What does people do with visual basic?

Haven't you seen ANY application made in VB? I think you might wanna open your eyes first before asking your question.. ehrumm... ;)

examples please?

Weakness that a lot it depends on DLLS which does things for it. Strenght is its fast developing for applications. It's very widely used for buisness applications. I haven't seen any games in VB at least none proffesional once simply because its not a language for it. Have you heard a famouse say by LAMANOSOV that every language has its purpose.

VB is designed for business solutions in mind, ie dealing with database programs and the like and brushes with operating system controls. C++ is much more hardcore and powerful, but MUCH harder to learn. If you want a solid app tho, and can use C++ as well as you can use VB, go with C++ everytime....

There are any number of VB applications available.  However, VB is not appropriate for all apps, and it depends on what types of apps you use as to whether or not you've seen / used a VB app.

But... look on your HD.  You'll almost certainly find copies of the VB runtimes for VB3, VB4, and VB5, most likely for VB6, and possibly for VB1 and VB2.  They're not there because they spread like viruses... some app on your PC requires them.

I'm not sure how to tell if a given app was written in VB... especially if the developer has used 3rd party controls, or advanced coding techniques, to get rid of the 'VB look and feel'... without getting out a hex viewer.

Basic rules of thumb that I use... VB apps tend to be somewhat slower in heavy number crunching, and significantly slower in graphics (thus, not many 1st person shooters written in VB, are there?)  With C++ app development, it is harder to put on a pretty face (user interface), and overall development is slower (Try making a usable data entry/edit routine with reports in C++, from scratch, for an address book, in under a week.  With VB, I could make a workable version in under a day).

Both languages (as well as Delphi, Perl, Java, and others) have their place.  

Visual Basic is used by a lot of people, however it isn't really as fast as C, which is mainly used in developing professional systems. There are some (ie. me, etc.) professionals who develop software from VB, however, mainly, professional packages are NOT done in VB.

    Visual Basic, although inefficient, is really easy to learn, and follows Microsofts idea of the RDE (Rapid Development Environment) - Visual Basic was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to create applications in Windows, without seeing the gruesome reality - in windows, with C, it takes about 50-60 lines, to create a window that'll close if asked to - something that visual basic can do at the click of a button.

    If you're looking for a job in somewhere like Microsoft, or IBM, you're better to learn C.


THE MAIN REASON THAT MSVB IS USED MORE THAN VC++ IS THAT IT'S EASY TO LEARN, EASY TO WRITE PROGRAMS IN, AND OVERALL, CAN GIVE THE SAME SORT OF ACCESS OVER WINDOWS THAT VC++ CAN GIVE.

    Being a VB Professional, I would (surprise...) recommend that you learn VB, but if you just buy a book & download a compiler for C++, try it out, see if you like it or not, then try VB out (learning edition, or the free edition), buy a book on it, and start programming with it - whichever one you like better, USE! (by the way... I'm desperate for points)

j3877 changed the proposed answer to a comment

So what are these "business solution" softwares.
Is it only good for Database develepment or can it do somthing else?
Can you give me a solid examples of these softwares out there (names and usages)?  Otherwise, I won't belive in the existance of VB app.

Check out http://www.gotoworld.com (I think that's the site). You'll find a FULLY-FUNCTIONAL web browser written in VB6. It probably works around the webbrowser control, but it still has to have a lot of work to take the control up to the level of this browser. If you STILL don't believe that there are any apps written in VB, then you're just plain crazy.

If someone remembers the URL, there's also a full FTP client written in VB somewhere.

Aren't you making a lot of trouble for ONE point?

Note - I just did a search on Monster.com (a place to look for jobs) for jobs referencing Visual Basic near where I live... there are more than 200 listed.  When doing a national search, it hits it's top value of 'more than a thousand' jobs.  SOMEONE is paying people for thie VB skills...

I've written web browsers with VB. It only took a day to write pretty decent one. I even included touch screen interface that magically appears from the bottom, pretty neat
But after I written it, I could not help but to think it as TOY...

try Excel thats a VB application Happy with that?

no one gave me one straight solid example.
Tell me what you guys are working on
and that would be enough for me.

no one gave me one straight solid example.
Tell me what you guys are working on
and that would be enough for me.

Well, I'm working on:

A complete Durable Medical Equipment billing and tracking system for a $250m company, Data conversion, Web development (DB access over the web using ASP and a VB6 DLL), reports, etc...

however if you learn VC++ your skills will be easy to transfer to VB. but not so visa versa

Adjusted points from 1 to 6

Thanks
that's all the point I have.

Aspbaka,
  There is a very nice Point Of Sale(POS) system that manages a retail store's sales and reports called QuickSell 2000.  It has won Microsoft's RAD award 2 years in a row and is used in companies with 300 outlets.  This package is written, according to the hex dumps, in Visual Basic.  Check them out at  http://www.smspos.com
  Hope it helps.

<<Tell me what you guys are working on and that would be enough for me.>>
Sounds to me like someone is just after ideas...

Aerospace structual testing software (data aquisition and the controlling of hydraulic actuators) VB covers 95% of the package, C++ 5%.

At work, I'm writing a collection of small applications to assist with managing and calling help files for a monstrosity of a COBOL program that is our main project. (And I'm only a technical writer, not a programmer.)

In my spare time, I'm writing an application that facilitates running fencing tournaments, including properly sorting fencers into round-robin pools, tracking scores, and distributing into a direct elimination bracket.

Are either of these heavy-duty applications? No. Are either of these useful applications written in VB? Yes. Would they run faster if done in C++? Yes. Would they have ever been written if I had to do them in C++? No.

My boss is thrilled with what I've done with VB for the help files. (She doesn't know VB, so she doesn't know how hard it isn't.) The fencing clubs in my area have all been thrilled with my fencing application. (They've seen other applications for the purpose, based on Excel, that were sucky, hard to use, and unstable.) Will I get rich off either of these projects? Probably not. But I've certainly enhanced my status as a tech writer! (Little do they know that I've been a BASIC programmer since 1982...)

Thanks all.
I've liked VB since I bought VB 5.0
And sorry for hurting your VB pride KDivad

You didn't hurt my pride. I just found it a bit odd that you posted a one-point question, then refused to believe what we said and then wanted to know what we were all making in VB. Also, you asked for (and awarded points to) a "solid answer". You gave the points to the first to mention afterwards an application that was written in VB, though I had already posted an app (two actually. I would've found and given you the URL to the other if you had but asked) written in VB, which apparently wasn't good enough (which is fine, that didn't bother me).

Like I mentioned earlier, I just thought you were making an awful lot of trouble considering you weren't willing to compensate very well for it.

Well,
There are many answers that I like but glenrichmond's answer was the first one of them (to me at least).
About the point, I've given all my points to him.  Isn't that better than rich man giving 1% of his wealth?
If that's not enough, here is my humble bow of thanks to all..
m(_ _)m

aspbaka i didnt need the points i was joining in on the subject, if you need points ill post a question you could answer for a return of your points + some extra if your struggling for question points as i havent used my question points for some time now.
let me know.

<<About the point, I've given all my points to him.  Isn't that better than rich man giving 1% of his wealth?>>
You're right. A lot of people have plenty of points but will only put a few, even though EE guidelines clearly state recommended amounts. But if you only put a few because you only have a few, then that's completely different story. Had you said you only had one point, I would have never said a word.
I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

glenrichmond, It won't work. Question points and expert points aren't interchangeable.