It had been several times where I have criticized the direct impact of Microsoft‘s decisions (and movements) affecting their customers. First, I complained of almost killing Visual Basic 6, and bet on the .NET environment. Something similar happened to Classic ASP. Developers were forced to take decisions, and so did I.
My decision, at first, was to try C#, but after a while I move to Python, a language I like more and more, and I am starting to feel really confortable writting event visual GUI apps.
Microsoft and Firefox OS
What a big surprised the Microsoft have developed Bing App for Firefox OS (here I read the news), a symptom that Firefox OS is here to stay.
Microsoft and Python
Python is a lenguage to take into account, if you are a developer, as as a fact that is one of the most used languages on GitHub, as example. For Microsoft, this fact is taken into account as well, and they have launch Python Tools for Visual Studio., a really cool project I should talk about in depth.
In my opinion, Microsoft participation on Firefox OS and Python are signs that these technologies worth investing time, and that’s what I’m doing here, in this blog.
A breath for Visual Basic 6
I also have to write a new entrance about it, when I get more information, but … for those who work with Visual Studio 2012 o 2013, a new add-on is coming soon: Visual Basic Tools for Visual Studio, a nice add-on for the .NET IDE behind the idea of maintain VB6 code while migrating. It’s not a substitution for the IDE Visual Basic 6, niether a wizard for migrating VB6 code to a new language, just allow to load .vbp projects on the .NET IDE.
This news doesn’t mean a Visual Basic 6 resurrection, but at least, developers have a new tool for maintain VB6 code.
Can you imagine how Visual Basic 7 will be, assuming that 7 is the improvement of VB6?
there are some of the improvements I would like to have:
- I will allow to write conditions like this variable = “algo” if (condicion) else “otra cosa”
- Array improvements, or at least, to copy the Python List object
- I will add the option of returning more than one result per function, like this: function test() as string, integer to return a string and an integer, always in order
- I will allow files can admit creating more that one class
- Improve error handeling, instead of On error goto, use try … except
- Of course, a connection to NoSQL databases, like MongoDB, is a must
I bet that Visual Basic 6 will never be multiplatform, because it is conceived as a desktop software, and all effort should go this way. Another issue is if VB code could be compiled to work on other operating systems, like Linux! That would be very cool!
Maybe my suggestions for VB7 would break compatibility with previous versions, but … ¿didn’t Microfost break and established new rules when creating Visual Basic .NET? I had to say it!
And finally, you can read this article from June 2012 where a Microsoft expert explains why Microsoft will support VB6 even on Windows 9 y Windows 10.
Have a nice day!