Life after Visual Basic 6.0 – Where to Go from Here
Wendy Logan
Test Software Product Manager, National Instruments
11500 N. Mopac Expressway, Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: 512-683-9311 Email: wendy.logan@ni.com
Abstract – With Microsoft’s extended support for Visual Basic(VB) 6.0
ending this year, many application developers are looking for guidance
on whether to upgrade, reuse, rewrite, or replace their legacy VB 6.0
code in favor of developing on supported software platforms. VB.NET,
the designated successor of VB 6.0, looks more like C++ than traditional
Basic, making the move from VB 6.0 less than ideal – but the move may
be worth the effort. To develop applications that take advantage of the
latest .NET framework, you have three basic options: upgrade/rewrite,
reuse, or replace. Upgrading or converting your VB 6.0 code to VB .NET
makes your application more compatible with future versions of VB and
gives you access to .NET features, but this option requires significant
rework. You could also stay with Visual Basic 6.0 for existing
applications that run critical tests, and then call this code from new
languages. Finally, you could replace your VB 6.0 code with code written
in another general-purpose language that supports .NET such as C++ or
C# or, you can move to one of several languages specifically designed for
test and measurement such as NI LabVIEW, NI LabWindows/CVI, Agilent
VEE, or HTBasic.
Keywords – visual basic, migration, .net.
I. INTRODUCTION
When the .NET technology was introduced in 2002, it was clear that it
represented a significant redesign of the underlying Visual Basic
programming language. For test applications, the new features help with
writing distributed applications, organizing large programs, and achieving
maximum performance. Engineers want to migrate to Visual Basic .NET
to consolidate different code bases and software competency, reduce
upgrade and maintenance cost, ensure ongoing training and official
language support, take advantage of the latest productivity enhancements
and language features, or create or improve existing distributed
applications, using the latest Web technologies. To effectively analyze if
and which applications you should migrate to VB .NET, you must first
understand the key components of .NET, the differences between VB 6.0
and VB .NET, and your options for migrating to .NET. This article will
discuss the key elements of the .NET framework and how to integrate or
convert existing VB 6.0 applications into .NET to realize these benefits.
II. THE BASICS OF .NET The .NET framework includes a set of class
libraries that cover a number of common programming needs including
file I/O, database connectivity, Web application development, and
Windows services such as background printing and integrated e-mail.