5 ms·

Bill Gates demonstrates Visual Basic (1991)

29 points by seddin 6y ago

PostThisTooFast 6y ago
The '90s were full of ballyhoo about object orientation and "soon we'll be bolting together software with off-the-shelf components." Thanks to the failure to standardize C++ ABIs (among other reasons) that didn't happen... except for VBXs. You really could throw together a CRUD app pretty quickly with off-the-shelf VBX controls.
nomel 6y ago
My favorite part about Visual Basic was the help files. They were absolutely great for someone learning to code. From what I remember, there was a snippet of example code for basically everything.
- anakaine 6y ago
  This is how I learned to code. Ot was excellent. Its been very hard over the course of my career to learn other non basic languages, and I attribute it largely to those help files being so good that it became my first and main language.
  - ranqet 6y ago
    Had the same experience. First language I learned was VB and felt like I had to learn programming all over again when moving on.
    - nomel 6y ago
      I learned basic first, then microcontroller ASM, which made C just kinda make sense when I went to it.
sktrdie 6y ago
This shows me that coding hasn't evolved at all over the last 30 years.
- apostacy 6y ago
  Visual Basic was one of the first languages I learned, and I was able to quickly make complex graphical applications. I feel like we have regressed in a lot of ways. Contrast building a GUI app in 1990 vs 2020. Compare Visual Basic to something like React Native. How much code would you have to write for some basic business application, like having a few screens that share a state, and interface with a database? How big would the executable be? Visual Basic had some big flaws, but you could work around those flaws. And I can also explain the logic of a Visual Basic program fairly easily to someone inexperienced. And there is just so much less cognitive load involved. I feel like 90% of the actual code that I wrote was for actually processing data. Sure, asynchronous stuff could get difficult in VB, but that was the exception. And I wish that VB had had reducers. I am certain that virtualizing the x86 Visual Basic 6 runtime in Javascript would easier to develop for and outperform many modern GUI frameworks today.
  - vb6sp6 6y ago
    I do quite a bit of work in vb6 still. It is fast and easy to use. I really wish Microsoft would make vb7.
  - anakaine 6y ago
    this is the comment that hits the nail on the head. Cognitive load. I know well there are many good reasons to be on modern languages, but vb did make things easy.
zubairq 6y ago
I absolutely love Visual Basic and am trying to make a Javascript version at appshare.co
smileypete 6y ago
This video is pretty lengthy but well worth a watch; the oral history of Alan Cooper, the 'father of Visual Basic' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wtGFgaKYI0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wtGFgaKYI0 EDIT: One highlight is where Alan Cooper gets a cease-and-desist letter from Microsoft for calling himself 'The Father of Visual Basic'... https://youtu.be/-wtGFgaKYI0?t=9666 https://youtu.be/-wtGFgaKYI0?t=9666

29 points by seddin 6y ago

The '90s were full of ballyhoo about object orientation and "soon we'll be bolting together software with off-the-shelf components." Thanks to the failure to standardize C++ ABIs (among other reasons) that didn't happen... except for VBXs. You really could throw together a CRUD app pretty quickly with off-the-shelf VBX controls.

nomel 6y ago

My favorite part about Visual Basic was the help files. They were absolutely great for someone learning to code. From what I remember, there was a snippet of example code for basically everything.

anakaine 6y ago
This is how I learned to code. Ot was excellent. Its been very hard over the course of my career to learn other non basic languages, and I attribute it largely to those help files being so good that it became my first and main language.
- ranqet 6y ago
  Had the same experience. First language I learned was VB and felt like I had to learn programming all over again when moving on.
  - nomel 6y ago
    I learned basic first, then microcontroller ASM, which made C just kinda make sense when I went to it.

sktrdie 6y ago

This shows me that coding hasn't evolved at all over the last 30 years.

apostacy 6y ago
Visual Basic was one of the first languages I learned, and I was able to quickly make complex graphical applications. I feel like we have regressed in a lot of ways. Contrast building a GUI app in 1990 vs 2020. Compare Visual Basic to something like React Native. How much code would you have to write for some basic business application, like having a few screens that share a state, and interface with a database? How big would the executable be? Visual Basic had some big flaws, but you could work around those flaws. And I can also explain the logic of a Visual Basic program fairly easily to someone inexperienced. And there is just so much less cognitive load involved. I feel like 90% of the actual code that I wrote was for actually processing data. Sure, asynchronous stuff could get difficult in VB, but that was the exception. And I wish that VB had had reducers. I am certain that virtualizing the x86 Visual Basic 6 runtime in Javascript would easier to develop for and outperform many modern GUI frameworks today.
- vb6sp6 6y ago
  I do quite a bit of work in vb6 still. It is fast and easy to use. I really wish Microsoft would make vb7.
- anakaine 6y ago
  this is the comment that hits the nail on the head. Cognitive load. I know well there are many good reasons to be on modern languages, but vb did make things easy.

zubairq 6y ago

I absolutely love Visual Basic and am trying to make a Javascript version at appshare.co

smileypete 6y ago

This video is pretty lengthy but well worth a watch; the oral history of Alan Cooper, the 'father of Visual Basic' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wtGFgaKYI0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wtGFgaKYI0 EDIT: One highlight is where Alan Cooper gets a cease-and-desist letter from Microsoft for calling himself 'The Father of Visual Basic'... https://youtu.be/-wtGFgaKYI0?t=9666 https://youtu.be/-wtGFgaKYI0?t=9666