What Can You Do With Visual Basic?

Knowing what Visual Basic is used for makes it easier to stay motivated while learning the basics:

• Windows desktop applications — Windows Forms and WPF apps for data entry, inventory, point-of-sale, and reporting.
• Business and line-of-business software — the internal systems that run warehouses, clinics, schools, and accounting departments.
• Console tools and automation — file processing, data imports, scheduled jobs.
• Class libraries — business logic packaged as .dll files used by other .NET applications, including C# ones.
• Web back ends — ASP.NET Web Forms and MVC applications (on the older .NET Framework), and ASP.NET Core APIs on modern .NET.
• Office automation — VBA macros in Excel and Access, and .NET add-ins that extend Office.

You'll build smaller versions of several of these in the project lessons at the end of each level.