Just kidding. It’s still the redheaded step child.
But seriously, every time I roll up my sleeves and dive into a new Microsoft technology, a part of me holds back from getting too excited. I’m struck by the amount of code I’ve written for software and web applications that used technologies that were effectively killed by their own creator. Visual Basic Scripting edition (VBS), Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), Classic ASP, and Windows Scripting Host (WSH) made it possible to use a variation of the same programing language to program a web application, add macros in Microsoft Office applications, automate windows system administration tasks and a lot more. Add Visual Basic and the .NET Framework to your skill set and you’re well on your way to full stack development for windows desktop and mobile device, as well.
All of these technologies are still supported and in use by Microsoft and will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future. VBS and VBA are built into the Windows framework and Visual Studio lives on in .NET Core.
Still, Microsoft must have realized that delivering another punch to the gut of it’s developers by failing to support Visual Basic in it’s initial implementation of .NET Core, damaged it’s reputation, not only with Visual Basic developers, but also with C# developers who wonder why F# was created and where Microsoft intends to go with it. What’s more, Visual Studio’s Python integration is looking more and more native and even eclipsed C# as a more desirable programing skill for the first time this year, according to Stack Overflow’s 2018 Developer Survey. It puts me in mind of ColdFusion and that’s not necessarily a place I’d like to be.
Still, from a data development standpoint, Microsoft is where it’s at and I don’t see that changing any time soon, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be developing on the .NET framework and .NET Core for many years to come.
