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c#asp.netvb.netcomparisonlanguage-comparisons
nathanchere
nathanchere

Reputation: 8098

ASP.NET - C# vs VB.NET - Indirect differences and things you might not initially consider

I'm not interested in starting another "who has the bigger member" VB vs C# debate (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/158229/what-are-the-pros-of-vb-net seems to cover that already) though I am interested in indirect differences which may influence developing in one vs the other. All my commercial .NET development was desktop apps in VB until the last 3 months where I had a web project and decided it was a good opportunity to force myself to learn C#. In the course of doing so I've noticed a few non-technical differences:

The jump to ASP.NET, MVC and C# presented a lot of speed humps at once but I think was well worth it. The decision I need to make now is whether to put more energy into pursuing C# for future .NET development or if I might as well stick to VB. Are there any other points of difference between the language (other than direct language feature comparisons already covered) that one should consider in this instance?

Upvotes: 7

Views: 7149

Answers (6)

Will Dougherty
Will Dougherty

Reputation: 1

I know that this is an old post but I'd like to add one other factor: all the new stuff gets done in C# first. This comes from my experiences with early WPF development. All the examples where in C# and we were working in VB.Net. It just took extra time to translate. Another example is lambdas, initially you could use expressions (single line) or statements (multi-line) in C# but only expressions in VB.Net.
When .Net was first rolled out, I think that there were a lot of VB6 folks who didn't really get .Net and that it was a whole different animal. I think that those people were partially responsible for the negative perceptions of VB.Net. But that was 10 years ago now and no longer a factor.

Upvotes: -1

Lance McNearney
Lance McNearney

Reputation: 9480

Specifically for web development, becoming proficient in C# made writing javascript (and doing complex things using jQuery) much easier because the syntax is so similar.

Upvotes: 2

James Lawruk
James Lawruk

Reputation: 31337

  • At the Microsoft 2009 Mix Web developer conference, all the presentations that I attended included code examples in C#, not VB.

  • In StackOverflow, notice how questions tagged c# largely outnumber vb.net and vb.

  • John Skeet wrote C# in Depth, not VB in Depth.

Upvotes: 4

GrayWizardx
GrayWizardx

Reputation: 21111

One thing that has been widely stated when I have participated in hiring (both as a hiring manager, as well as a candidate) is that C# and Java are close enough that converting a candidate from one to the other is fairly easy, and that this is not true for a VB.NET candidate to C#, or Java. This statement has even been extended to C++, saying training a C# or Java developer (to code in C++) is easier than a VB.NET developer.

Though I tend to disagree (I think it is more about how the person sees programming in general) I know that several large, reputable firms will accept candidates for C# or Java jobs that list C++, C# or Java experience. These same firms will in general not look at candidates who only list VB.NET, or list VB.NET as their primary language.

Upvotes: 2

AUSteve
AUSteve

Reputation: 3248

I find that VS does more automatic code completion for VB than C#.

It's very useful to know both languages and I personally have to get better acquainted with C# so that I'm comfortable applying for C# jobs which should triple my options.

Upvotes: 4

MikeW
MikeW

Reputation: 5922

I agree with your points, particularly the first. I would add that it seems there are more C# developers out there than VB.NET. If you are looking to hire another developer, you may get more (quantity or quality) from the C# pool. And employers, perceiving that C# is more popular, will go in that direction, and there will be more demand for C# programmers (hence the higher salaries/rates you noticed)

Upvotes: 1

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