6 ms·

VB6 got me started on programming, in a really tangible way I could really understand - when I was only about ten years old. I was lucky enough to be playing S

VB6 got me started on programming, in a really tangible way I could really understand - when I was only about ten years old. I was lucky enough to be playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles on my Sega Genesis enough that I eventually asked my youth pastor, whom I knew was in IT, 'how do I make a game like this?' He responded 'I dunno' and handed me a copy of Visual Studio 6 on a CD, and I grabbed a bunch of books from the library, and foolishly (but also correctly) tried to start with C/C++. The frustration of simply getting graphics to appear on the screen was enough to drive me away from it. While I understood the logic, what I really needed was a basic-level 2D graphics API like Cocos2D, likely. Visual Basic was a very nice balance between code and it's visual link - I get the same feeling in a great way with Xcode and Interface Builder today. I owe it my career. :)

m_mueller 7y ago
Wasn't VB pretty much a clone of Xcode's granddaddy, the IDE that came with NeXT step? Even the idea behind ActiveX was copied from there AFAIK. No wonder Xcode reminds you of VB then.
- lostgame 7y ago
  That's a really cool note! I actually own a NextCube...I hadn't made that link, especially when I was younger and actually had just gotten started.
dopeboy 7y ago
Same. I wasn't smart enough to make sense of what was going on but the ability to connect a GUI to actions and event was really neat. I still remember marveling at the fact I made a standalone exe---that I could share with the whole world---that closed when you clicked the only button on it. Web, particularly Dreamweaver and Frontpage served as the entry point for me.
cm2187 7y ago
VBA (also VB6) is what got me started. It is hard to underestimate the power of placing a scripting language at the fingertips of Office users, arguingly a massive user base of people who need to get stuff done immediately. I just wish Microsoft would have a more modern language integrated to Office. They were actually very close to doing it. They created VSTA, which was a mini Visual Studio integrated in Office, allowing to integrate any .net code in Office just in the same way as VBA. I think one of the components of Office 2007 even shipped with it. Then they killed it.

m_mueller 7y ago

Wasn't VB pretty much a clone of Xcode's granddaddy, the IDE that came with NeXT step? Even the idea behind ActiveX was copied from there AFAIK. No wonder Xcode reminds you of VB then.

lostgame 7y ago
That's a really cool note! I actually own a NextCube...I hadn't made that link, especially when I was younger and actually had just gotten started.

dopeboy 7y ago

Same. I wasn't smart enough to make sense of what was going on but the ability to connect a GUI to actions and event was really neat. I still remember marveling at the fact I made a standalone exe---that I could share with the whole world---that closed when you clicked the only button on it. Web, particularly Dreamweaver and Frontpage served as the entry point for me.

cm2187 7y ago

VBA (also VB6) is what got me started. It is hard to underestimate the power of placing a scripting language at the fingertips of Office users, arguingly a massive user base of people who need to get stuff done immediately. I just wish Microsoft would have a more modern language integrated to Office. They were actually very close to doing it. They created VSTA, which was a mini Visual Studio integrated in Office, allowing to integrate any .net code in Office just in the same way as VBA. I think one of the components of Office 2007 even shipped with it. Then they killed it.