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RyanFlag for United States of America

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How fast is Visual Basic compared to PowerShell and what do you think I should use?

I need some advice on learning a new programming language.    I have background in computer graphics so I am a visual type of person.  I want to create a program that will help my wife back up her files to the external hard disks and learn how to code other programs.  Soon I am going to go over some online videos about programming terminology so I can learn different terms and what they mean.

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I have written some short scripts in PowerShell and I like it a lot because it is very fast, but I also recently downloaded Visual Studio 2017 and am thinking about using Visual Basic instead because I think it would be easier for me to learn.

How fast is Visual Basic compared to PowerShell and what do you think I should use?
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Dirk Strauss
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Hi Ryan. Here are my thoughts:

Backup of files
I am a firm believer that one shouldn't re-invent the wheel. There are many backup solutions/tools to choose from. I have used Cloudberry backup for a while now, and it is a good tool with a nice UI. Then also have a look at Carbonite that also seems like a good tool to use. I have heard it featured on shows like Leo Laporte's Twit podcast (allthough this is probably paid advertising). It all depends on how valuable your files are to you/your wife and how much you will lose when a drive fails (note, I didn't say if a drive fails).

Learning to program
As for learning to program by watching online tutorials, that's awesome. There are many places that you can use for online training. One of the best (which I personally use) is Pluralsight. Don't throw away free sites such as Microsoft Virtual Academy and Channel 9.

Learning PowerShell is really rewarding, and Pluralsight have a few courses on that. In my opinion, I would see learning PowerShell as an addition to learning something like C# or Visual Basic. In other words, learn both.

Visual Basic is a nice language to learn because it "reads" easier. I started with Visual Basic many moons ago, but went on to writing C# which I now exclusively use as my main language of choice. Learning a new language is easy if you find the right tool for learning. For some folks, it is using books. For others, online videos work better. At the end of the day, the only way you really learn is by doing. Use online resources such as Experts Exchange and StackOverflow to find answers to your questions. Just be aware.... in my personal experience, Experts Exchange is a much friendlier and community focused platform than StackOverflow. I have seen some "newbies" get called out on StackOverflow too many times by seasoned developers.
they are just 2 very different beasts!

Powershell is mostly used by system admins to create batch job that runs very often without a UI (often from a scheduler).

Visual Basic is more versatile. Would let you build web sites, WPF apps, Windows apps, mobile apps, ... But if you want to learn, i would go with C# instead of VB.
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Scott McDaniel (EE MVE )
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