Why We're Using VB As The Language For Our Lessons
I've been getting a lot of questions about why we're using VB as the
language in our lessons. Here's my current position on the matter.
It is true that all our lessons are written in VB, but if you actually
look at most of them, you'll see that most of them have VERY little
code - along the lines of only 2-3 lines.
Along the way, we've been focusing on ASP.NET, the Framework, and
how to build ASP.NET pages rather then upon the different languages and their
features. With ASP.NET currently supporting 20+ langauges it's
impractical for us to offer our examples in all of them. We may go back
and add C# and/or J# code at some point but I'm not promising anything.
For the most part, translating a block of code from one language to
another is really just a matter of syntax. For example... from our validation lesson:
VB
Sub btnSubmit_Click(Sender As Object, E As EventArgs)
' Checks to see if all the
' controls on the page are valid!
If Page.IsValid Then
' Do Something
End If
End Sub
C#
void btnSubmit_Click(Object Sender, EventArgs E)
{
// Checks to see if all the
// controls on the page are valid!
if (Page.IsValid) {
// Do Something
}
}
We decided to start with VB for two reasons. First, a large number of
our users are coming from a VBScript background (classic ASP was primarily
written in VBScript) and should find it easier to understand VB. Second,
VB is the most "English-like" of the mainstream languages
and should therefore be easier for the beginning programmer to pick up.
As I mentioned, you'll actually find very little "code" in
our lessons anyway and I hope that those of you who have choosen to use something
besides VB will still find them to be an easy way to learn about some of
the many new exciting things in the ASP.NET world.
