Is visual basic worth it?

[Kimchi]

I've been taking a class in school and I've enjoyed it so far, but is it realistically worth it?

[rhyseyness]

Depends.

Are you gonna use it regularly, and what for?

[Sauron]

I've been taking a class in school and I've enjoyed it so far, but is it realistically worth it?

 

It depends. If you plan on focusing only on windows and aren't interested in developing complex 3d videogames then yeah, it's pretty good.

 

Please remember to follow your topics welcome to the forum!

[seabass9990]

Not really...

[AMICLG]

Not really no, anything you can do with VBS can be done in Python and MUCH more also Python's cross platform.

[LukeTim]

Do you have the option to choose something else?

If so, I would. VB isn't terribly useful because as far as .NET goes C# is better... not only is it nicer and less verbose it is also closer to things liks Java and C/C++ which are very widely used.

The only places I have heard about VB being used is for teaching in schools.

It will give you an idea of the basics about how programs are written and structured... the fundamental principles like functions, loops, if..else etc.

I would recommend you try to get into C# along side it, though. It is .NET as well so some things will be familiar plus there's plenty of resources around to help you learn.

[Kiwi00000]

Even if your school does not teach C#, most programs that you will be writing in your school can be turned into C# with little effort. (It will just be the syntax that you change).

 

C# (as stated above) just looks like C++/C so you will be more familiar with syntax. (Which can be helpful when reading/understanding code online.)

 

C#/VB also has the plus of MSDN which is an awesome learning tool.

 

I would recommend it to anyone that they learn C# over VB, just because more and more companies are using C# for development now. (At least where I love anyway).

[Jcelli]

I learned VB for my first language, and from what I remember of it and the switch to other languages. It helped a lot to make the transition easier, but it was a lot different from other languages I have learned since then.

[reiderj8]

The most popular computer science answer: it depends 

[madknight3]

A lot of software development for the Windows platform is done in .NET and for that you can use VB or C# (among a few others). So sure, learn it. See if you like the framework and if you do, learn some C# in the future to go with it. VB is not that bad and while it might not be the most popular language out there, some companies do use it. I do a mixture of VB and C# work at my job.

 

There's nothing wrong with learning the basics of multiple languages and then picking some favourites to learn really well.

[Gontier]

At work I use several Microsoft Access databases as macro hubs that run primarily as daily/hourly reporting tools. Saves me a lot of time from having to manually copy/paste data or filter and combine several tables into one. Fairly easy to maintain, the occasional error pops up sometimes though.

[C_Mike]

VB is a very good startup language, so in that respect it is worth it.

 

Like it has already been said, If you plan on coding complex 3D applications and Games, then go for C++

 

It is useful for customising simple Access Databases, to improve functionality, but other than that, there are far more useful languages for other tasks.

[Slaterz]

It depends which Visual Basic you are talking about. Is is VBA, VB or VB.NET?

VBA and VB are a bit redundant since VB.NET. There is nothing wrong with VB.NET as a core language. I use both VB.NET and C# in my work place. There is no real difference is what they can do either. I probably write the exact same program in either language and get the same results.

So despite what people say there is no major advantage or disadvantage between VB.NET and C# apart from job opportunities as C# is more popular. But to be honest once you know VB.NET you could easily learn C#  or vice versa. As long as you learn the fundamentals you should be fine. There is nothing stopping you from learning multiple languages once you know the fundamentals either.

[Maximation]

If you enjoy it, it is worth it.

[xox]

In the real world, people use C++ and C#, but mainly C#

[fizzlesticks]

In the real world, people use C++ and C#, but mainly C#

And Java, Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby, COBOL, Objective-C, Swift, JavaScript and a bunch of others.

[xox]

And Java, Python, Perl, PHP, Ruby, COBOL, Objective-C, Swift, JavaScript and a bunch of others.

However, most jobs nowadays (at least here in the UK) are in C# and occasionally in C++, but less so as companies move to more efficient systems.