VB.NET Development and Migration

VB.NET (Visual Basic .NET) is a .NET language with readable syntax and strong typing. While new VB.NET development has declined with Microsoft ending VB.NET evolution, substantial VB.NET codebases remain in production, requiring maintenance, modernization, and migration strategies.

VB.NET in Modern Context

Legacy Codebases represent the primary VB.NET scenario today. Organizations maintain business-critical VB.NET applications that require ongoing support, bug fixes, and incremental improvements while considering long-term migration strategies.

Migration to C# represents a common path forward for VB.NET applications, though migration carries risks and costs that must be balanced against business value and technical debt reduction.

Modernization Strategies include upgrading to modern .NET versions, refactoring toward cleaner architecture, improving test coverage, and incrementally migrating critical components to C# while maintaining VB.NET for stable, less critical code.

Practical VB.NET Work

Articles in this section explore VB.NET maintenance patterns, migration strategies, interoperability with C# code, and modernizing legacy VB.NET applications. Topics include upgrade paths, tooling for VB.NET development, and decision frameworks for migration versus maintenance.

The focus is pragmatic approaches to VB.NET code: maintaining quality in existing applications while planning sustainable paths forward that align with business priorities and technical capabilities.

Still Waiting for the Final Piece: When C# 14 Comes Close, But Not Quite There

Still Waiting for the Final Piece: When C# 14 Comes Close, But Not Quite There

C# 14 introduces the new ‘Extension Everything’ syntax—an elegant step toward more expressive code, yet one that still can’t quite match VB.NET’s classic ByRef magic. A humorous reflection on what’s almost, but not fully, possible in .NET 10.