 2015 (code 14.0) was released alongside Visual Studio 2015. The “?.” operator was introduced to do inline null checks.

7. In 2017, VB 2017 (code 15.0) was introduced alongside Visual Studio 2017. A better way of organizing source code in just a single action was introduced.

8. 2019 (VB 16.0) Visual Basic 2019 (code named VB “16.0”) was released with Visual Studio 2019. The first version of Visual Basic focused on .NET Core.

Features:-

1. VB.NET is not case sensitive like other languages such as C++ and Java.

2. It is an object-oriented programming language. It treats everything as an object.

3. Automatic code formatting, XML designer, improved object browser etc.

4. Garbage collection is automated.

5. Support for Boolean conditions for decision making.

6. Simple Multithreading, allowing your apps to deal with multiple tasks simultaneously.

7. Simple generics.

8. A standard library.

9. Events management.

10. References. You should reference an external object that is to be used in a VB.NET application.

11. Attributes, which are tags for providing additional information regarding elements that have been defined within a program.

12. Windows Forms- you can inherit your form from an already existing form.

New Features

1. Assemblies

An EXE or a DLL file that forms the basis of deployment, version control, reuse, and security permissions of an application.

2. Namespaces

The components of assemblies, namespaces primarily organize the objects present in the assemblies. An assembly can contain more than one namespace.

3. Adding references

You need to add a reference to the external object that you want to use in your current application.

4. Attributes

The tags that are used to provide additional information about the elements defined in a Visual Basic .NET program. Some of the most common uses of attributes are

To explain COM properties for classes, interfaces, and methods:-

• To explain assemblies
• To specify security requirements of methods
• To specify features required to enforce security

5. Inheritance

Enables you to create classes that are derived from some other classes known as base classes. Inheritance provides you with the advantage of defining a class only once. You can then reuse this functionality by deriving new classes from this class.

6. Windows Forms

With a new forms package called Windows Forms, Visual Basic .NET allows the developers to inherit a form from an existing form.

7. Structured exception handling

Enables you to create a more efficient and robust error handlers by using structured exception handling, which allows you to detect and remove errors at runtime.

8. Multithreading

Enables your applications to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

Applications:-

VB.NET can be used to create a wide range of applications and components, including the following:-

1. Windows console mode applications

2. Standard Windows applications

3. Windows services

4. Windows controls and Windows control libraries

5. Web (ASP.NET) applications

6. Web services

7. Web controls and web control libraries

8. .NET classes and name-spaces

9. Accessing application object models (such as those of the individual applications in the Microsoft Office suite) using COM automation.