Restoring poor VB syntax?

[JP]

This idea that they have to maintain backward compatibility with funky, outmoded
syntax from VB6 (and prior) may actually keep me away from VB.NET.

I've recently suspected that many VB programmers aren't capable of handling
the kinds of changes that the language needs to keep current. I almost fell
out of my chair when I read that they where adding AndAlso and OrElse statements
to shortcircuit complex logic code. This looks like what it is, a hack for
coders who can't grow with the times.

And this whole furor over whether some magic number or another should be
true (or false) makes the VB'ers demanding one over the other look like imbeciles.
Why not make TRUE = TRUE and FALSE = NOT TRUE????

It will also really help fight the perceptions of VB as as toy language that
declaring an array like Dim myArray(10) As Integer inefficiently gives you
11 items (whether you want them or not). Now good coders will have to use
some hack like this to get what they want: Dim myArray(10 - STUPID_PAD_FACTOR_FOR_LAME_OLD_VB_HACKERS)
as Integer, where STUPID_PAD_FACTOR_FOR_LAME_OLD_VB_HACKERS is a global constant
= 1.

Perhaps we could make all class data members public. Better yet, let's get
rid of classes and while we are at it, put the code all back in the GUI.
And get rid of ADO, that funky old DAO/ODBC stuff sort of worked, didn't
it? ****, why stop there? Why not revive line numbers? Why not keep GOTO
and the old ugly error handling techniques and ...

Maybe I'll go take another look at C#. Or maybe I'll see how bad Sun has
screwed up Java with Java 2...

Signed,

A disgusted VB programmer who will finally move to a "real" programming language
now that he realizes the "majority" of VB coders can't seem to climb out
of their own whelping boxes...

[Jonathan West]

"JP" <jp@noneofyourbusiness.com> wrote in message
news:3ad5b7bc$1@news.devx.com...
>
> This idea that they have to maintain backward compatibility with funky,
outmoded
> syntax from VB6 (and prior) may actually keep me away from VB.NET.

Fine. That's your choice which you can freely make.

>
> I've recently suspected that many VB programmers aren't capable of
handling
> the kinds of changes that the language needs to keep current. I almost
fell
> out of my chair when I read that they where adding AndAlso and OrElse
statements
> to shortcircuit complex logic code. This looks like what it is, a hack
for
> coders who can't grow with the times.

I don't think that Microsoft's choice of new keywords has impressed many
people at all.

>
> And this whole furor over whether some magic number or another should be
> true (or false) makes the VB'ers demanding one over the other look like
imbeciles.
> Why not make TRUE = TRUE and FALSE = NOT TRUE????

You got it the wrong way round. In the "grown-up" languages, False = False,
and True = Not False. It may not sound like much of a distinction, but it is
an important one. Think about it.

>
> It will also really help fight the perceptions of VB as as toy language
that
> declaring an array like Dim myArray(10) As Integer inefficiently gives you
> 11 items (whether you want them or not). Now good coders will have to use
> some hack like this to get what they want: Dim myArray(10 -
STUPID_PAD_FACTOR_FOR_LAME_OLD_VB_HACKERS)
> as Integer, where STUPID_PAD_FACTOR_FOR_LAME_OLD_VB_HACKERS is a global
constant
> = 1.

If you want to declare such a constant, nobody will stop you. I'd be
interested to hear what your colleagues say about it during a code review
though :-)

Could you just explain to me one thing. Why is Dim myArray(10) As Integer
(using the beta 1 semantics) a more efficient way of declaring a 10 element
array than Dim myArray(9) As Integer, as per Ari's announcement? What form
of efficiency improvement is involved here?

>
> Perhaps we could make all class data members public. Better yet, let's
get
> rid of classes and while we are at it, put the code all back in the GUI.
> And get rid of ADO, that funky old DAO/ODBC stuff sort of worked, didn't
> it? ****, why stop there? Why not revive line numbers? Why not keep
GOTO
> and the old ugly error handling techniques and ...

Some of that is still there if you want to use it...


--
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Jonathan West - Word MVP
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