Visual Basic 

(VB) is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated

development environment (IDE) from Microsoft for its COMprogramming model. VB is also considered a
relatively easy to learn and use programming language, because of its graphical development features
andBASIC heritage.[1]

Visual Basic was derived from BASIC and enables the rapid application development (RAD) of graphical
user interface (GUI) applications, access todatabases using Data Access Objects, Remote Data Objects,
or ActiveX Data Objects, and creation of ActiveX controls and objects. Scripting languages such
as VBA and VBScript are syntactically similar to Visual Basic, but perform differently.[2]

A programmer can put together an application using the components provided with Visual Basic itself.
Programs written in Visual Basic can also use the Windows API, but doing so requires external function
declarations.

The final release was version 6 in 1998. Microsoft's extended support ended in March 2008 and the
designated successor was Visual Basic .NET (now known simply as Visual Basic).

Language features
Like the BASIC programming language, Visual Basic was designed to be easily learned and used by
beginner programmers. The language not only allows programmers to create simple GUIapplications, but
can also develop complex applications. Programming in VB is a combination of visually
arranging components or controls on a form, specifying attributes and actions of those components, and
writing additional lines of code for more functionality. Since default attributes and actions are defined for
the components, a simple program can be created without the programmer having to write many lines of
code. Performance problems were experienced by earlier versions, but with faster computers and native
code compilation this has become less of an issue.

Although programs can be compiled into native code executables from version 5 onwards, they still
require the presence of runtime libraries of approximately 1 MB in size. This runtime is included by default
in Windows 2000 and later, but for earlier versions of Windows like 95/98/NT it must be distributed
together with the executable.

Forms are created using drag-and-drop techniques. A tool is used to place controls (e.g., text boxes,
buttons, etc.) on the form (window). Controls have attributes and event handlers associated with them.
Default values are provided when the control is created, but may be changed by the programmer. Many
attribute values can be modified during run time based on user actions or changes in the environment,
providing a dynamic application. For example, code can be inserted into the form resize event handler to
reposition a control so that it remains centered on the form, expands to fill up the form, etc. By inserting
code into the event handler for a keypress in a text box, the program can automatically translate the case
of the text being entered, or even prevent certain characters from being inserted.

Visual Basic can create executables (EXE files), ActiveX controls, or DLL files, but is primarily used to
develop Windows applications and to interface database systems. Dialog boxes with less functionality can
be used to provide pop-up capabilities. Controls provide the basic functionality of the application, while
programmers can insert additional logic within the appropriate event handlers. For example, a drop-down
combination box will automatically display its list and allow the user to select any element. An event
handler is called when an item is selected, which can then execute additional code created by the
programmer to perform some action based on which element was selected, such as populating a related
list.

Alternatively, a Visual Basic component can have no user interface, and instead provide ActiveX objects
to other programs via Component Object Model (COM). This allows for server-side processing or an add-
in module.

The language is garbage collected using reference counting, has a large library of utility objects, and has
basic object oriented support. Since the more common components are included in the default project
template, the programmer seldom needs to specify additional libraries. Unlike many other programming
languages, Visual Basic is generally not case sensitive, although it will transformkeywords into a standard
case configuration and force the case of variable names to conform to the case of the entry within the
symbol table. String comparisons are case sensitive by default, but can be made case insensitive if so
desired.

The Visual Basic compiler is shared with other Visual Studio languages (C, C++), but restrictions in the
IDE do not allow the creation of some targets (Windows model DLLs) and threading models.

[edit]Characteristics
Visual Basic has the following traits which differ from C-derived languages:

 Multiple assignment available in C language is not possible. A = B = C does not imply that the
values of A, B and C are equal. The boolean result of "Is B = C?" is stored in A. The result stored in A
would therefore be either false or true.
 Boolean constant True has numeric value −1.[3] This is because the Boolean data type is stored
as a 16-bit signed integer. In this construct −1 evaluates to 16 binary 1s (the Boolean value True),
and 0 as 16 0s (the Boolean value False). This is apparent when performing a Not operation on a
16 bit signed integer value 0 which will return the integer value −1, in other words True = Not
 False. This inherent functionality becomes especially useful when performing logical operations on
the individual bits of an integer such as And, Or, Xor and Not.[4] This definition of True is also
consistent with BASIC since the early 1970s Microsoft BASIC implementation and is also related to
the characteristics of CPU instructions at the time.
 Logical and bitwise operators are unified. This is unlike some C-derived languages (such as Perl),
which have separate logical and bitwise operators. This again is a traditional feature of BASIC.
 Variable array base. Arrays are declared by specifying the upper and lower bounds in a way
similar to Pascal and Fortran. It is also possible to use the Option Base statement to set the default
lower bound. Use of the Option Base statement can lead to confusion when reading Visual Basic
code and is best avoided by always explicitly specifying the lower bound of the array. This lower
bound is not limited to 0 or 1, because it can also be set by declaration. In this way, both the lower
and upper bounds are programmable. In more subscript-limited languages, the lower bound of the
array is not variable. This uncommon trait does exist in Visual Basic .NET but not in VBScript.
OPTION BASE was introduced by ANSI, with the standard for ANSI Minimal BASIC in the late
1970s.

 Relatively strong integration with the Windows operating system and the Component Object

Model. The native types for strings and arrays are the dedicated COM types, BSTR and
SAFEARRAY.
 Banker's rounding as the default behavior when converting real numbers to integers with
the Round function.[5] ? Round(2.5, 0) gives 2, ? Round(3.5, 0) gives 4.

 Integers are automatically promoted to reals in expressions involving the normal division operator
(/) so that division of one integer by another produces the intuitively correct result. There is a
specific integer divide operator (\) which does truncate.

 By default, if a variable has not been declared or if no type declaration character is specified, the
variable is of type Variant. However this can be changed with Deftype statements such
asDefInt, DefBool, DefVar, DefObj, DefStr. There are 12 Deftype statements in total
offered by Visual Basic 6.0. The default type may be overridden for a specific declaration by
using a special suffix character on the variable name (# for Double, ! for Single, & for
Long, % for Integer, $ for String, and @ for Currency) or using the key phrase As (type). VB
can also be set in a mode that only explicitly declared variables can be used with the
command Option Explicit.

[edit]History
VB 1.0 was introduced in 1991. The drag and drop design for creating the user interface is derived
from a prototype form generator developed by Alan Cooper and his company called Tripod.
Microsoft contracted with Cooper and his associates to develop Tripod into a programmable form
system for Windows 3.0, under the code name Ruby (no relation to the Ruby programming
language).

Tripod did not include a programming language at all. Microsoft decided to combine Ruby with the
Basic language to create Visual Basic.

The Ruby interface generator provided the "visual" part of Visual Basic and this was combined with
the "EB" Embedded BASIC engine designed for Microsoft's abandoned "Omega" database system.
Ruby also provided the ability to load dynamic link libraries containing additional controls (then
called "gizmos"), which later became the VBX interface.[6]

[edit]Timeline

 Project 'Thunder' was initiated

 Visual Basic 1.0 (May 1991) was released for Windows at the Comdex/Windows World trade
show in Atlanta, Georgia.

 Visual Basic 1.0 for DOS was released in September 1992. The language itself was not quite
compatible with Visual Basic for Windows, as it was actually the next version of Microsoft's
DOS-based BASIC compilers, QuickBASIC and BASIC Professional Development System. The
interface used a Text user interface, using extended ASCII characters to simulate the
appearance of a GUI.

Visual Basic for MS-DOS

 Visual Basic 2.0 was released in November 1992. The programming environment was easier to
use, and its speed was improved. Notably, forms became instantiable objects, thus laying the
foundational concepts of class modules as were later offered in VB4.
 Visual Basic 3.0 was released in the summer of 1993 and came in Standard and Professional
versions. VB3 included version 1.1 of theMicrosoft Jet Database Engine that could read and
write Jet (or Access) 1.x databases.
 Visual Basic 4.0 (August 1995) was the first version that could create 32-bit as well as 16-
bit Windows programs. It also introduced the ability to write non-GUI classes in Visual Basic.
Incompatibilities between different releases of VB4 caused installation and operation problems.
While previous versions of Visual Basic had used VBX controls, Visual Basic now used OLE
controls (with files names ending in .OCX) instead. These were later to be named ActiveX
controls.
 With version 5.0 (February 1997), Microsoft released Visual Basic exclusively for 32-bit versions
of Windows. Programmers who preferred to write 16-bit programs were able to import programs
written in Visual Basic 4.0 to Visual Basic 5.0, and Visual Basic 5.0 programs can easily be
converted with Visual Basic 4.0. Visual Basic 5.0 also introduced the ability to create custom
user controls, as well as the ability to compile to native Windows executable code, speeding up
calculation-intensive code execution. A free, downloadable Control Creation Edition was also
released for creation of ActiveX controls. It was also used as an introductory form of Visual
Basic: a regular .exe project could be created and run in the IDE, but not compiled.
 Visual Basic 6.0 (Mid 1998) improved in a number of areas [7] including the ability to create web-
based applications. VB6 has entered Microsoft's "non-supported phase" as of March 2008.
Although the Visual Basic 6.0 development environment is no longer supported, the runtime is
supported on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7.[8]
 Mainstream Support for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 ended on March 31, 2005. Extended support
ended in March 2008.[9] In response, the Visual Basic user community expressed its grave
concern and lobbied users to sign a petition to keep the product alive.[10] Microsoft has so far
refused to change their position on the matter. (but see [11]) Ironically, around this time (2005), it
was exposed that Microsoft's new anti-spyware offering, Microsoft AntiSpyware (part of
the GIANT Company Software purchase), was coded in Visual Basic 6.0.[12] Its replacement,
Windows Defender, was rewritten as C++ code. 

VB DOS Logo

[13]
[edit]Derivative languages
Microsoft has developed derivatives of Visual Basic for use in scripting. Visual Basic itself is derived
heavily from BASIC, and subsequently has been replaced with a .NET platform version.

Some of the derived languages are:

 Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is included in many Microsoft applications (Microsoft Office),
and also in many third-party products like SolidWorks, AutoCAD, WordPerfect Office
2002, ArcGIS,Sage Accpac ERP, and Business Objects Desktop Intelligence. There are small
inconsistencies in the way VBA is implemented in different applications, but it is largely the
same language as VB6 and uses the same runtime library.
 VBScript is the default language for Active Server Pages. It can be used in Windows scripting and
client-side web page scripting. Although it resembles VB in syntax, it is a separate language and
it is executed by vbscript.dll as opposed to the VB runtime. ASP and VBScript should not be
confused with ASP.NET which uses the .NET Framework for compiled web pages.
 Visual Basic .NET is Microsoft's designated successor to Visual Basic 6.0, and is part of
Microsoft's .NET platform. Visual Basic.Net compiles and runs using the .NET Framework. It is
notbackwards compatible with VB6. An automated conversion tool exists, but fully automated
conversion for most projects is impossible.[14]
 StarOffice Basic is a Visual Basic compatible interpreter included in StarOffice suite, developed
by Sun Microsystems.
 Gambas is a Visual Basic inspired free software programming language. It is not a clone of Visual
Basic, but it does have the ability to convert Visual Basic programs to Gambas.

[edit]Performance and other issues

Earlier counterparts of Visual Basic (prior to version 5) compiled the code to P-Code only. Visual
Basic 5 and 6 are able to compile the code to either native or P-Code as the programmer chooses.
The P-Code is interpreted by the language runtime, also known as virtual machine, implemented for
benefits such as portability and small code. However, it usually slows down the execution by adding
an additional layer of interpretation of code by the runtime although small amounts of code and
algorithms can be constructed to run faster than the compiled native code. Visual Basic applications
require Microsoft Visual Basic runtime MSVBVMxx.DLL, where xx is the relevant version number,
either 50 or 60. MSVBVM60.dll comes as standard with Windows in all editions after Windows 98
while MSVBVM50.dll comes with all editions after Windows 95. A Windows 95 machine would
however require inclusion with the installer of whichever dll was needed by the program.
Criticisms levelled at Visual Basic editions prior to VB.NET include:[15]

 Versioning problems associated with various runtime DLLs, known as DLL hell
 Poor support for object-oriented programming[16]
 Inability to create multi-threaded applications, without resorting to Windows API calls
 Inability to create Windows services
 Variant types have a greater performance and storage overhead than strongly typed
programming languages
 Dependency on complex and fragile COM Registry entries[17]
 The development environment is no longer supported by Microsoft.

[edit]Legacy development and support

All versions of the Visual Basic development environment from 1.0 to 6.0 have been retired and are
now unsupported by Microsoft. The associated runtime environments are unsupported too, with the
exception of the Visual Basic 6 core runtime environment, which will be officially supported by
Microsoft for the lifetime of Windows 7.[18] Third party components that shipped with Visual Studio
6.0 are not included in this support statement. Some legacy Visual Basic components may still work
on newer platforms, despite being unsupported by Microsoft and other vendors.

Development and maintenance development for Visual Basic 6 is possible on legacy Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Windows 2003 using Visual Studio 6.0 platforms, but is unsupported.
Documentation for Visual Basic 6.0, its application programming interface and tools is best covered
in the last MSDN release before Visual Studio.NET 2002. Later releases of MSDN focused on .NET
development and had significant parts of the Visual Basic 6.0 programming documentation
removed. The Visual Basic IDE can be installed and used on Windows Vista, where it exhibits some
minor incompatibilities which do not hinder normal software development and maintenance. As
of August 2008, both Visual Studio 6.0 and the MSDN documentation mentioned above are
available for download by MSDN subscribers.

Example code
Here is an example of the language: Code snippet that displays a message box "Hello, World!" as
the window Form loads:
Private Sub Form_Load()
' Execute a simple message box that will say "Hello, World!"
MsgBox "Hello, World!"
End Sub