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For those who have never used it, VB6 syntax is actually very similar to Ruby. It uses English language words instead of braces, does not require parentheses, and uses dynamic typing.

VB6 is also quite fast, all things considered, and runs on lots of fairly old hardware.

Don't get me wrong, I'd never choose to use it, but for those who use it day to day it offers overall simplicity and flexibility that few mainstream languages can match.



Visual Basic was actually created as a combination of Ruby and Basic.

Not the famous Ruby language though, it came years later ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic#History


The irony is, todsy's Ruby "rockstar ninjas" are doing exactly the same work that used to be done with VB and Access.


VB has a nice separation between procedures and functions, too. I actually like that they are declared and called differently to highlight where side effects can be expected and where a result is expected.

Of course, you can put side effects anywhere, and in most VB code it seems that a big ball of global variables is the dominant paradigm.


Every time I type 'end' in Ruby I think of VB. Like Python better as a scripting language though. However, Ruby is a bit like VB in that it inspired many to get into programming for the web like VB did for desktop/office apps. http://tssblog.blogs.techtarget.com/2007/10/30/is-ruby-the-n... VB was a stepping stone in the path when desktop ruled and everyone had windows and office before mobile. Now it is EOL.


+1 for the Ruby comment. I'v been telling people this and they don't believe me.




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