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Microsoft has created a powerful programming language, but it will require serious investments in coding and training. Is it right for your business?
MICROSOFT'S VISUAL BASIC is about to sprout some powerful legs this year in the form of Visual Basic.NET. Companies planning to adopt Visual Basic.NET will be able to leverage application capabilities, such as inheritance, that were previously confined to other languages, C++ for example. But the move to Visual Basic.NET is not merely a programming language upgrade; developers who have expertise in Visual Basic 6 will need to learn major new programming concepts.
Business leaders face the tough choice of whether to migrate or rewrite existing Visual Basic 6 applications using Visual Basic.NET or to adopt a different business application development platform altogether, such as Java. Either choice will require a sizeable investment in both developer coding and training.
If your company has invested in the Windows platform as its primary application-- serving vehicle and doesn't see a strategic need to deviate from that, then investing in Visual Basic.NET is a good choice. On the other hand, if your company's application needs will potentially outgrow Microsoft...