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.NET Forum / Languages / VB.NET / October 2004VBNet - Life Expectancy
Do we have any idea how long VBNet is going to be supported? Being a hobbyist VB6 user I am only interested in creating windows based applications and have no need for web services, asp etc. I suspect the back will be broken in VB6 once the VB6 support date is met. So I have begun looking at VBNet. I like the sound of the VB 2005 Express edition as this almost sounds like it was designed for people like myself who have neither the time nor money to become gurus but clearly there is a lot of learning required to become just basically efficient in VBNet whatever the software package. This is going to be costly in time and materials. My concern is that a few years down the line VBNet will see a support end date and along comes something else. Also the newer versions of the dotnet framework dont seem to be compatiable with older versions of the VBNet software. To keep up, legally, requires more cash output in buying the upgraded VBNet software. Among other things this is all off-putting but if I knew VBNet was going to be around for a long enough length of time to justify the efforts might be helpful. KT If you look at how long VB has been supported (through all of its incarnations, from VB3), you will see that its a considerable period of time (in computing terms). In fact, VB6 is still supported, even though VB.NET has been out for some years. Moreover (and this point is just as important), regardless of whether VB.NET remains supported, by learning VB.NET, you will pick up .NET framework experience, which is transferrable to the other languages in the .NET suite (C# for instance). > Do we have any idea how long VBNet is going to be supported? > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > KT Continuing what Robin said. Microsoft is making a huge shift towards .NET and making it the foundation for other products. If you look at Longhorn, .NET is an integral part of the operating system, so given that is expected out in 2006 (I think) and WinFX (2007) has the same plans, I would expect .NET to be around for a long long time. Especially long enough for you to justify spending the $10 that express editions are supposed to cost (I'm not sure on that price, but I've just heard from others it's not going to cost much at all). I personally think (as a hobbyist in many forms) that the 700 dollars a professional edition costs of VS, or even the ~200 the Standard edition costs is well worth the money. I have other hobbies that cost a LOT more per year than that. Just my 2 cents... -CJ > If you look at how long VB has been supported (through all of its > incarnations, from VB3), you will see that its a considerable period of time [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > > > KT Plus, i wouldnt worry about the learning curve so much. If youre programming, chances are youre reasonably bright, and so it really shouldnt be that much trouble to learn the move from VB to VB.NET > If you look at how long VB has been supported (through all of its > incarnations, from VB3), you will see that its a considerable period of [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >> >> KT > Do we have any idea how long VBNet is going to be supported? fwiw, VB.Net (the name) is already obsolete. They've dropped the .Net part from their next release.  SignatureKen Halter - MS-MVP-VB - http://www.vbsight.com Please keep all discussions in the groups.. Waht does this have to do with the life expetancy of the product? It's still .NET under the hood... and will be for quite some time if you read Microsoft's Roadmaps... at this point, they have no intention of dropping the .NET framework, just making it stronger Until of course google sneaks in and takes over the world some how with their crafty simple products... > > Do we have any idea how long VBNet is going to be supported? > > fwiw, VB.Net (the name) is already obsolete. They've dropped the .Net > part from their next release. > Waht does this have to do with the life expetancy of the product? It's > still .NET under the hood... and will be for quite some time if you read > Microsoft's Roadmaps... at this point, they have no intention of dropping > the .NET framework, just making it stronger The framework... yes, B#, maybe. It's still a "toy language" as far as MS is concerned. SignatureKen Halter - MS-MVP-VB - http://www.vbsight.com Please keep all discussions in the groups.. > > Waht does this have to do with the life expetancy of the product? It's > > still .NET under the hood... and will be for quite some time if you read [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The framework... yes, B#, maybe. It's still a "toy language" as far as > MS is concerned. Have you got a cite you can point to, or is that your own opinion? LFS > > The framework... yes, B#, maybe. It's still a "toy language" as far as > > MS is concerned. > > Have you got a cite you can point to, or is that your own opinion? > > LFS ACK I don't remember MS ever promoting it as a toy language. Given it has almost identical functionality to C#. Sure C# has some cool features VB doesn't, but then again, VB has some cool features C# doesn't. If its a toy language, then I make a hell of a lot of money for getting to "play". > Do we have any idea how long VBNet is going to be supported? No. How can anyone but the people at MSFT know for sure? What we can expect, is that, like VB6, even after it life expectancy has expired, the programs will still, (more or less) run on whatever the next platform will be. Due to the heavy investment MSFT is putting into including .Net in their other offereings, it is a safe bet, they plan to keep that code working for quite a while... How long is a while? Its anyone's guess! LFS Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
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