[Year 12 SofDev] VB6.0 in the approved languages list

Sat Aug 7 17:12:16 EST 2010

Hello all 

interesting debate this about what and how much to teach of: VB6 v VB.NET v OO in general. 

Some bits and pieces I have come across in the last couple of weeks:

VB appears to be losing favour http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html

and the graph the provided seems to suggest a real trend (click VisualBasic or http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/paperinfo/tpci/%28Visual%29_Basic.html)

and the reason maybe that MS made too big a change in going from VB6 to VB.NET
see 'criticism' at http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/paperinfo/tpci/%28Visual%29_Basic.html

And the other point that interests me is the continued very high position of C (a non-OO) which may be partly explained by legacy issues, but may also be explained by OO apparently not meeting with favour by the whole programming world:
see 'criticism' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming
and the links make intersting reading.

Regards
Robert T-A
Brighton SC

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Janson, Adrian A 
  To: sofdev at edulists.com.au 
  Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2010 12:08 AM
  Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] VB6.0 in the approved languages list

  Hi everyone,

  OK.  So serves me right for not turning my email on today!

  I think I should clarify my stance (which is of course mine and not VCAAs)!

  The programming language panel had a discussion about whether VB6.0 would be allowed or not.  For my part - I argued that it was probably time to 'retire' VB6.0 as it is getting fairly old now.  I use VB.Net and always the most current version - but don't teach all of the OOP concepts (although I do demo some of them so that my students can see what OO is).  In reality, the study design just assesses 3GL concepts - but this is not the issue.  In part the languages in the approved list are there to ensure currency.  Now I for one am a believer that it ultimately doesn't matter what language we use as by the time our students a graduating an IT course - there will be something else out there.... a new version or a new language?  What we give our students is an understanding of logic and syntax and they can apply this to languages beyond the one they use in SD.

  So when languages are being considered for the approved languages list - the first question is always - does the language allow all aspects of the course to be taught and assessed?  Some languages do not pass this test.  The ones that are left are then considered - and I think it is wise that the list is not too large.  Consideration is given to current popularity and use.  I do feel that we should at least be making an attempt to teach languages that are currently being used and this is where VB6.0 is/was on the cusp.  Can you teach all aspects of the course with VB6.0?  The answer is definitely yes - but I think that there are OO things in VB6.0 that are not the same as the OO things in VB.Net - and VB6.0 is not a true OO language.  I think that if we were discussing the inclusion of Cobol in the approved languages list, then it would be a non-argument and everyone would agree that it is too old a language to include.  

  I also feel that we should be making every effort to make the course as attractive to students as possible and potential SD students will probably not be excited about VB6.0.  Students have a pretty good idea about what is being in industry and have an expectation that they should be using current tools.  There are also definite advantages in using the most current version of a language as there is more support for it on the www and the Express Edition can be downloaded and used for free.  There are great resources out there to support all of the languages in the list so the transition should not be too difficult.  I for one am very willing to assist anyone who needs help going from VB6.0 to VB.Net. 

  Cheers,

  Adrian

  Adrian Janson B.Sc, Dip.Ed, M.Ed
  Director of ICT
  Melbourne High School, Forrest Hill, South Yarra, Victoria 3141 Australia.
  Phone: 03 9826 0711 International: +61 3 9826 0711
  Fax: 03 9826 8767 International: +61 3 9826 8767
  E-mail: janson.adrian.a at edumail.vic.gov.au

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