Ever since a little-nipper, I've been curious in the code that went behind computer applications. I would interrupt the BASIC programs on my ol' Amstrad CPC 464, customising popular games to meet my cheat-requirements.
From those ancient times, I progressed to QBasic, Office Development - and gradually onto the concern of this article, Microsoft's powerful RAD tool, Visual Basic. Here, I'm taking a professional peek at its latest incarnation, version 6.
Visual Basic or Studio? A quick word before I start blabbling. Although Visual Basic 6.0 alone costs $469.95 (sheesh... I *hate* spending that much money!), Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 contains Visual Basic 6.0, C++ 6.0, FoxPro 6.0, InterDev 6.0 and Visual J++ 6.0 - for just a couple of hundred pounds extra. For the professional developer, this option is certainly advisable. But that's enough of that. On with the review…
