What Is Visual Basic?

Visual Basic (often called VB.NET or just VB) is an object-oriented programming language from Microsoft that runs on .NET. It is known for its readable, English-like syntax: blocks end with words like End If and Next instead of braces, and the language is not case-sensitive.

Module Program
    Sub Main()
        Dim languages = {"Visual Basic", "C#", "F#"}

        For Each name In languages
            If name.Length <= 2 Then
                Console.WriteLine(name & " is short")
            Else
                Console.WriteLine(name & " has " & name.Length & " characters")
            End If
        Next
    End Sub
End Module

Visual Basic has 12 characters
C# is short
F# is short

A short history

• 1964 — BASIC: a simple language designed for students at Dartmouth College. The BASIC course covers that classic style.
• 1991 — Visual Basic 1.0: Microsoft combined BASIC with a visual designer — drag buttons onto a window, double-click, write the code that runs on click. It made Windows programming accessible to millions.
• 1998 — Visual Basic 6 (VB6): the last "classic" version, still running inside many companies today. Its sibling VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) automates Microsoft Office.
• 2002 — Visual Basic .NET: a redesign for the new .NET platform — fully object-oriented, with the same runtime and libraries as C#. It was not backward compatible with VB6.

This course teaches modern Visual Basic on .NET (language version 17.13, with the .NET 10 SDK). The examples were compiled and run with the .NET 10 SDK's Visual Basic compiler. VB6 and VBA are covered in Level 3.

Its defining traits

• Readable — keywords like AndAlso, Is Nothing, and End Function make code read almost like English.
• Full .NET — the same class library, performance, and tools as C#; VB and C# projects can use each other's code.
• Statically typed — with Option Strict On, the compiler checks every type, just like C#.
• Stable — Microsoft keeps Visual Basic supported on modern .NET, but focuses on stability rather than new language features.