Summary

This appendix has presented a brief introduction to C# through the eyes of a Visual Basic 6.0 programmer. You have seen quite a few differences in syntax. In general, C# syntax allows most statements to be expressed in a more compact way. You have also seen many similarities between the languages; for example in their use of classes (or class modules in VB6), value and reference types, and many of the syntactical structures. However, you have also seen how C# supports many powerful features, particularly those related to inheritance and classic object-oriented programming that are not available in Visual Basic 6.0.

Appendix A of this book contains an introduction to object-oriented programming, which is key to any serious C# development effort.

Making the transfer from Visual Basic 6.0 to C# does require a fair bit of learning, but is well worth it, because the methodology of C# allows you to code not only any application that you could have developed in Visual Basic 6.0, but also a wide range of other applications that would be too difficult, if not impossible, to design in a good, well-structured, and maintainable manner in Visual Basic 6.0. With C# you also get the added bonus of the .NET runtime and all its associated benefits.