Software: Buy Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Standard Online

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If you are looking for a VB.NET counterpart to VB6 Standard edition then, this product fits the bill perfectly.

Now regarding the VB.NET language and the Framework, anyone who claims this is "as slow is Java" is running on outdated hardware or doesn't have enough memory for the VM. If you have a Pentium 3 based system with 256-MEG or greater, you're .NET apps will run so close to native code speed it will be near impossible to tell they are "managed", if you were to code the same functionality in Java2 and run it on the same hardware spec it would still run about half the speed of the .NET code.

The managed framework is largely based around Java2, but it has many improvements over J2EE, most notable is transparent support for WebServices and ASP.NET (which I have discovered is a beautiful thing).

Start here or start elsewhere, if you are currently using Visual Studio 6, you need to move on up. Give VB.NET one month and you'll never look back.

First, let me say that it's true VB.NET Standard Edition is somewhat crippled in that it doesn't let you create DLL's or mobile apps for WinCE devices. Nor does it include Crystal Reports, or some other features you'd find in VB.NET Professional/Enterprise. However, it's perfect for making small utilities/applications.

Most of my programming experience has been with Perl, PHP, Java, C, C++. I had a little exposure to Visual Basic in college, but I had forgotten everything I had learned about it. With VB.NET standard and _Visual Basic .NET Step by Step_ (ISBN: 0-7356-1374-5) I was able to write a fully functional and moderately complex application (and distribute it with the included Windows installer) in about 2 weeks time. I was astounded by the low learning curve.

There are two different types of programs you can create with VB.NET, those based on Windows forms and those based on Web forms. Windows forms would be your traditional type of Windows application, while Web forms are designed to work through the Internet. I have no VB.NET experience creating Web forms, but the features look promising.

VB.NET is different than earlier versions of VB because it is built around the .NET framework. The .NET framework works more like Java. Your programs are converted to bytecode which runs on the .NET framework (which your users must install to run your apps). That would probably explain why it is slower than older VB compilers.

In the past, applications created with Visual C++ would run faster than those made with VB. This is no longer the case. All Visual Studio Languages (C#, C++ and VB) all compile to .NET bytecode. Because the resulting bytecode is the same, you choose the language whose syntax you are most familiar with.

I feel the benefits of switching to .NET are worth the performance loss. Because .NET is Microsoft's answer to Java, everything is now heavily dependant on Objects. OO programming with VB.NET is incredibly simple. Chances are any structure or function/method you'd like to use is already written - you just need to find the proper namespace in the .NET framework, import it into your code and then create an instance of the object you want. It's OO at its best.

I would definitely not recommend VB.NET to people who have no programming experience. You need to get your feet wet with something else before delving into this.

Just to clarify compatibility issues; VB.NET requires WinNT, Win2k, or WinXP Professional. It's my understanding that it will work on WinXP Home for applications, but you need XP Pro for creating/testing Web forms.