What is VB.NET?

The VB.NET stands for Visual Basic. Network Enabled Technologies. It is a simple, high-level,
object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft in 2002. It is a successor of
Visual Basic 6.0, that is implemented on the Microsoft .NET framework. Furthermore, it supports
the OOPs concept, such as abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism.
Therefore, everything in the VB.NET language is an object, including all primitive data types
(Integer, String, char, long, short, Boolean, etc.), user-defined data types, events, and all objects
that inherit from its base class. It is not a case sensitive language, whereas, C++, Java, and C# are
case sensitive language.

Applications built using the VB.NET language are very reliable and scalable, relying on the .NET
Framework to access all libraries that help to execute a VB.NET program. With this language, you
can develop a fully object-oriented application that is similar to an application created through
another language such as C++, Java, or C#. In addition, applications or programs of VB.NET are
not only running on the window operating system but can also run on Linux or Mac OS.

The VB.NET language is designed in such a way that any new beginner or novice and the
advanced programmer can quickly develop a simple, secure, robust, high performance of web,
windows, console, and mobile application running on .NET Framework.

VB.NET Features
As we know, it is a high-level programming language with many features to develop a secure
and robust application. These are the following features that make it the most popular
programming language.

• It is an object-oriented programming language that follows various oops concepts such

as abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and many more. It means that everything in
VB.NET programming will be treated as an object.
• This language is used to design user interfaces for window, mobile, and web-based
applications.
• It supports a rapid application development tool kit. In which a developer does not need
to write all the codes as it can get various code automatically from its libraries. For
example, when we create a form in Visual basic.net, it automatically calls events of
various form in that class.
• It is not a case sensitive language like other languages such as C++, java, etc.
• It supports Boolean condition for decision making in programming.
• It also supports the multithreading concept, in which you can do multiple tasks at the
same time.
• It provides simple events management in .NET application.
• A Window Form enables us to inherit all existing functionality of form that can be used to
create a new form. So, in this way, it reduced the code complexity.
• It uses an external object as a reference that can be used in a VB.NET application.
• Automatic initialized a garbage collection.
• It follows a structured and extensible programming language for error detection and
recovery.
 • Conditional compilation and easy to use generic classes.
• It is useful to develop web, window, and mobile applications.

Advantages of VB.NET

• The VB.NET executes a program in such a way that runs under CLR (Common Language
Runtime), creating a robust, stable, and secure application.
• It is a pure object-oriented programming language based on objects and classes.
However, these features are not available in the previous version of Visual Basic 6. That's
why Microsoft launched VB.NET language.
• Using the Visual Studio IDE, you can develop a small program that works faster, with a
large desktop and web application.
• The .NET Framework is a software framework that has a large collection of libraries, which
helps in developing more robust applications.
• It uses drop and drag elements to create web forms in .NET applications.
• However, a Visual Basic .NET allows to connect one application to another application that
created in the same language to run on the .NET framework.
• A VB.NET can automatically structure your code.
• The Visual Basic .NET language is also used to transfer data between different layers of
the .NET architecture such that data is passed as simple text strings.
• It uses a new concept of error handling in the Visual Basic .NET Framework. The new
structure is the try, catch, and finally method used to handle exceptions as a unit. In
addition, it allows appropriate action to be taken at the place where it encountered an
error. In this way, it discourages the use of the ON ERROR GOTO statement in .NET
programming.

Disadvantages of VB.NET

1. The VB.NET programming language is unable to handle pointers directly. Because in this
language, it requires a lot of programming, and it is not easy to manage every address by
a pointer. Furthermore, additional coding takes extra CPU cycles, that increases the
processing time. It shows the slowness of the VB.NET application.
2. The VB.NET programming is easy to learn, that increases a large competition between the
programmers to apply the same employment or project in VB.NET. Thus, it reduces a
secure job in the programming field as a VB.NET developer.
3. It uses an Intermediate Language (IL) compilation that can be easily decompiled (reverse
engineered), but there is nothing that can prevent an application from disintegrating.
4. Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler: It is the process through which a computer can interpret IL
(intermediate language) compilation and is also required to run your application. It
means that the target computer needs a JIT compiler to interpret a source program in IL,
and this interpretation requires an additional CPU cycle that degrades the performance
of an application.
5. It contains a large collection of libraries for the JIT compiler that helps to interpret an
application. These large libraries hold a vast space in our system that takes more
computing time.
Introduction to .NET Framework

17 Mar 2025 | 5 min read

The .NET Framework is a software development platform that was introduced by Microsoft in
the late 1990 under the NGWS. On 13 February 2002, Microsoft launched the first version of
the .NET Framework, referred to as the .NET Framework 1.0.

In this section, we will understand the .NET Framework, characteristics, components, and its
versions.

What is .NET Framework

It is a virtual machine that provide a common platform to run an application that was built using
the different language such as C#, VB.NET, Visual Basic, etc. It is also used to create a form
based, console-based, mobile and web-based application or services that are available in
Microsoft environment. Furthermore, the .NET framework is a pure object oriented, that similar
to the Java language. But it is not a platform independent as the Java. So, its application runs
only to the windows platform.

The main objective of this framework is to develop an application that can run on the windows
platform. The current version of the .Net framework is 4.8.

Note: The .NET Framework is not only a language, but it is also a software and language
neutral platform.
Components of .NET Framework

There are following components of .NET Framework:

1. CLR (Common Language Runtime)

2. CTS (Common Type System)
3. BCL (Base Class Library)
4. CLS (Common Language Specification)
5. FCL (Framework Class Library)
6. .NET Assemblies
7. XML Web Services
8. Window Services

CLR (common language runtime)

It is an important part of a .NET framework that works like a virtual component of the .NET
Framework to executes the different languages program like c#, Visual Basic, etc. A CLR also
helps to convert a source code into the byte code, and this byte code is known as CIL (Common
Intermediate Language) or MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language). After converting into a byte
code, a CLR uses a JIT compiler at run time that helps to convert a CIL or MSIL code into the
machine or native code.

CTS (Common Type System)

It specifies a standard that represent what type of data and value can be defined and managed
in computer memory at runtime. A CTS ensures that programming data defined in various
languages should beinteract with each other to share information. For example, in C# we define
data type as int, while in VB.NET we define integer as a data type.

BCL (Base Class Library)

The base class library has a rich collection of libraries features and functions that help to
implement many programming languages in the .NET Framework, such as C #, F #, Visual C ++,
and more. Furthermore, BCL divides into two parts:

1. User defined class library

• Assemblies - It is the collection of small parts of deployment an application's part.
It contains either the DLL (Dynamic Link Library) or exe (Executable) file.
1. In LL, it uses code reusability, whereas in exe it contains only output file/ or
application.
2. DLL file can't be open, whereas exe file can be open.
3. DLL file can't be run individually, whereas in exe, it can run individually.
4. In DLL file, there is no main method, whereas exe file has main method.
2. Predefined class library
• Namespace - It is the collection of predefined class and method that present
in .Net. In other languages such as, C we used header files, in java we used
package similarly we used "using system" in .NET, where using is a keyword and
system is a namespace.

CLS (Common language Specification)

It is a subset of common type system (CTS) that defines a set of rules and regulations which
should be followed by every language that comes under the .net framework. In other words, a
CLS language should be cross-language integration or interoperability. For example, in C# and
VB.NET language, the C# language terminate each statement with semicolon, whereas in
VB.NET it is not end with semicolon, and when these statements execute in .NET Framework, it
provides a common platform to interact and share information with each other.

Microsoft .NET Assemblies

A .NET assembly is the main building block of the .NET Framework. It is a small unit of code that
contains a logical compiled code in the Common Language infrastructure (CLI), which is used for
deployment, security and versioning. It defines in two parts (process) DLL and library (exe)
assemblies. When the .NET program is compiled, it generates a metadata with Microsoft
Intermediate Language, which is stored in a file called Assembly.

FCL (Framework Class Library)

It provides the various system functionality in the .NET Framework, that includes classes,
interfaces and data types, etc. to create multiple functions and different types of application
such as desktop, web, mobile application, etc. In other words, it can be defined as, it provides a
base on which various applications, controls and components are built in .NET Framework.

Key Components of FCL

1. Object type
2. Implementation of data structure
3. Base data types
4. Garbage collection
5. Security and database connectivity
6. Creating common platform for window and web-based application
Characteristics of .NET Framework

1. CLR (Common Language Runtime)

2. Namespace - Predefined class and function
3. Metadata and Assemblies
4. Application domains
5. It helps to configure and deploy the .net application
6. It provides form and web-based services
7. NET and ASP.NET AJAX
8. LINQ
9. Security and Portability
10.Interoperability
11.It provides multiple environments for developing an application

Versions of .NET Framework

1. On 13 February 2002, Microsoft launched first version of .Net framework 1.0.

2. The second version 2.0 of .net framework was launched on 22 January 2006.
3. Third version 3.0 of .Net framework was released on 21 November 2006.
4. A .Net framework version 3.5 was released on 19 November 2007.
5. Version 4.0 of .Net framework was released on 29 September 2008
6. Version 4.5 of .Net framework was released on 15 August 2012.
 7. .Net framework 4.5.1 version was announced on 17 October 2013
8. On 5 May 2014, a 4.5.2 version of .Net framework was released.
9. .Net framework 4.6 version was announced on 12 November 2014
10..Net framework 4.6.1 version was released on 30 October 2015
11..Net framework 4.6.2 version was announced on March 30, 2016
12..Net framework 4.7 version was announced on April 5, 2017
13..Net framework 4.7.1 version was announced on October 17, 2017
14.Version 4.7.2 of .Net framework was released on 30 April 2018.
15.And currently we are using .Net framework version 4.8 that was released on 18 April 2019

How to Download and Install Visual Studio

17 Mar 2025 | 4 min read

In this topic, we will learn about the introduction of Visual Studio, version, and how to
download and install Visual Studio for VB.NET.

Visual Studio is the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) provided by Microsoft in which
developers can write and execute their program to develop various types of applications such as
Windows, Web-based, console-based, Windows forms, and mobile application easily. It has a rich
collection of tools that are used to write and modify the programs and also help to detect and
correct the errors in your programs. It is not a language-specific IDE, it means Visual Studio is
not only for VB.NET language, but you can use this to write code in C#, visual basic, C++, Python,
JavaScript and many more languages supported by Visual Studio. It supports 36 different
languages that are used to develop an application. It has a built-in compiler to run the
application, and it is also available for Windows and Mac OS.

Versions of Visual Studio

• Visual Studio launched First version 5.0 in 1997 and gave it name Visual Studio 97.
• Visual Studio version number 6.0 was launched in 1998 which pronounce as Visual Studio
6.0
• Visual Studio.NET was released in 2002 with version number 7.0.
• Visual Studio.NET was released in 2003 with version number 7.1.
• Visual Studio 2005 was released in 2005 with version number 8.0.
• Visual Studio 2008 was released in 2007 with version number 9.0.
• Visual Studio 2010 was released in 2010 with version number 10.0.
• Visual Studio 2012 was released in 2012 with version number 11.0.
• Visual Studio 2013 was released in 2013 with version number 12.0.
• Visual Studio 2015 was released in 2015 with version number 14.0.
• Visual Studio 2017 was released in 2017 with version number 15.0.
• Visual Studio 2019 was released in 2019 with version number 16.0.

How to Download and Install Visual Studio for VB.NET?

Step 1. For downloading the Visual Studio IDE, go through the link given below:

https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads
Select one to download IDE

• Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition

• Visual Studio 2019 Professional Edition (90 Day Free Trial)
• And Visual Studio 2019 Enterprise Edition (90 Day Free Trial)

In this tutorial, we will use Visual Studio 2019 Professional Edition

Step 2. As clicked on download link, it starts downloading an .exe file, as shown in the image
below.

Step 3. Click on the .exe file and then, it shows a pop-up window.
Step 4. Click on the Run button, and then it shows the below image.

Step 5. Click on the Continue Button

Step 6. After clicking on Continue, Visual Studio will start downloading its initial files as shown in
the image below.

Step 7. It shows the screen below, in which you have to click on the install button as shown.
Step 8. After clicking on install button, your Visual Studio IDE will start downloading and then it
displays the screen, as we have shown below.
Step 9. From the above image, select .NET desktop development and click on install open
which may take some time to download the Visual Studio in your system, as shown in below
image.

Step 10. After successfully downloading and installing the Visual Studio' supportive file, it shows
the below screen in your system.
Step 11. Click on Launch button, and then it shows the below image in your screen that
represents Visual Studio has been successfully launched in your machine.
And then it shows a below screen to select the Visual Studio theme. By default, it takes Blue
theme, and if you want to change, you can easily change the Visual Studio theme by clicking on
other themes.

Step 12. After selecting the Theme, click on Start Visual Studio and then it shows a below
image in your system screen for creating a new project.
Step 13. After click on Create a new project, it shows the below screen to choose what type of
application you are going to build in Visual studio. In this you can select the Console based
application or Window Form Based application, as shown in below image. Here we chose the
Console based application, and then click on the Next button.
Step 14. When you click the Next button, it shows the below image to define the project name,
and also reminds if you want to place the solution and project in the same directory.
Step 15. And finally, your new project will be successfully created.