If you're one of the many who have VB6 code, you have three basic options:
stay with VB6, convert to .NET, or rewrite from scratch. In this article, we
will look at converting VB6 code to VB.NET and C#. I'll discuss when it makes
sense to convert versus staying with VB6 or rewriting from scratch. I will
cover what converts well and what does not, different ways to do the
conversion, how to get code ready to convert, and handling issues after the
conversion.
Executive Overview
First, let's get an executive-level overview of where VB6 and VB.NET are at
in their life cycles. Note that when I mention VB.NET in this article, I mean
all three versions (2002, 2003, 2005). When I talk about a specific version,
I will specify the version (such as VB.NET 2002). With the advances in VB.NET
2003, as well as its compatibility with VB.NET 2002, there is little reason
to migrate ... (more)
Time sneaks up on us. Last month’s issue started year six of
“Monkey Business” in .NET Developer’s Journal. Many thanks
to all the readers who made this milestone possible. You can revisit all of
the past “Monkey Business” columns. Last November marked the
beginning of my seventh year with the Mono project.
SharpDevelop 3.0 Hits Beta 1
SharpDevelop has released the first beta of version 3.0. It now supports the
same multiple frameworks as VisualStudio 2008 (2.0, 3.0, and 3.5), so work on
improving version 2.2. has stopped. My favorite new feature... (more)
Graphics and GUI (System.Drawing, System.Windows.Forms [SWF]) continue to be
a couple of the most worked-on areas in both Mono and Portable.NET. Other
areas under heavy development include cryptography, Web services, coverage
and build tools for Mono, dependency charts for Portable.NET, and lots of bug
fixes for both.
Mono and Portable.NET Do GUI Differently
In a project the size of .NET, choices often need to be made between options
of nearly equal technical merit. Having more than one project (Portable.NET
and Mono) can allow more than one choice to be made. The GUI code
(Syst... (more)
It was a busy month for everybody. DotGNU starts a new project, Mono gets
more code from Mainsoft, and Microsoft releases Wix, an installer program,
under open source license. Mono sets dates for two betas and a release of
version 1.0
Mono Sets Dates for Version 1.0
Mono has set May 4 for Mono 1.0 beta 1, June 1 for beta 2, and June 30 for
the release of version 1.0. Keep in mind that like all software schedules,
this one is likely to slip a bit. But, I am going to an Independence Day
party on July 2, and hope to have copies of "Independence from Microsoft" day
Mono CDs to hand ... (more)
August was Mono's biggest news month ever: the Mono Project's sponsor,
Ximian, was bought by Novell, a draft road map to the version 1.0 release was
drawn, and Mono version 0.26 was released. In other news of open source,
DotGNU plans to release version 0.1 of Portable.NET at the end of September.
Novel Buys Ximian
When I heard the news, I sent Miguel a congratulatory e-mail; he replied that
it was fantastic news. Indeed, it does look like a fantastic merger. Novell
historically has not been a player in open source, but in the past year or so
has committed to open source. By porti... (more)
Dennis Hayes is a programmer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta Georgia where he writes software for the Adult Cognition Lab in the Psychology Department. He has been involved with the Mono project for over six years, and has been writing the Monkey Business column for over five years.
David Lucas
Cathy Lopez
Shaul Efraim
Terence Martin Breslin
Cory Marchand
David Hughes
James Carlini
John Iffert
Dan Stolts
Joe Zeto
