Vb.net out of touch??

bigbadcon

Hi folks,

Just looking for your opinion on something.

I have been developing in VB.net (Winforms) since I left college 7 years ago.

I've noticed that 90% of the emails Im getting from recruiters are looking for C# / Asp.net developers.

Im worried that I will be left behind developing in VB.net if C# is what seems to be the most popular.

What do you think?

Thanks for replies in advance

Malice

Well if you want to move into web application development then knowing your way around the .NET Framework, which I assume you do, is always going to help. There isn't too much difference between C# and VB.NET syntax:

[PHP]private static void ReadOrderData(string connectionString)
{
string queryString =
"SELECT OrderID, CustomerID FROM dbo.Orders;";

using (SqlConnection connection =
new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
SqlCommand command =
new SqlCommand(queryString, connection);
connection.Open();

SqlDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader();

// Call Read before accessing data.
while (reader.Read())
{
Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0}, {1}",
reader[0], reader[1]));
}

// Call Close when done reading.
reader.Close();
}
}[/PHP]

[PHP]Private Sub ReadOrderData(ByVal connectionString As String)
Dim queryString As String = _
"SELECT OrderID, CustomerID FROM dbo.Orders;"

Using connection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
Dim command As New SqlCommand(queryString, connection)
connection.Open()

Dim reader As SqlDataReader = command.ExecuteReader()

' Call Read before accessing data.
While reader.Read()
Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0}, {1}", _
reader(0), reader(1)))
End While

' Call Close when done reading.
reader.Close()
End Using
End Sub[/PHP]

However if you do want to move into web application development then getting your head around topics that don't directly apply in Winforms development such as the page life-cycle and the distinction between client-side and server-side code will be more important than your chosen language.

bigbadcon

Thanks Malice,

I have done a bit of asp.net myself outside of work and Its not really a syntax thing Im worried about.

Im more worried about my CV going stale if it is all based around vb.net and that I might be limiting my job opportunities in the future.

I take it C# and asp.net are whats trendy nowadays to use??

Giblet

Write some apps in C#, bang it on the CV.

Anima

http://converter.telerik.com/

Now you can program C# through VB

bigbadcon

Out of interest, would you hire someone for a C# job if they had only vb.net experience?

Im sure I could bluff the syntax for a few days before I got used to it

Giblet

Absolutely would hire someone who only knew VB.Net, it's just syntax for the most part. You'd still have to know .NET fairly well though, and people who do tend to use C#. What kind of stuff have you done in VB.NET?

bigbadcon

Giblet wrote: »

Absolutely would hire someone who only knew VB.Net, it's just syntax for the most part. You'd still have to know .NET fairly well though, and people who do tend to use C#. What kind of stuff have you done in VB.NET?

Winforms (SQL Server back end 2000/2005/2008)
Web services
Multi threaded applications
Windows services
NUnit
ASP.net (not commercially but a couple of my own projects)

other .net tools

CruiseControl
NAnt

John_Mc

You'll have no problem moving from VB.net to C#.

However, the massive difference between Winforms and ASP.net is that the latter covers a whole new area of HTML, CSS, Javascript etc.

I'd focus more on that then anything else because it can take a bit of time to learn enough about the domain to do things professionally/correctly.