Visual Basic was the best programming language of all time
Of all time!
Let’s take a look at how you go about making a Visual Basic program:
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Download Visual Studio
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Draw the interface you want
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Optionally, tie the interface together with small bits of code
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There is no 4
The language was simple to understand, the most common features were baked right into the IDE, there was help to teach you to do anything, and everyone in your company knew VB.
Sure, VB had some terrible programs and terrible programmers. You know why that is? Because everyone could use it! English has terrible speakers as well. That’s the point. Everyone can speak it, not all of them are good, but at least they’re communicating.
Let’s see what it would take in C++. First we download a C++ compiler (unless we’re on *nix, of course). Then we spend years learning C++. Then we try to figure out what GUI framework to use, then we have to learn that GUI framework, then we have to design an interface with code, rather that just drawing it on the screen. Same thing with Python, except Tkinter comes installed. You’re still designing a shitty UI like you did in VB, but you have to do it all in code. Same thing with Java with Swing.
What about Javascript, the end-all, be-all of programming languages these days? Oh now you’re telling me I need a server? I can’t run my code from my local machine because my browser won’t interpret locally-run Javascript, for security reasons. Have fun trying to figure out where your WWW root is, or your httpd.conf file, or your .htaccess file. Oh and now I still don’t have a UI because I need to learn two other languages before I can get there.
Oh but Visual Basic isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? C#. It’s like Java but better! And it’s modern! And it has functions and lambdas and all sorts of other programmer buzzwords! It’s by Microsoft but it’s cool!
Except C# is the same thing as VB, except harder.
We’ve taken a step back since Visual Basic, there’s no denying that. Hell, we’ve taken a step back since Dreamweaver. Programming is hard. It doesn’t have to be. It’s hard because people who have already learned to program have no incentive to make it easier, and people who are learning don’t have the skills to make it easier. But let’s keep shitting on Dreamweaver and Visual Basic because we’ve already learned how to code. When you look out the window of your ivory tower, pay no attention to the poor people still trying to climb up the side.