Before we go into the world of Visual Basic (I'll refer to it as VB), it is a high-level strongly-typed OOP language created to build applications with the .NET framework. It is not to be confused with the popular VBA language, whose main purpose is to embed in Office applications (Excel, Access, e.t.c).
So, what is so worth considering of this 20+ years old language that looks like a clone version of Python with less features? First of all, the collection of features it offers. The amount of built-in features for VB.NET feels just right for me. Not too much that it turns into a feature hell in C++ is trying to be, but not as limited as C (sorry to the C freaks out there). Along with its features, I find the syntax very verbose and English-like.Β For example, generic syntax is written as so in VB.NET:
Imports System.Collections
' This is how you create a list of int
Dim listOfInt As New List(Of Integers)
// A list of number in TS
const arr = new Array<number>();
One thing I find underrated about the .NET business is that the event-driven nature of WinForm applications. It was designed very elegantly and it speeds up the development process rapidly. A typical event handler in VB.NET can look like this:
Imports System.Windows.Forms
' Handle text changes for TextBox1 element
Protected Sub TextBox1_TextChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles TextBox1.TextChanged
Console.WriteLine("Content of text box: " + TextBox1.Text)
End Sub"'
Though I cannot say that a lot of people agree with my opinion, but it has been a pleasure so far to work with VB.NET. I do think it's an underrated options for developers who are into desktop app (Windows, specifically). If that person is you, do check it out π