Something Pretty Right: The History and Legacy of Visual Basic

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Fri, Mar 17, 2023, 1:28 PM UTC

hahamrfunnyguy wrote: post #117

fabianholzer wrote: post #96

The WYSIWYG GUI builder that VB provided, I have never encountered afterwards again in quite that manner. Now, in VBs heyday the field of UX design we now have as a profession adjacent to software development was in its infancy and was usually an implicit part of the developers job. What was lost with the demise of the RAD tools was a potentially shared medium of expression. Today designers build Potemkin villages in…

I think the WYSIWYG WPF and Silverlight tools were pretty close to VB6 level of usability. The tools are great for building a quick UI, but I think they fall short for more complex applications. This is why designers have their own preferences when it comes to designing the UX, to give them the flexibility to create the UI as they see fit. When different teams are working on a shared goal, there can always an element…

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Fri, Mar 17, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

kitd wrote: post #102

jdiez17 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excel is another amazing piece of software, that is almost universally looked down upon by programmers. Why make complex calculations in a GUI if you can just write a Python script with numpy and pandas!? And yet, so much of the world runs on excel spreadsheets being sent back and forth. Why? Because 1) it has a low skill floor and very high ceiling, 2) everyone uses the same tool (or at least it's backward and forwa…

Excel is another amazing piece of software, that is almost universally looked down upon by programmers. I read somewhere that there are 10 x more Excel "programmers" in the world than programmers for all other languages put together.

Post by simonh » Fri, Mar 17, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

jjkaczor wrote: post #130

rob74 wrote: post #28

Hilarious quote (notwithstanding the fact that bus drivers usually have to work shifts, also on weekends): > Almost all Visual Basic 6 programmers were content with what Visual Basic 6 did. They were happy to be bus drivers: to leave the office at 5 p.m. (or 4:30 p.m. on a really nice day) instead of working until midnight; to play with their families on weekends instead of trudging back to the office. They didn't la…

Well - basically, if you wanted to become a fighter pilot and had VB1-6 experience and wanted the "RAD" forms tools, but also wanted true OOP, there was always... Delphi You could do pretty much anything with Delphi that you could do with C/C++ on Windows.

Post by DeathArrow » Fri, Mar 17, 2023, 1:37 PM UTC

wsc981 wrote: post #141

DeathArrow wrote: post #82

Couple of thoughts: 1. Microsoft did a good thing at that time with Visual Basic. Building visual interfaces with RAD tools is the most efficient way, as defining visual elements with code is harder. VB was great at its time, Borland Delphi and C++ Builder were good, QT Builder was good, Windows Forms was good. Of course, why use good models when you can inflict pain and let people define UIs by using plain code? WPF…

I’ve started looking into MAUI over the last week and it honestly seems like a big improvement over Forms, in various ways. Though it’s probably risky to use in production.

Post by simonh » Fri, Mar 17, 2023, 1:40 PM UTC

shanebellone wrote: post #95

interfixus wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very droll, but incorrect. Also, I believe the word you're looking for is purism . I'll certainly go along with that. Also also, out of curiosity, where did you dredge up the "he"?

For what it's worth, the male form is generally used when gender is unknown. I suspect those linguistic defaults will start changing soon.