Shoutbox

hello, I have just started with programming at my school.. we use visual basic.. so I am basically a n00b.. but by reading this forum, I have got the feeling that Visual basic is a piece of shit, pardon my french..  so i was wondering wich program is the best for making a plugin..?

can anyone give me a brief answer? tnx

Visual basic is fine for making plugins...
And its also easy
So I suggest you to go with vb...

indeed, VB isn't piece of shit. It is a very decent programming language in which you can do lots of (advanced) things. Don't let VB-haters tell you that VB isn't good.

Of course VC++ can do some more things because it is more advanced. But because of that, it is also more difficult to learn.

But almost all things can be done in VB, including plugins and even writing big advanced programs.

jup, that was what i was thinking too, because isnt windows written in visual basic or something?? since its a microsoft program?

Windows is not written with vb.
However you can use windows functions for example set a window's caption to "Hello"

It really depends on what you are making. Big projects (such as Plus!) are best developed with C++ because loads of things are rather low-leveled in C++, compared with VB, and hence programmers needs to do many things themselves, while "molding" all they need, with C++. Still, Cookie is right, VB can actually realize lots of advanced things; if you want to develop a Plus! plugin only, and have just begun to learn VB, just stick to it It is not that VB is a toy - owing to VB's simplicity and easiness, it's the best programming language to construct many basic, yet essential, programming "concepts/ideas" such as how to best-use a loop, a selecting statement, an array...etc

okey, but is java the newest version of c++? and can u make dll files with VB? I got VB6.0, but on the universities in norway u use Java.. Im just 18, and next year im starting on the university, so do i get any use for the programming skills i learn this year?

Java isn't the newest version of C++. Java is a complete different language.

You can make DLL's, OCX's, whatever with VB...

You will benefit a lot from your learned programming skills. Programming is in essence the same in every language. A loop is a loop; how you approach certain things is the same; problems solving is the same; etc... The only difference is that different languages use different syntaxis. But the "programming" is the same. What you will learn now is think like a computer; learn what a program is; how it behaves; basic "skills"; etc. and you can indeed learn that the best and the quickest if you start in VB, because that is the easiest to understand and work with.

After that, you can (and apperently you will) switch to other languages like Java or C++. And you will find that learning those other languages will be very easy as the concept of programming is still the same in every language, you only need to learn the new syntax and then you can learn the new advanced things you can do with it....

From my point of view, VB is OK to start and learn the basics of programming. But it is true that it is not as powerful as other languages, such as VC++ or Delphi. If you want to "get dirty" and do more advanced stuff, you'll have to switch to another language. VB mostly sucks because it doesn't do real calls to the API, everything passes through the MSVBVM??.DLL

quote:

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From http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/book/excerpt/4844
Although distributing the 1.4-megabyte runtime file with your VB6 applications is annoying, it is essential for two reasons:

    1. The VB Runtime provides services such as automatic memory management, string allocation/deallocation, and saftey checking on code. If, for example, your VB code tries to reference an array outside its boundaries, the VB Runtime steps in and informs you that an illegal operation is being performed. This is in contrast to languages such as C and C++, where memory access is not monitored, resulting in potentially catastrophic failures if code misbehaves. And, unlike C and C++, the VB Runtime will automatically clean up after you, destroying objects and variables once they go out of scope.

    2. The VB Runtime also houses intrinsic VB functions such as MsgBox, Ubound, and InStr. For years, VB developers have routinely used such functions for string manipulation, type conversion, and user input. The code for these functions is contained in the VB Runtime. When you call Mid() to extract a substring from a string, you are really calling a function in the VB Runtime that performs the work. Without the VB Runtime, a VB application would be reduced to a meaningless collection of function calls.

From these two observations, it can be said that a Visual Basic 6 application runs within the VB Runtime. In fact, the name of the runtime file is indicative of this very purpose: MSVBVM stands for MicroSoft Visual Basic Virtual Machine.

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I love Delphi because it doesn't have a runtime like that (you don't need to distribute a dll with your project, yet it offers the same functionality like the VB's runtime as described above), it's easy to understand, very organized and very powerful. You have freedom, you can code using pure API (smaller EXEs) or using the VCL - Visual Component Library (bigger EXEs, but easier to code). And then everything can go in one single and small EXE

quote:

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Originally posted by TheBlasphemer
Anyone with an IQ roughly the same as his age can program in VB.

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1) Then why are there so many questions on these forums (and in PM's, and on other forums) from people who have trouble doing the simple stuff in VB(script)? Or are you saying that they all have an IQ below 30? Nice going TB...
2) If someone programs in VB, that doesn't mean he is a n00b...
3) VB IS powerfull. But did I (or someone else) ever said that C++ is less powerfull? NO... Again, VB IS powerfull, but C++ is indeed more powerfull. But for 99,9% of all the things that is done by (what you so nicely call) n00bs can be done in VB with ease...
4) Ask a prof programmer and he will say that C++ is more powerful, but he wil NOT say that VB is shit. He will say that VB is very good to start learning and very easy to learn and understand the concept of programming and that you can still do lots of things in it.