VB is one of those things that let the determined create useful things. Not unlike Microsoft Access.
Instead of actually learning principles and practices, and a 'good' language, they could just hack something together than managed to just barely work, armed with a $99 copy of Visual Basic and a 'Teach Yourself VB in 21 Days' books from SAMS publishing.
And by the time they knew any better, they were up to their ears in shit. Chances are, if you have a big project in VB, you also have the following problems:
* You're not using version control. Or worse, you're running Sourcesafe.
* You're not using secure encryption or communication
* You're not using secure programming practices
* You're not using a modern, secure OS
* You're also using some 16 or 32-bit utility libraries that nobody has the code to
* You're employing developers who have 20 years of "1 year experience with VB"
* No need to write a business case with fake ROI figures. No IT committee meeting. No need to teach a “solutions architect” who doesn’t really care to learn.
* Easier to evolve as requirements change because the front line person is fixing it.
* Proof of concept done already when you need IT involved for version control, security, etc.
Do you have any hard evidence of an actual causation between VB and the symptoms you describe? I think any non-bleeding-edge mid and later hype-cycle technology will have its monsters. I get the feeling VB is past
all that, and what's leftovers can't be sooo disfunctional.
Instead of actually learning principles and practices, and a 'good' language, they could just hack something together than managed to just barely work, armed with a $99 copy of Visual Basic and a 'Teach Yourself VB in 21 Days' books from SAMS publishing.
And by the time they knew any better, they were up to their ears in shit. Chances are, if you have a big project in VB, you also have the following problems:
* You're not using version control. Or worse, you're running Sourcesafe.
* You're not using secure encryption or communication
* You're not using secure programming practices
* You're not using a modern, secure OS
* You're also using some 16 or 32-bit utility libraries that nobody has the code to
* You're employing developers who have 20 years of "1 year experience with VB"