Re: Learning Curve Coming from VB.net

From:
"David Ching" <dc@remove-this.dcsoft.com>
Newsgroups:
microsoft.public.vc.mfc
Date:
Sat, 9 Aug 2008 21:39:51 -0700
Message-ID:
<viunk.18706$89.11830@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com>
"Joseph M. Newcomer" <newcomer@flounder.com> wrote in message
news:lmns94leb671qmgvvg24e6tgj2ldoa27s5@4ax.com...

You have to learn object-oriented programming (which cannot exist in VB,
the last time I
looked)
...
It also depends on what you mean by "basic things". Try doing doc/view
architecture in C#
or VB. Lots of luck! The last I looked VB barely could encompass the
concept of threads
and synchronization, and C# largely hides it to the point where it is easy
to get
everything wrong because you think the language is handling it (it doesn't
handle
correctness and in some cases really doesn't handle thread safety, but
fools you into
thinking it does, much like Java).
...
I tell people it takes about two years to learn a new programming
environment. It isn't
just the language, it is primarily the libraries and the paradigms. I've
got perhaps 3
months in C#, and figure that I'd still need the balance of the two years
to get as good
as I am in MFC. But nobody wants to pay me for C# (which is a pretty cool
language).
...
VB sucks as a language, and as a development methodology. C# is
definitely cool.


It is important to distinugish between VB and VB.NET. VB.NET as a language
basically is a different syntax for the same features of C#; in fact, VB.NET
has a few things that C# does not. I believe your comments are refering to
VB6 and before, which is not the basis of the question.

Moving from MFC to WinForms and to some extent WPF is easier than vice-versa
because it is like moving to C after knowing assembly language. Same
concepts, easier expression. Another example is the .NET threading model is
based on the Win32 one except it is nicer. For example, you don't call an
obscure WaitForSingleObject() API to wait for a thread to end; there is a
nice event you write a delegate for (perhaps a concise anonymous function).

In addition, there are many modern books (available at the local bookstore,
fancy that... when did you last see an MFC book on the shelves?) that make
it easy to find easy solutions to common problems from Apress and Wrox. As
well, these days the easiest way to find a programming solution is to google
for it, and there is quite a ton of info built up on both .NET and MFC.
What took you n years to become proficient, may well take you n / 2 these
days.

-- David

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