Thank-you for your question.

For my answer I will split the question

into three parts for you as follows:

1) What is Visual Basic?

2) What are the advantages of Visual Basic?
3) What are the disadvantages of Visual Basic?

I have tried to be as objective as possible whilst compiling the

various advantages and disadvantages, this is difficult especially
when you read some of the glowing praise or stinging reviews on the
web of the language. Personally I am a fan of the language as it is
like an old friend but it is no longer my language of choice.

If you have any questions or queries on this subject please ask for
clarification and I will do my best to help.

1) WHAT IS VISUAL BASIC?

========================

Visual Basic (often abbreviated VB) is a programming language and

development environment that was developed by Microsoft in the late
1980's and into the 1990's. VB was based on the BASIC computer
language that was developed in the 1960's and was expanded upon to
allow the easy programming of windows or wimp applications. VB was
one of the first commercially available products that allowed users to
do this.

(As an aside BASIC stands for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic

Instruction Code and was developed by John Kemeney and Thomas Kurtz in
the mid 1960s. It used English-like commands to allow easier
programming.)

All versions of VB allow the user to not worry about the intricate
details of the actual windows allowing the programmer to concentrate
on actually writing novel or new code that made the software you were
writing different. As you will probably have noticed most software
windows look the same (with minimise, close button etc), VB allows you
to forget about programming these buttons and just used standardised
code.

VB allows the programmer to work in a "visual workshop" where the

programmer can drag and drop different window elements into their
programs before defining their meaning with the aid of a few drop down
boxes.

Visual Basic is an "event driven" language because objects you add to

your program react to different events such as a mouse click or the
window being dragged.

VB was one of the forerunners of the Rapid Application Development

(RAD) software packages that are used frequently in modern workplaces
today. 1991 saw the first release of VB - VB version 1 - but it did
not really catch on until version 2 in 1992. Since then more modern
languages such as C/C++, Pascal, Java and the .net suite of programs
have all borrowed ideas from the the RAD environment developed for VB
(indeed this is a reciprocal arrangement as VB has borrowed ideas back
from them during its development through six versions!).
It wasn't until around 1993 that VB was acknowledged as a professional
programming language and widely used. It was often touted to be the
"fastest-growing language in the world" at the time!

In the modern world, VB has progressed and stalled somewhat at version

6. It has spawned subsets such as VB Script (which allows you to
integrate scripting with HTML to produce dynamic pages) and VBA -
Visual Basic for Applications (which allows you to write macros and
such like in software such as Excel).

I suspect if you ask most programmers of a certain age what

programming language they started with they will probably say Basic,
if pushed to name what they used to produce their first Windows
application they will say Visual Basic. Nearly every programmer has
programmed in VB at some point in their lives!

VB still has many followers but also many detractors and it is now
probably a dying language in its original form. Microsoft now push
the VB.net version of the software which is backwards compatible with
VB6.

The following timeline is taken from the Wikipedia:

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

· Visual Basic 1.0 (May 1991) was released for Windows.

· Visual Basic 1.0 for MS-DOS was released in (September 1992). The
language itself was not quite compatible with Visual Basic for
Windows, as it was actually the next version of Microsoft's DOS-based
BASIC compilers, QuickBASIC and BASIC Professional Development System.
The interface was barely graphical, using extended ASCII characters to
simulate the appearance of a GUI.
· Visual Basic 2.0 was released in November 1992. The programming
environment was easier to use, and its speed was improved.
· Visual Basic 3.0 was released in the summer of 1993) and came in
Standard and Professional versions.
· Visual Basic 4.0 (August 1995) was the first that could create
32-bit as well as 16-bit Windows programs.
· With version 5.0 (February 1997), Microsoft released Visual Basic
exclusively for 32-bit versions of Windows. Programmers who preferred
to write 16-bit programs were pleased to find that Visual Basic 5.0
was able to import programs written in Visual Basic 4.0, and it was
not difficult to convert Visual Basic 5.0 programs to be compatible
with Visual Basic 4.0.
· Visual Basic 6.0 (Summer 1998) improved in a number of areas,
including the ability to create web-based applications. VB6 will enter
Microsoft's "non-supported phase" starting March 2008.
· Visual Basic .NET was launched in 2001 along with the .NET
Framework. Its language features are much richer than previous
versions, although it is more complex, and many older VB programs must
be rewritten to work in VB.NET.
· In 2004 Microsoft released a beta version of Visual Basic 2005
(codename Whidbey).

Other definitions of "Visual Basic" are:

"Visual Basic spawned the first commercially viable reusable component
market. There are thousands of 3rd party components available today
from hundreds of vendors. Visual Basic makes it easy to build, deploy,
use, and reuse components."
http://en.wikipedia.com

"Visual Basic as a language is considered HIGH Level. Almost all

commands are English. MIDDLE level languages like C++, using sometimes
cryptic commands and syntax, allow you to create very powerful and
often faster Windows programs. There is a workaround to this, see
below. LOW level language(s?) basically are Assembly. Some severe
masochist go beyond Assembly to write HEX and BINARY programs."
http://thebestweb.com

"A graphical programming language and development environment created

by Microsoft in 1990."
http://developers.cogentrts.com/cogent/cogentdocs/gl-defs.html

"A Windows programming language often used to develop applications

which run on PCs and LANs / WANs because it offers a good balance of
ease of use, wide range of features and extendability."
http://www.benefit-from-it.com/glossary/glossary.htm

"A visual programming environment from Microsoft, used for developing

Windows applications. Visual BASIC makes it possible to develop
practical programs very quickly. The programmer designs windows
graphically, then drags program elements, represented by icons, from
the Visual BASIC Toolbox, and writes BASIC code for each element.
Visual BASIC is event-driven; procedures are called automatically when
the end user chooses menu items, clicks the mouse, moves objects on
the screen, etc."
http://www.aot.state.vt.us/CaddHelp/cadd/glossary/gloss_v.htm

"A Microsoft® programming language descended from earlier versions of

BASIC. Visual BASIC® is a Windows-specific version of BASIC with many
added "bells and whistles" to allow developers to create GUI Windows?
applications. BASIC and Visual BASIC are good languages for novices
and occasional developers to learn as it is relatively straightforward
to learn and has numerous built-in tools to assist in debugging
applications. Visual BASIC can be used to develop CGI applications for
Web servers although Perl, C/C++, Python, and other such non-GUI
programming languages are frequently better suited for developing CGI
and Web server applications."
http://www.interact2day.com/interact2day/faqs/common_terms.shtml

2) Advantages of Visual Basic

=============================

a) It is not just a language to program in but a whole graphical

development environment. This aids your programming skills allowing
you to concentrate on developing novel ideas instead of going over old
ground.

b) It is quick to develop new programs. A newcomer will have a window

proudly opening and greeting you with "Hello World!" - always the
programmers first program - in less than 5 minutes.

c) OLE programming is simple. This allows you to embed objects such

as Word documents and Excel spreadsheets with a minimum of fuss.
d) It can be used as a front end to SQL (or other databases) allowing
the user to enhance the way they access their data.

e) It is widely used for in-house application program development and

for prototyping.

f) It can also be used to create ActiveX and COM components for use
online or in desktop applications.

g) It is very simple to learn. As the name Basic suggests it uses

easy to understand and remember terminology.

h) Because of its popularity there are many resources available to the

user - websites are numerous and books are plentiful for the
programmer needing help.

i) Strict programming structures can be "turned off" to allow you to

quickly develop a program - this could also be seen as a disadvantage
when a bug arises!

j) Perhaps its strongest advantage is its simplicity. There is hardly

any learning curve for programmers to begin learning the language or
coming from another language.

k) VB is a "component integration language" which utilises Microsoft's

Component Object Model ("COM") that allows parts to be bolted onto
programs easily. These COM programs can be written in any language.

3) Disadvantages of Visual Basic

================================

a) It is not suited to complex modern programming techniques. Because

of its age little is being down to further the VB environment and it
has been largely superceded by VB.net and other languages (even by
Microsoft!).

b) Programs that are written in it tend not to be the quickest, this

is largely due to the additional code that is often included that is
not really necessary for your program to run.

c) VB is an interpreted language which again slows the execution of

your program down.

d) VB programs require large libraries to be present on your PC to

enable them to work. If you do not have them the programmer either
has to supply them or you have to download them.

e) Because of its over-simplified approach VB can produce programmers

that are sloppy in their work leading to workarounds having to be
employed.

f) Because of its age VB does not allow many modern techniques such as
Object Orientated Programming.

g) As you can control the checking and warning systems in VB it often

enables the programmer to write code that is very difficult to
troubleshoot when a bug arises.

h) VB consists of features and syntax borrowed from other languages

(often ones that are now no longer used). Watch a programmers face
when you talk to them about "GoSub" and "On Error" commands!

i) OOP - Object Orientated Programming - is missing from VB, this is

one of the most common techniques in all new languages allowing code
to be easily reused (although this is available in VB.net)

j) There is no threading support (although this is also available in

VB.net).

k) The programs a programmer produces in VB are not portable and

cannot be used on non-Windows systems.

l) Mathematical performance is poor which slows down the speed of your

program.

m) Service Packs! Everyone knows about Microsoft's love of service

packs to fix the many bugs that have accumulated over time.