Visual Basic has the following major advantages over BASIC (cont.):
An event-driven programming model:
In the old BASIC you had to write code to watch for the occurrence of user events (pressing a key, using the mouse, ...).
VB performs that function for you, and in fact, the only time code will execute in VB is in response to such an event!
Objects:
Objects provide a way to link together both code and data into a “package” in such a way as to make handling and saving the code/data more intuitively.
VB forms are objects, menus are objects, and the so are the intrinsic VB controls.
Built-in code:
VB has also provided a wide variety of built-in code that programmers once had to handle themselves.
Of most significance is the built-in database handling features of VB.
It is generally accepted that over half of all VB applications are written to handle databases!
Built-in Internet access:
A second area in which VB has begun to provide built-in support is that of Internet access with which you can create very useful applications.
Creating Your First Visual Basic Program (Video: 17:32 Minutes)
This video shows you how to create a VB project—your own Web browser, put the user interface together, add a line of VB code that gets the Web pages, and then test your program.