Re: VB .net - A question for Microsoft Moderators...

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From: Jim Vierra (jvierra_at_msn.com)
Date: 01/27/05 

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:39:58 -0500

I would say it's a design issue. Do you re-write older code or just extend
it with NET. I'm a big fan of objects. COde ported from VB4 to VB6 will
not have much Class so will not be easy to port. That code is truly due for
complete re-engineering as the world, windows, companies and users have
changed dramatically since the old Cobol days. Most code I have worked with
ported quite quickly as much of it is unnecessary in NET. Forms do more by
themselves and data binding is smooth and reliable.

The hardest programs to port are the ones that are badly layered. The
warning with VB6 was - use classes! Much VB code is riddled with API calls
embeds all data acces in the program procedures. Yes. This is very
difficult code to port.

To test VB.NEt I took an old utility I had laying around and ran it through.
What a mess. It would have taken me all day to read the fix list. I looked
at what the routines were doing and realized that most of them were not
needed as the functions already existed in VB.NET. It was angly test that I
ran just to see.

Luckily I am not goinf to have to port any old code but I like doing it as a
challenge. If anyone is willing to pay I will port ANYTHING. Right now I'm
working on a FoxPro 2.6 100,000 line disaaster. I throw out 9 of every 10
lines and that's just on the first pass. 10 years ago I ported over 250,000
lines of dBase IV code to Clpper. Same thing. The final program was only
about 35,000 lines. The first pass took 2 weeks - long days. Iused a
version control system to delta all of the similar modules and looked at the
diff reports. Convertd th most generic module and paramaterized the
differences. The same technique works for VB.NET and Foxro to VS.NET.
Believe me. NET is a tremendous help to program development. 

-- 
Jim Vierra 661815
"Jonathan West" <jwest@mvps.org> wrote in message 
news:efiGWXLBFHA.3592@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>
> "Jim Vierra" <jvierra@msn.com> wrote in message 
> news:%23tzpW%23KBFHA.3616@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>> The current truth is, from attending VBUG meetings, most VB programmers 
>> are more than satisified with VB.NET.  They may be more excited by it 
>> than anyone else.
>>
>> I do know of one VB programmer who still complains al of the time and 
>> declares he will stop programming if VB6 goes out of support.  Privateluy 
>> he has admitted that he is just to lazy to learn dotNET but is beginning 
>> t oplay with it.
>
> VBUG meetings will tend mainly to have sessions on features of the latest 
> version, so the people attending are by definition those interested in the 
> latest stuff. In essence you have a self-selecting group.
>
> The problem with VB.NET is not learning the new language. Any programmer 
> worth his salt should have little problem with that, provided that he has 
> some time available to play around with it for a while.
>
> The problem is carrying forward existing VB6 code, which for anything much 
> more sophisticated than "Hello World" means a substantial rewrite. That 
> takes time & money which would be better spent on new features and is 
> likely to introduce new bugs to the application.
>
> Even so, VB programmers are generally not going to complain - they will be 
> getting paid to do their apps all over again! The people who will complain 
> are the application owners - those tho paid the programmers to create the 
> VB apps in the first place.
>
> And what assurance is there that Microsoft won't decide in a few years 
> time to improve VB.NET in the way it "improved" VB6, and leave the poor 
> application owners with yet another rewrite on their hands?
>
>
> -- 
> Regards
> Jonathan West - Word MVP
> www.intelligentdocuments.co.uk
> Please reply to the newsgroup

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