<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
(	O
VB	O
)	O
,	O
originally	O
called	B-Operating_System
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
(	O
VB.NET	B-Language
)	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
multi-paradigm	O
,	O
object-oriented	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
implemented	O
on	O
.NET	B-Application
,	O
Mono	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
launched	O
VB.NET	B-Language
in	O
2002	O
as	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
its	O
original	B-Language
Visual	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
language	O
,	O
the	O
last	O
version	O
of	O
which	O
was	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6.0	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
"	O
.NET	B-Application
"	O
portion	O
of	O
the	O
name	O
was	O
dropped	O
in	O
2005	O
,	O
this	O
article	O
uses	O
"	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
 [ .NET ] 	O
 "	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
all	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
languages	O
released	O
since	O
2002	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
distinguish	O
between	O
them	O
and	O
the	B-Language
classic	I-Language
Visual	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Along	O
with	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
F#	B-Operating_System
,	O
it	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
three	O
main	O
languages	O
targeting	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
ecosystem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
's	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
(	O
IDE	B-Application
)	O
for	O
developing	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
is	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
editions	O
are	O
commercial	B-Application
;	O
the	O
only	O
exceptions	O
are	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Express	I-Application
and	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
Community	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
freeware	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
SDK	I-Application
includes	O
a	O
freeware	B-License
command-line	B-Application
compiler	B-Language
called	B-Operating_System
vbc.exe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mono	B-Application
also	O
includes	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
VB.NET	B-Language
compiler	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
is	O
often	O
used	O
in	O
conjunction	O
with	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
GUI	B-Application
library	B-Library
to	O
make	O
desktop	B-Application
apps	I-Application
for	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programming	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
with	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
involves	O
dragging	O
and	O
dropping	O
controls	O
on	O
a	O
form	O
using	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
designer	O
and	O
writing	O
corresponding	O
code	O
for	O
each	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
library	B-Library
is	O
most	O
commonly	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
GUI	B-Application
interfaces	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
visual	O
elements	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
class	B-Application
library	I-Application
derive	O
from	O
the	O
Control	O
class	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Forms	O
are	O
typically	O
designed	O
in	O
the	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
IDE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
,	O
forms	O
are	O
created	O
using	O
drag-and-drop	O
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Controls	O
have	O
attributes	B-General_Concept
and	O
event	O
handlers	O
associated	O
with	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
uses	O
statements	O
to	O
specify	O
actions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
that	O
evaluation	O
,	O
functions	O
or	O
subroutines	O
may	O
be	O
called	B-Operating_System
and	O
variables	O
may	O
be	O
assigned	O
new	O
values	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
modify	O
the	O
normal	O
sequential	O
execution	O
of	O
statements	O
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
provides	O
several	O
control-flow	O
statements	O
identified	O
by	O
reserved	O
keywords	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Structured	B-Language
programming	I-Language
is	O
supported	O
by	O
several	O
constructs	O
including	O
two	O
conditional	O
execution	O
constructs	O
(	O
If	O
...	O
Then	O
...	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
Multiple-line	O
statements	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
are	O
enabled	O
with	O
"	O
_	O
"	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
each	O
such	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Round	O
brackets	O
(	O
parentheses	O
)	O
are	O
used	O
with	O
arrays	B-Data_Structure
,	O
both	O
to	O
declare	O
them	O
and	O
to	O
get	O
a	O
value	O
at	O
a	O
given	O
index	O
in	O
one	O
of	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
uses	O
round	O
brackets	O
to	O
define	O
the	O
parameters	O
of	O
subroutines	O
or	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
is	O
a	O
very	O
simple	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
program	O
,	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
classic	O
"	O
Hello	O
,	O
World	O
!	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
on	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
window	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
line	O
defines	O
a	O
subroutine	O
called	B-Operating_System
"	O
Main	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Console	O
is	O
a	O
system	O
object	O
,	O
representing	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
console	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
granting	O
programmatic	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
's	O
standard	B-Operating_System
streams	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
of	O
Console.WriteLine	O
,	O
one	O
could	O
use	O
MsgBox	O
,	O
which	O
prints	O
the	O
message	O
in	O
a	O
dialog	O
box	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
command-line	B-Application
window	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whether	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
should	O
be	O
considered	O
as	O
just	O
another	O
version	O
of	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
or	O
a	O
completely	O
different	O
language	O
is	O
a	O
topic	O
of	O
debate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
new	O
additions	O
to	O
support	O
new	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
structured	B-General_Concept
exception	I-General_Concept
handling	I-General_Concept
and	O
short-circuited	O
expressions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
two	O
important	O
data-type	O
changes	O
occurred	O
with	O
the	O
move	O
to	O
VB.NET	B-Language
:	O
compared	O
to	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
,	O
the	O
Integer	O
data	O
type	O
has	O
been	O
doubled	O
in	O
length	O
from	O
16	O
bits	O
to	O
32	O
bits	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Long	O
data	O
type	O
has	O
been	O
doubled	O
in	O
length	O
from	O
32	O
bits	O
to	O
64	O
bits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
true	O
for	O
all	O
versions	O
of	O
VB.NET	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
16-bit	O
integer	O
in	O
all	O
versions	O
of	O
VB.NET	B-Language
is	O
now	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
Short	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
editor	O
is	O
very	O
similar	O
in	O
style	O
and	O
function	O
to	O
the	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
form	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
things	O
that	O
have	O
changed	O
significantly	O
are	O
the	O
semantics	O
—	O
from	O
those	O
of	O
an	O
object-based	O
programming	O
language	O
running	O
on	O
a	O
deterministic	O
,	O
reference-counted	B-General_Concept
engine	O
based	O
on	O
COM	B-Application
to	O
a	O
fully	O
object-oriented	B-Language
language	I-Language
backed	O
by	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
,	O
which	O
consists	O
of	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
the	O
Common	O
Language	O
Runtime	O
(	O
a	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
using	O
generational	O
garbage	O
collection	O
and	O
a	O
just-in-time	O
compilation	B-Language
engine	O
)	O
and	O
a	O
far	O
larger	O
class	B-Application
library	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
increased	O
breadth	O
of	O
the	O
latter	O
is	O
also	O
a	O
problem	O
that	O
VB	O
developers	O
have	O
to	O
deal	O
with	O
when	O
coming	O
to	O
the	O
language	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
is	O
somewhat	O
addressed	O
by	O
the	O
My	O
feature	O
in	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
functions	O
and	O
libraries	O
no	O
longer	O
exist	O
;	O
others	O
are	O
available	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
as	O
efficient	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
native	O
"	O
.NET	B-Application
alternatives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
if	O
they	O
compile	B-Language
,	O
most	O
converted	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
applications	O
will	O
require	O
some	O
level	O
of	O
refactoring	O
to	O
take	O
full	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
simple	O
examples	O
compare	O
VB	O
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
(	O
MsgBox	O
or	O
MessageBox	O
class	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
)	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
and	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
automatically	O
generate	O
the	O
Sub	O
and	O
End	O
Sub	O
statements	O
when	O
the	O
corresponding	O
button	O
is	O
double-clicked	O
in	O
design	O
view	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
will	O
also	O
generate	O
the	O
necessary	O
Class	O
and	O
End	O
Class	O
statements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
procedure	O
calls	O
must	O
be	O
made	O
with	O
parentheses	O
in	O
VB.NET	B-Language
,	O
whereas	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
there	O
were	O
different	O
conventions	O
for	O
functions	O
(	O
parentheses	O
required	O
)	O
and	O
subs	O
(	O
no	O
parentheses	O
allowed	O
,	O
unless	O
called	B-Operating_System
using	O
the	O
keyword	O
Call	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
these	O
are	O
default	O
names	O
for	O
a	O
command	O
button	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
VB.NET	B-Language
,	O
the	O
Handles	O
keyword	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
sub	O
Button1_Click	O
a	O
handler	O
for	O
the	O
Click	O
event	O
of	O
the	O
object	O
Button1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
,	O
event	O
handler	O
subs	O
must	O
have	O
a	O
specific	O
name	O
consisting	O
of	O
the	O
object	O
's	O
name	O
(	O
"	O
Command1	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
an	O
underscore	O
("_"	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
event	O
's	O
name	O
(	O
"	O
Click	O
"	O
,	O
hence	O
"	O
Command1_Click	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
function	O
called	B-Operating_System
MessageBox.Show	O
in	O
the	O
Microsoft.VisualBasic	O
namespace	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
(	O
instead	O
of	O
MsgBox	O
)	O
similarly	O
to	O
the	O
corresponding	O
function	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
programmers	O
prefer	O
to	O
do	O
things	O
"	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
way	O
"	O
,	O
since	O
the	O
Framework	O
classes	O
have	O
more	O
features	O
and	O
are	O
less	O
language-specific	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Others	O
argue	O
that	O
using	O
language-specific	O
features	O
makes	O
code	O
more	O
readable	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
using	O
int	O
(	O
C#	B-Application
)	O
or	O
Integer	O
(	O
VB.NET	B-Language
)	O
instead	O
of	O
System.Int32	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2008	O
,	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
ByVal	O
sender	O
as	O
Object	O
,	O
ByVal	O
e	O
as	O
EventArgs	O
has	O
become	O
optional	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
example	O
demonstrates	O
a	O
difference	O
between	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
and	O
VB.NET	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
did	O
not	O
provide	O
common	O
operator	O
shortcuts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
VB.NET	B-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
C#	B-Application
and	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
are	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
first	O
languages	O
made	O
to	O
program	O
on	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
(	O
later	O
adding	O
F#	B-Operating_System
and	O
more	O
;	O
others	O
have	O
also	O
added	O
languages	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
are	O
syntactically	O
different	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
where	O
the	O
differences	O
mostly	O
end	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
developed	O
both	O
of	O
these	O
languages	O
to	O
be	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
development	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
compile	B-Language
to	O
the	O
same	O
intermediate	O
language	O
(	O
IL	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
runs	O
against	O
the	O
same	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
runtime	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
there	O
are	O
some	O
differences	O
in	O
the	O
programming	O
constructs	O
,	O
their	O
differences	O
are	O
primarily	O
syntactic	O
and	O
,	O
assuming	O
one	O
avoids	O
the	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
"	O
Compatibility	O
"	O
libraries	O
provided	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
aid	O
conversion	O
from	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
6	I-Language
,	O
almost	O
every	O
feature	O
in	O
VB	O
has	O
an	O
equivalent	O
feature	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lastly	O
,	O
both	O
languages	O
reference	O
the	O
same	O
Base	O
Classes	O
of	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
to	O
extend	O
their	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Requires	O
a	O
button	O
called	B-Operating_System
Button1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Requires	O
a	O
TextBox	O
titled	O
'	O
TextBox1	O
 '	O
and	O
a	O
button	O
called	B-Operating_System
Button1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Succeeding	O
the	B-Language
classic	I-Language
Visual	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
version	O
6.0	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
debuted	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
,	O
ten	O
versions	O
of	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
are	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
,	O
relies	O
on	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
1.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
important	O
feature	O
is	O
managed	O
code	O
,	O
which	O
contrasts	O
with	O
the	B-Language
classic	I-Language
Visual	I-Language
Basic	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
2003	I-Language
was	O
released	O
with	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
1.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
features	O
included	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
.NET	B-Operating_System
Compact	I-Operating_System
Framework	I-Operating_System
and	O
a	O
better	O
VB	O
upgrade	O
wizard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Improvements	O
were	O
also	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
performance	O
and	O
reliability	O
of	O
.NET	B-Application
IDE	B-Application
(	O
particularly	O
the	O
)	O
and	O
runtime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
2003	I-Language
was	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio.NET	I-Application
Academic	O
Edition	O
,	O
distributed	O
to	O
a	O
certain	O
number	O
of	O
scholars	O
from	O
each	O
country	O
without	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
2003	I-Language
,	O
Microsoft	O
dropped	O
"	O
.NET	B-Application
"	O
from	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
,	O
calling	O
the	O
next	O
version	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2005	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
release	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
added	O
many	O
features	O
intended	O
to	O
reinforce	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
.NET	I-Language
'	O
s	O
focus	O
as	O
a	O
rapid	O
application	O
development	O
platform	O
and	O
further	O
differentiate	O
it	O
from	O
C#	B-Application
.	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
pseudo-namespace	O
called	B-Operating_System
"	O
My	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
provides	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
bridge	O
the	O
gaps	O
between	O
itself	O
and	O
other	O
.NET	B-Application
languages	O
,	O
this	O
version	O
added	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2005	I-Language
introduced	O
the	O
IsNot	O
operator	O
that	O
makes	O
'	O
If	O
X	O
IsNot	O
Y	O
 '	O
equivalent	O
to	O
'	O
If	O
Not	O
X	O
Is	O
Y	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	O
Basic	O
9.0	O
was	O
released	O
along	O
with	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
3.5	O
on	O
November	O
19	O
,	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2010	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
had	O
planned	O
to	O
use	O
Dynamic	B-Application
Language	I-Application
Runtime	I-Application
(	O
DLR	O
)	O
for	O
that	O
release	O
but	O
shifted	O
to	O
a	O
co-evolution	O
strategy	O
between	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
and	O
sister	O
language	O
C#	B-Application
to	O
bring	O
both	O
languages	O
into	O
closer	O
parity	O
with	O
one	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
's	O
innate	O
ability	O
to	O
interact	O
dynamically	O
with	O
CLR	O
and	O
COM	B-Application
objects	I-Application
has	O
been	O
enhanced	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
dynamic	O
languages	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
DLR	O
such	O
as	O
IronPython	B-Application
and	O
IronRuby	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
compiler	B-Language
was	O
improved	O
to	O
infer	O
line	O
continuation	O
in	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
common	O
contexts	O
,	O
in	O
many	O
cases	O
removing	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
the	O
"	O
_	O
"	O
line	O
continuation	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
existing	O
support	O
of	O
inline	O
Functions	O
was	O
complemented	O
with	O
support	O
for	O
inline	O
Subs	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
multi-line	O
versions	O
of	O
both	O
Sub	O
and	O
Function	O
lambdas	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2012	O
was	O
released	O
alongside	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
4.5	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2013	O
was	O
released	O
alongside	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
4.5.1	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Can	O
also	O
build	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
4.5.2	O
applications	O
by	O
installing	O
Developer	O
Pack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2015	O
(	O
code	O
named	O
VB	O
"	O
14.0	O
"	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2017	O
(	O
code	O
named	O
VB	O
"	O
15.0	O
"	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Extends	O
support	O
for	O
new	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
15	O
language	O
features	O
with	O
revision	O
2017	O
,	O
15.3	O
,	O
15.5	O
,	O
15.8	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2019	O
(	O
code	O
named	O
VB	O
"	O
16.0	O
"	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
focused	O
on	O
.NET	B-Application
Core	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
official	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
compiler	B-Language
is	O
written	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
and	O
is	O
available	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
Compiler	I-Application
Platform	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
creation	O
of	O
open-source	B-Application
tools	O
for	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
development	O
has	O
been	O
slow	O
compared	O
to	O
C#	B-Application
,	O
although	O
the	O
Mono	B-Application
development	I-Application
platform	I-Application
provides	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
Visual	O
Basic-specific	O
libraries	O
and	O
a	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
2005	I-Language
compatible	O
compiler	B-Language
written	O
in	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
standard	O
framework	O
libraries	O
such	O
as	O
Windows	B-Application
Forms	I-Application
GUI	B-Application
library	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
MonoDevelop	B-Language
is	O
an	O
open-source	B-Application
alternative	O
IDE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Gambas	B-Language
environment	O
is	O
also	O
similar	O
but	O
distinct	O
from	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
,	O
as	O
is	O
the	O
Visual	O
FB	O
Editor	O
for	O
FreeBasic	B-Language
.	O
</s>
