Library tutorials & articles
Visual Basic Tutorial
Where can I get it?
If you've got to this stage, and decided Visual Basic is for you, then you will need to know where you can get it from, and how much it will cost. For this, there is a large number of options.
N.B. VB=Visual Basic, VS=Visual Studio
| VB Edition | Cost | Description |
| Visual Basic for Applications | N/A | This version is standard with all versions of Microsoft Office 2000, and earlier versions to some extent. It's main use is for creating Macros to automate reptitive tasks, but can also be used for getting to grips with VB. Like the Learning Edition, a number of controls are unavailable, and you won't be able to distribute your application unless your users have Office too. |
| Learning/Standard Edition | ~ £74 |
The basic functionality of Visual Basic is present, however important controls such as the Common Controls (that let you add Toolbars, Status Bars, Tab controls, List Views and TreeViews), the RichTextBox (which lets create word processing-type applications), Inet Control (which lets you access remote internet servers), and a number of other controls are not available. Occasionally, this edition is available on a cover CD. If this is the case, the option of creating an EXE file, which you can then distribute to users without Visual Basic is usually disabled. |
| VB (Professional) | £390 | Visual Basic Professional includes all the features of the Standard edition, plus additional ActiveX controls, integrated Data Tools, and a DHTML editor. This edition includes everything nearly every developer will ever need! |
| VB (Enterprise) | £900 |
Visual Basic Enterprise Edition is aimed for those in a team setting, usually based around Server work... It includes all the features of the Professional edition, plus Back Office tools such as SQL Server, Microsoft Transaction Server, Internet Information Server, Visual SourceSafe, SNA Server, and more. |
| VS (Professional) | £790 | This package includes Visual Basic Professional, but also includes the other Visual Studio products - Visual C++, Visual J++ and Visual InterDev. |
| VS (Enterprise) | £1136 | This package includes Visual Basic Enterprise, but also includes the other Visual Studio Enterprise products - Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual InterDev, BackOffice etc. |
| VS (Professional) - Student Price | £76 | This is exactly the same as Visual Studio Professional, but available at a massively reduced price for Students (under 16, or working towards a recognised qualification) and Teachers. Please note that when you purchase this copy, you will not receive the software. You then need to fill out a form, get it signed by your school or college, send it off, and then wait for up to 28 days... That is the downside of this edition! |
As you can see, there are a wide number of choices. Obviously, if you are a student, I strongly recommend you go for the last option! Otherwise, it is really up to you. In my opinion, you will quickly find the missing controls in the Standard Edition a big blow, and so, if you can afford it, I would recommend the Professional Edition - this will cover most users needs completely. Upgrades from a previous version are available, usually at about half the price of the full version, however note that it is not possible to upgrade from a Standard Edition Version 6 to an Professional Edition Version 7 (as far as I am aware).
The next issue is where you can get Visual Basic from. Almost any software retailer should be able to provide you with a copy. I would suggest that you use whoever you are happy with - if you have a company you have already purchased software off, then you might as well use them. The prices I have given are for a guide only, and may vary... if you have the time, shop around! If you have no idea who to use, you can always try Jungle.com, or Simply.co.uk (for the UK only). You can always go to one of these sites to check the current price.
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I take IT course, n we'll gonna use VB for nxt semester.1st n 2nd semester we already have C n C++,so i hope any1 here can help me out..TQVM..
Hi,
I have been using Visual Basic for one year. Now, I want to switch to VB.net as it is the latest technology. I am totally confused how should I go about doing this. Could you tell me the name of a few books that are for new users. I dont even have any knowledge of ASP(I know a bit of HTML). Do I need to install IIS on my laptop to start web development ? If yes , where can I get it for free?
Thnaks a ton!
You may not be able to comile your code into an executable that would be portable, but your code can be copied into notepad files and kept for later use/reuse.
I am a student at a vocational school in Ohio. I made a program in VB.NET for students and I would like to know if there is any way I can make an .exe file of my program to take home with me. It isn't for reselling or anything. Just wondering, thanks.
Jimmy Jimmy 05
Hi...
Can anybody suggest me one reference book for VB.NET??
Thanx
Deepthi
how can i delete posted msgss here ???
Hello,
Can someone please help meee!
Thanks so much,
Lsan
Whether to learn VB or VB.NET depends on your reason for learning the language - at the moment, VB probably has more use in a commercial sense; VB.NET is still too new. But if you're looking to the future, then VB.NET/C# is where its at!
Hi i'm a beginner with programming & i'd like a piece of advice on whether to learn vb or visual basic .net and i would also like to know if knowledge of vb is a prerequisite to knowing visual studio.net
in adodc.recordsource
In where clause use [primary key
i like to learn vb
Many thanks to James Crowley, he has removed my fears of moving on from QB to VB.
Does anyone else know of a good source of VB tutorials.
Regards,
welcome to DF
thats what we are all here for... learning and working together
I just read your post about the VB for beginners and I want to thankl you about your help and love for learning VB,
thank you alot,really you gave me the motivation that was needed to start with it.
sorry for my english it's not perfect but you can understand me (i understand everything that you whrote)
ok and continue like that people need your help
thank u
by the way, do u know of any vb samples for developing a meeting room booking system?
i use the following code to delete records:
while not adodc1.recordset.eof
adodc1.recordset.delete adaffectcurrent
adodc1.recordset.movenext
loop
only after 4 deletion i have always this error:
"runtime error -2147467259(80004005);key coluymn information is insufficient or incorrect. too many rows were affected by update"
how can i solve this error and continue my deletion process?
MsgBox "Hello " & txtName.Text & "!"
end sub
That should work
I put MsgBox "Hello " & txtName.Text & "!" in between the () tags on the cmdOK_Click() command, it didint work but i couldnt see anywere els to put it im proberly making a compleat begginer mistake so i'll keep at it till i figure out what im doing wrong.
Im useing Visual Basic 5.0 CCE if anyone can figure out what im doing wrong =)
Thanks James, for a really helpful and very well written crash course. I've been wondering about having a go with VB, and you've convinced me!!
I have much more knowledge to add to my head, and it is because of this tutorial. Thank you once again. You have helped my greatly in my assignment.
Thanks for your great article. Before reading this I had no idea about VB, this has given me a head start, I will surely pass this info on to my friends who are interested in programming.
Thanks again
Great article for someone who knows no programming, with exception of HTML. Obviously, I'm new to the world of VB. I'll be sure to spread the word, should I come across anyone else new. Great site, also.
This thread is for discussions of Complete VB Beginners Tutorial.