The word "Visual" refers to the method used to create the
graphical user interface (GUI). Rather than writing numerous
lines of code to describe the appearance and location of
interface elements, You simply drag and drop build objects into
place on screen. If you've ever used a drawing program such as
paint or Photoshop, then you already have most of the skills
necessary to create an effective user interface.
The word "Basic" refers to the BASIC (Beginners All-Purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code) language, a language preferred and
used by more programmers than any other language in the history
of computing. Visual Basic has evolved from the original BASIC
language and now contains several hundred statements, functions,
and keywords, many of which relates directly to the windows GUI.
Beginners can create useful applications by learning just a few
of the keywords, yet the power of language allows professionals
to accomplished anything that can be accomplished using any
other Windows Programming language.
Visual Basic is not just a language. it's an
Integrated Development Environment in which you can develop,
run, test, and debug your applications. The traditional
application development process can be broken into three
distinct steps: writing, compiling, and testing code. Unlike
traditional languages Visual Basic uses an interactive approach
to development, blurring the distinction between the three
steps. With most languages, if you make mistakes in writing
code, the error is caught by the compiler when you start to
compile your application. Visual Basic interprets your code as
you enter it, catching and highlighting most syntax and spelling
errors on the fly. It's almost like having an experts watching
over your shoulder as you enter your code.
The Visual Basic Programming language is not unique to Visual
Basic. The Visual Basic programming system, Applications Edition
included in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access and many windows
applications used the same language. The Visual Basic
Programming system, Scripting Edition (VBScript) for Internet
Programming is a subset of the visual basic language. With
Visual Basic you can create Standard EXE, ActiveX EXE, ActiveX
DLL, ActiveX Control (OCX), ActiveX Document EXE, ActiveX
Document DLL, Data Project, DHTML Application, and IIS
Application.
