Introduction to Visual Basic 6.0

Visual Basic is an event-driven programming language, which means that when a user performs an "event," such as typing or clicking a mouse, the VB program responds by executing a function. Microsoft released Visual Basic version 6.0 in 1998.

Types

A programmer can create Windows forms, ActiveX controls, data projects and other kinds of programs using VB6. Once he finishes coding his project, he can press "F5" to compile his project, creating files that he can distribute.

Features

In form projects, the programmer can add common tools such as command buttons, text boxes and timers. He can also use the components menu to add additional tools, including database connection objects, data list display boxes and image lists.

Considerations

VB6 was the last version of the software released by Microsoft before the shift to the .NET packages. Microsoft no longer supports VB6, but has several resources available to help programmers update their programs and software to use VB.NET functionality.

References

• MSDN: Visual Basic 6.0 Resource Center
• MSDN: Migration & Support Strategy for Visual Basic 6
• Microsoft: Microsoft Introduces Visual Basic 6.0