VB.NET has only superficial similarity with VB6. If you move from VB6 to VB.NET you have to rewrite the whole thing so you may as well go to C#.
that's the problem with the .NET front-end tools in general. They have no transition path to their previous version. VB6 to VB.NET is hard. WinForms to WPF is hard. WPF to UWP is a little better but still hard. Yes, they all still run but moving your project to the new shiny tech is very hard.
> you move from VB6 to VB.NET you have to rewrite the whole thing so you may as well go to C#.
Since C# and VB.NET are essentially equivalent in capability, if you are a programmer with no .NET experience and a background in VB6 but not C/C++/Java, looking to rewrite an existing VB6 codebase for .NET, why would you go to hassle of additional unfamiliar syntax to go to C#?
> that's the problem with the .NET front-end tools in general. They have no transition path to their previous version. VB6 to VB.NET is hard.
VB6 to VB.NET is not a successive version of a .NET tool, front-end or otherwise.
"if you are a programmer with no .NET experience and a background in VB6 but not C/C++/Java, looking to rewrite an existing VB6 codebase for .NET, why would you go to hassle of additional unfamiliar syntax to go to C#?"
That sounds obvious. Yet, the group I was in using VB6 thought VB.NET and what people were doing with it looked like it was going to be a bigger learning experience that wasn't just VB6 on a new VM. More like we would be learning a new language, libraries, and so on. So, some of us learned a new language, libraries, and so on with some extra benefits over another BASIC.
C, C++, Java, and C# are where everyone went among those I knew. Some of us kept using stuff with VB6, clones, and/or homebrew 4GL's that were BASIC-like. Most folks just put all that time and effort they perceived as necessary into a language that was a step up. Especially, career-wise.
"VB6 to VB.NET is not a successive version of a .NET tool, front-end or otherwise."
Correct. But VB6 was the main tool for quick UI development before Winforms took that place. Things that would have been written with VB6 would be written in Winforms once it came out.
that's the problem with the .NET front-end tools in general. They have no transition path to their previous version. VB6 to VB.NET is hard. WinForms to WPF is hard. WPF to UWP is a little better but still hard. Yes, they all still run but moving your project to the new shiny tech is very hard.