VB 6

[Labtec]

Hi guys, secured a new job with a web based company doing IT Administration but have been told there is a possibility of moving to the web development. They are coding with .NET framework in C#. I have slight knowledge in Java so they told me to learn VB 6 first to get the very basics so it will make it easier to learn C#.

My question is: are there any good, up-to-date, reliable sources around the net for learning VB 6 such as tutorials? I am googling but the sites which are showing up seem quite old and I'm not sure what is/isn't reliable.

Anyone know of any reliable VB 6 tutorials?

Thank you for any replies.

Kind regards,

Lab.

 

[strollin]

It makes sense that the sites you found are quite old since VB 6 is quite old and was replaced by .NET about 10 years ago. Official support of VB 6 by MS ended in 2005 so that means nothing has changed in that long so the tutorial sites would remain static.

 

[carnageX]

Not sure why they told you to learn VB if you already know Java... C# is pretty much identical to Java other than a few syntax things (mostly IO related). If you already know Java, you shouldn't have any trouble picking up C#. I started with C++, and moved to C#. Forced myself to learn it for a class during a project, and now that's my go-to language.

 

[Labtec]

Sorry I should have been clearer, I know a little Java but just the very basics.

I'm more web-based writing in CSS, JavaScript and PHP. I was struggling with the whole OOP, languages such as C++, C# and Java are harder to learn for me.

Because I was finding it hard understand the concept of actual programming, he told me that he learnt VB first and it really helped him understand the concepts of OOP. He said once I understand VB 6 (which in his opinion is the easiest language to learn), I will find it much easier with more advanced languages like C# or Java.

Thanks for the replies and information.

I am learning from a site I found called Home&Learn. Pretty simple, step-by-step guide. Just what I need right now!

Kind regards,

Labtec.

 

[carnageX]

I'd recommend getting some books on the subject(s). They tend to be structured better than most tutorial websites, IMO.

 

[Labtec]

I'll keep that in mind. Might have a little look on Amazon

To be honest, learning languages such as JavaScript and PHP have stood me in good stead though because I notice a lot of OOP languages have the same code structure (in terms of if, if/else, while, for, foreach loops) etc so that part is easy for me to understand because I already know it. I suppose it's the background regarding the language.

I'm reading this site and any of the 'Exercises' they ask you to do, I've been able to complete without having to re-read the page unlike Java so I'm finding VB6 relatively easy at the moment using VS Express.

I know there is so much more to come which I won't understand but so far so good!

Thanks for your replies.

Kind regards,

Labtec.

 

[carnageX]

Yeah, learning a new language is easier if you already know some sort of programming language. It's just a matter of learning the syntax.

And there's nothing wrong with having to look things up while programming. I still look up C# implementation details on MSDN (through Googling what I want to do), and about everybody I know that does more with it does as well.

 

[Labtec]

I couldn't agree more, the developer at work is awesome using C# and even he looks things up. I'm looking things up on php.net all the time

Just going through a tutorial creating different win forms. Just getting used to the syntax for now as I keep adding semi-colons to the end of statements which doesn't happen in VB.

Similar structure though as Java in terms of variable scope. When declaring a variable local to a control, it can only be accessed by that control but if you declare it local to the class, all controls can use and manipulate the variable. Same as in Java where if you declare a variable local to a method, when the method finishes/ends, the value of the variable gets wiped too.

I always found the difference between static and instance variables a very hard concept to get my head around but I've conquered that a couple of weeks ago. I can now work between different classes and access variables etc. I know that is very basic but I always know basic language structure with the if, for, foreach, while, do while, switch etc so I can probably skip that part. Although I won't because I know the syntax for declaring variables is slightly different.

I love the look of these forums, very easy on the eye hence the long posts

Kind regards,

Lab

 

[carnageX]

I couldn't agree more, the developer at work is awesome using C# and even he looks things up. I'm looking things up on php.net all the time

Just going through a tutorial creating different win forms. Just getting used to the syntax for now as I keep adding semi-colons to the end of statements which doesn't happen in VB.

That's one thing I hate about VB. I'm not really a fan of VB to begin with though anyway lol. I don't like the language structure / syntax of things.

Similar structure though as Java in terms of variable scope. When declaring a variable local to a control, it can only be accessed by that control but if you declare it local to the class, all controls can use and manipulate the variable. Same as in Java where if you declare a variable local to a method, when the method finishes/ends, the value of the variable gets wiped too.

Pretty much all languages are like this. Just don't use global variables unless you absolutely have to.

I always found the difference between static and instance variables a very hard concept to get my head around but I've conquered that a couple of weeks ago. I can now work between different classes and access variables etc. I know that is very basic but I always know basic language structure with the if, for, foreach, while, do while, switch etc so I can probably skip that part. Although I won't because I know the syntax for declaring variables is slightly different.

I love the look of these forums, very easy on the eye hence the long posts

Kind regards,

Lab

Classes are a good thing to learn with OOP languages. Makes it easier to separate things into categories (classes) that do specific things, so you can make your program more organized / structured.

 

[Labtec]

That's one thing I hate about VB. I'm not really a fan of VB to begin with though anyway lol. I don't like the language structure / syntax of things.

Yea I must say I prefer syntax such as JS or PHP where you add semi-colons at the end of every statement.

Pretty much all languages are like this. Just don't use global variables unless you absolutely have to.

I am beginning to see a lot of these languages are very similar. I think once I can get my head round one it will become easier and easier. I like JavaScript though for the reason you don't have to pass values into a function to use them (obviously depending on what you need to do, you may want to pass in a variable as a parameter and return a result, which IIRC won't change the initial value of the global variable which was used within the function), whereas in PHP you must either pass in a variable as a parameter or make use of the global keyword

The reason I'm trying to get my head around this is because the boss at work has told me if I am really that interested in programming, then he will get me working with the developer so I really need to get at least the basics down so if my chance comes, I can understand at least some of what he's explaining.

Classes are a good thing to learn with OOP languages. Makes it easier to separate things into categories (classes) that do specific things, so you can make your program more organized / structured.

I do actually really prefer coding classes which provide methods, then just creating the object and using the methods for your programs. Might have to go from procedural PHP to PDO

Regards,

Lab.