by Dana Stewart

Created on: January 07, 2005   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Microsoft used to have a version of Visual Basic 5.0 that is limited in functionality in that it cannot compile stand-alone software (*.exe) programs. It is for creating Custom Controls, or OCX files. This version (5.0 CCE) was available for free download from Microsoft's web site. I don't know if they still offer it or not, but I'm sure you can find it somewhere on the web for free. My advice is to get it and start trying stuff with it. You can write a complete software package with it and although you cannot compile it into a stand-alone program, you can still "run" it from within VB and see it work. I have always learned best by "hands-on" trial and error (or err, as VB would have it) and not so much from classes and books. The main thing to know about VB is that it is event-driven. There are no line numbers as with earlier BASIC versions. Code is written for each "event" that may occur (such as a button click) and placed in the appropriate module (or procedure, function, or whatever), such as Command1_Click() (for a button click), etc. Microsoft doesn't offer support for traditional Visual Basic anymore, (They're on the .NET thing right now) but Visual Basic is still a worthwhile hobby.

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