The Great Debate - C# vs C++ vs VB.net

[John E]

This might sound like a silly question but has VB.net become the new C++? I don't mean technically - but as far as employers are concerned....

Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places but these days, almost every job opportunity I see requires VB.net skills (which, unfortunately, I don't have). It's rare for an employer to be looking for C++ skills (and even rarer for anyone to want C#). What went wrong?

Has C# sounded the death knell for C++ in the same way that C++ sounded the death knell for C? I'm worried if it has - because employers don't seem to care too much for C#. In fact, it seems to have put them off the entire range of 'C' based languages.

So is it time to "get back to Basic" - a language I abandoned over 20 years ago? Why has VB.net suddenly become so fashionable?

[Shuja Ali]

VB.NET and C# are based on the same Base Class Library. So if you are good at one you are good at the other one too. It is just syntax that matters and some minor changes in the langauges.

@Cilu: Can this be moved to General Developer Topics?

[ovidiucucu]

Come on John!
Don't you know what "B" means in VB.xx , VB.NET, VB.whatever?
B is from BASIC - Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.

Has C# sounded the death knell for C++ in the same way that C++ sounded the death knell for C?
No, as well as C++ was no the "killer" of C.

So is it time to "get back to Basic" - a language I abandoned over 20 years ago?
No.
Anyhow, if you really abandoned Basic 20 years ago... come on again!
In 20 years of programming you still don't know to choose one programming language?

[John E]

Hi Ovidiu... :wave:

That's exactly the point I'm making. BASIC is supposedly a beginner's language. And yet, most employers seem to prefer BASIC programming skills over C/C++ etc. Is that because VB.net is now a serious rival to C++ and C#? Or is it because beginners are perceived to be cheaper employees than C++ coders?

At a rough guess, I'd say that out of every 20 programming jobs advertised, maybe 1 is for a C++ coder, at least 10 are for VB.net coders and the rest are usually for coders with database experience (SQL / Access etc) or maybe for web developers.

I'm just querying why a language supposedly aimed at beginners has suddenly become so fashionable... :confused:

[ovidiucucu]

I'm just querying why a language supposedly aimed at beginners has suddenly become so fashionable... :confused:
That is from long time ago, when a monkey lost his jumping gene and gained more time for think.
Jumping is easier than thinking so many other monkeys got jumping gene again.
That way the fashion was born. :D ;)

[ovidiucucu]

Well John, it seems to be not so great debate... ;)

/waiting for cilu to move this thread in General Developer Topics. Who knows, maybe there...

[MrBeans]

Yeah I fully agree with John E and bieng a great admirer of C++ or more so VC++ see my future in pretty bad shape thanks to these langauges.

I think the main reason for such a high demand toward C# and VB.NET is that most of the development work that was required to done for which powerful language like C++ was developed has been done. Today Time to market is industry's no. 1 priority and anything in this case any langauge that can serve that goal clearly wins...also one other thing I notice is that today most industry have dedicated R&D branch which does the core development work that may require C++ and rest simply do the mass production :D or you may say low end job...so you may say that companies find using C++ and more complicated VC++ an overkill to making apps that could be easily be created using C# or VB.NET.

[Sahir]

That's exactly the point I'm making. BASIC is supposedly a beginner's language. And yet, most employers seem to prefer BASIC programming skills over C/C++ etc. Is that because VB.net is now a serious rival to C++ and C#?
When BASIC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC) was created (in 1963) it was called a beginner's language because existing high level programming languages of the time (notably FORTRAN and LISP) were considered too difficult for those without a science background. This was probably a misconception. Computers were relatively rare in those days and it was mostly math/physics students who had access to them. There was very little opportunity to find out if students from other academic streams had an aptitude for LISP or FORTRAN.

In 1963, operating systems were rather primitive and so were the libraries which came with the compilers. So programming was generally a difficult task regardless of the language you used. Modern programming languages such Delphi, C++, Visual Basic, Java and C# are probably easier to learn and use than the BASIC of 1963. These days C++ is taught in most schools from 9th grade onwards and is not considered a language unsuitable for beginners. I have used all of the above mentioned languages, so mine isn't a partisan view, it's more a "voice of reason" ;)

[John E]

Well John, it seems to be not so great debate... ;)
When BASIC was created (in 1963) it was called a beginner's language because existing high level programming languages of the time (notably FORTRAN and LISP) were considered too difficult

[...]

I have used all of the above mentioned languages, so mine isn't a partisan view, it's more a "voice of reason" ;)
Aha.... the debate has begun at last...! :)

[SuperKoko]

IMHO, VB.NET is not VB.
VB (also known as "classic VB") had a very different object model, and COM/OLE data types such as Variant.
Similarly, there has been many Basic dialects on many platforms, and VB was somewhat different from QuickBasic and its predecessors.

VB.NET is closer to C# than to VB.
The name VB.NET is a marketing trick to attract old VB classic users in a new language (VB classic won't evolve more).

I heard that VB.NET programmers had lower wages than C# programmers... I don't know exactly why, but it can explain that employers prefer hiring VB.NET programmers.

[Shuja Ali]

Superkoko has said it all. VB.NET is based on Framework Class library like any other .NET language is. And the syntax of VB is same as Classic VB but it is alltogether a different technology.

[SpecHackers]

I think VB.NET has an upper edge of all.