VB6: The Beloved Relic of a Bygone Time

Oh VB6 (or Visual Basic 6.0 for those who are younger than 50), the programming language that brings a sense of nostalgia to so many of us who cut our teeth on Windows apps in the 90s and 2000s.

Do you remember the first time you used it? To say it democratized building Windows apps is to undersell its impact - it unleashed millions of developers to build never-before-possible software with its intuitive drag and drop interface, its easy to grasp syntax and holy cow, CUSTOM CONTROLS!

It was revolutionary and I don't say that word lightly. (True confessions: I was a VB product manager from versions 1-6 and beyond). Unfortunately, VB6 is a relic of the past, burdened by its limitations and incompatibility with modern standards.

Note 1: Thunder was the code name for VB1. Back when code names meant something! 
Note 2: Thanks to Tom Button, OG VB guy who provided the Thunder visual.

The Good Old Days: Why VB6 Was Great

VB6 was transformative and offered so many advantages that made it incredibly popular:

• RAD, man: Do you remember Rapid Application Development (RAD)? Yup, VB6's drag and drop interface and rich set of prebuilt controls was totally rad (yes, I'm old and I'm a dork). Developers could very quickly design user interfaces and assemble applications without writing extensive code.
  
  
• Easy to learn: Compared to languages like C++ or Assembler,  VB6's syntax was straightforward - pretty much anyone could write a Windows app - from beginners to hobbyists to business pros.
  
  
• Extensive third party support: The VB6 ecosystem was enormous! The custom control model that enabled third parties to package functionality into a reusable control built up a cottage industry that turned into a major software force. If you had a need in VB, there was almost certainly a third party library or control. The ability to extend functionality and create complex applications with ease was groundbreaking for the developer community.
  
  
• COM integration: VB6 integrated with Component Object Model (COM) which enabled developers to use pre-built components and interact with other Windows applications. 

Remember this Rockstar??

VB6 in 2024: Why It's Now Terrible (and yes, it pains me to say that!)

Despite its longtime significance, VB6 is woefully inadequate for modern software development:

• Lack of modern features: VB6 lacks support for objected oriented programming, generics and other modern language features, making it difficult to write maintainable and scalable code.
  
  
• End of support: Microsoft officially ended mainstream support for VB6 in 2005 (yes, that's a long time ago) and extended support in 2008. This means no further updates, security patches or official technical support are available, significantly increasing the risks associated with VB6 in production environments.
  
  
• Security concerns: Did I mention Microsoft no longer supports VB6? That means security vulnerabilities ARE.NOT.FIXED. Your VB6 apps are exposed to exploits. Full stop.
  
  
• Compatibility issues: VB6 apps are incompatible (meaning they won't run) on newer versions of Windows or even in virtualized environments.
  
  
• Difficulty finding resources: Good luck finding VB6 developers. Good luck finding VB6 consultants. Good luck finding any recent VB6 technical resources.

The Limitations of VB6: A Code Example

Consider a simple task written in C# - sorting a collection of objects.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        List<string> myCollection = new List<string> { "banana", "apple", "cherry", "date" };

        // Sorting directly with built-in capabilities
        myCollection.Sort();

        foreach (var item in myCollection)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(item);
        }
    }
}

Want to do that in VB6? Too bad:

• VB6's Collection object lacks a built in Sort method.
• To achieve sorting, you had to resort to workarounds like using controls or implementing manual sorting algorithms which are cumbersome and inefficient for large datasets.
• The above C# example was easy to write because of its built in sorting feature - making a mundane tasks like sorting very simple.

VB6 really was an amazing technology for its time, but now its limitations, lack of support and incompatibility with modern tech makes it unsuitable to today. This is my long-winded way of saying it's time to migrate.