Visual Basic 6 Books?

T

TheOrangeJuicer

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Jun 12, 2009
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I am the IT help desk guy here at my job and the only job openings for a higher position is a developer. I already talked to my boss about it and he said there is a position opening up soon for it. If I can learn the language and prove I am qualified for the job, then the position is mine. There is another IT guy here sort of doing the same thing but he isn't showing much initiative is what my boss was saying so he said if I want it, learn the language and it's mine.

I took a VB class in school years ago but i remember very little from it. It was also a VB.NET class, not a VB6 class. The developer position is for VB6, NOT VB6.net, NOT VB.NET, or any other variation of Visual Basic. Just standard Visual Basic 6.0.

I found my old school book but like i said before, it is a visual basic.net book. Will this work with VB6 or should I look into getting something tailored to VB6? If not, can someone recommend me a book or two that will help with this? So far I have been using online tutorials which really don't teach much it seems. Some are helpful but others are pretty badly written.

Thanks in advance. I searched the forums but most of the posts are about VB.NET or other languages.
 
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VB.NET and VB 6 are totally different animals. If you're rusty on the programming skills and VB I would suggest "Visual Basic 6 Step by Step" by Michael Halvorson. I've been doing VB since day one, VB put a LOT of money in pocket back in the day. But you really need to get up to speed as well when you have time with .NET and C#, they are the future of development on Windows platforms, including Windows 7 Phones.
 
heatlesssun said:
VB.NET and VB 6 are totally different animals. If you're rusty on the programming skills and VB I would suggest "Visual Basic 6 Step by Step" by Michael Halvorson. I've been doing VB since day one, VB put a LOT of money in pocket back in the day. But you really need to get up to speed as well when you have time with .NET and C#, they are the future of development on Windows platforms, including Windows 7 Phones.
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Thanks very much for the quick response. I totally understand if I am to pursue this position then my career choice will change with it. I am only 22 so I have no problem with it. I really like the company I am working for so I think it's in my best interest to pursue it and see how it goes.

Thanks again I really appreciate it.
 
No problem and happy to help. I love business software development but boy there's just SO MUCH to keep on top of. Glad you're in a nice spot, good to have there days.
 
Just a tip: if you see yourself being employed anywhere else besides this company at any point in the future, you should not stop at VB 6. It's outdated (no, ancient) and it's ugly -- there's a reason why it's almost dead. Having experience with VB.NET (or better, C#) would make you eminently more employable.

Maybe you can learn one or both of those after you get in, and possibly change the place over the years to a more modern language.
 
Is the position some sort of a legacy app maintenance? I can't see any business building new applications with VB6.
Find out what language your company is using or will be using for new development.

The VB6 step-by-step recommendation is spot on, great book.
 
BillNutz said:
Is the position some sort of a legacy app maintenance? I can't see any business building new applications with VB6.
Find out what language your company is using or will be using for new development.

The VB6 step-by-step recommendation is spot on, great book.
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It's basically App Maintenance with new procedures implemented. We are running our DB with Access 97 so it's extremely old and outdated. We haven't upgraded yet because of how much time it will take to write the program again. My boss as well as the other developers built several programs in house that are constantly being updated with new procedures and things. I couldn't tell you why we haven't upgraded to a newer system yet.

Languages I know we are using are Visual Basic 6, C# (i could be wrong on what version of C we are using) and some type of web based language for our websites.

From what I've gathered from just listening in on the developers, we are going to be forced to upgrade to a new language and Database soon because apparently Access 97 only allows for a certain amount of tables, which we happen to be close to reaching. I also don't know why we are still using VB6. Like I said, I am just the Help Desk after all with very little knowledge of programming so I am learning things as I go. They have their reasons for not upgrading or graduating to a different language but when they talk about it, it sounds like mumbo jumbo to me right now since I have so little knowledge of programming.

I ordered the book so thanks a lot for the recommendation! I'm sure it will be very helpful.
 
TheOrangeJuicer said:
It's basically App Maintenance with new procedures implemented. We are running our DB with Access 97 so it's extremely old and outdated. We haven't upgraded yet because of how much time it will take to write the program again. My boss as well as the other developers built several programs in house that are constantly being updated with new procedures and things. I couldn't tell you why we haven't upgraded to a newer system yet.

Languages I know we are using are Visual Basic 6, C# (i could be wrong on what version of C we are using) and some type of web based language for our websites.

From what I've gathered from just listening in on the developers, we are going to be forced to upgrade to a new language and Database soon because apparently Access 97 only allows for a certain amount of tables, which we happen to be close to reaching. I also don't know why we are still using VB6. Like I said, I am just the Help Desk after all with very little knowledge of programming so I am learning things as I go. They have their reasons for not upgrading or graduating to a different language but when they talk about it, it sounds like mumbo jumbo to me right now since I have so little knowledge of programming.

I ordered the book so thanks a lot for the recommendation! I'm sure it will be very helpful.
Click to expand...

Some suggestions:

Suggest to your boss that after learning VB6, you are willing
to migrate the programs to VB .NET in short order. Explain
that modernization keeps him current against incompatible
OS's, 3rd party software and new hardware.

AFTER he gives you the position pursue the intuitive
and document how you would handle the migration.

Train yourself and you will be the master of BOTH worlds,
and a value to your boss and company.

Knowledge is power and makes you the leader right away.
And that also makes you a "boss".
 
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