Visual Basic 6 (VB6)

Many people have asked me what I recommend for people wanting to graduate from Visual Basic 6 and move on to VB.NET. For those of you who are not familiar with VB.NET, you can actually use it for free unlike VB6. Because of this, and because dot net developers are some of the most sought after programmers in businesses, many people are wanting to learn VB.NET or C#. I have one recommendation that is above all others if you want to learn VB.NET quickly and easily.

My recommendation is to get a subscription to Learn Visual Studio .NET

I have watched many of their over 500 video tutorials on Visual Basic .NET, C#, and web page development through ASP.NET. If you aren't familiar with ASP.NET it allows you to create dynamic web pages using Visual Basic .NET. After I had learned Visual Basic 6 fairly well, I realized how beneficial it is to create web pages using my VB skills. However, VB6 has very limited capabilities and you have to work very hard to create some of the most basic web pages. On the other hand using VB.NET you can create web pages that rival the competition. In fact you can even create web pages for handheld and mobile devices using VB.NET. Many professional e-commerce web sites use VB.NET including DotNetNuke which always you to create a full fledged e-commerce or portal sites within minutes.

The reason I recommend LearnVisualStudio.net is because I have personally used their video tutorials to learn a ton about VB.NET and C#. Along with this, I have had numerous friends use their site as well. I know it costs money to get access to all their tutorials, but they have many of them for free and I found that the small cost to get access to some of the best tutorials I've ever came across is well worth it. If you don't think so, than don't bother signing up. If you decide to try them out, I would love to hear what your experience is like. Leave a comment below and let all of us know what you think.

Site: LearnVisualStudio.net

Pros:

• Covers a large skill level set (from absolute beginner to somewhat advanced) - Probably not the most helpful if you already understand VB.NET completely and have been programming in it for a few years.
• Gets a beginner up to date and ready to go very quickly
• Good quality and reputable source
• Easy learning curve (since you see the actions being done - its like having a hands on teacher)

Cons:

• Costs Money (Although not more than buying a much less useful book)
• I have read in one forum that it took awhile to get an email back from their support department. Although I've always gotten quick responses - from the author himself. Also they now have an 800 number to be even more responsive. If you have any problems please let me know and I will take action directly.

Please leave comments below as to what your experience was.