C++ vs Visual Basic

Overview

Visual Basic

Stacks569

Followers514

Votes8

C++

Stacks18.2K

Followers9.4K

Votes866

C++ vs Visual Basic: What are the differences?

Key Differences between C++ and Visual Basic

C++ and Visual Basic are two popular programming languages used for different purposes. While C++ is primarily used for system-level programming and performance-critical applications, Visual Basic is mostly used for building Windows-based applications with a graphical user interface. Let's explore the key differences between these two languages.

Syntax and Structure: C++ uses a more complex syntax compared to Visual Basic. It requires explicit declarations of variables, more precise memory management, and the use of pointers. On the other hand, Visual Basic uses a simpler syntax with automatic memory management and provides a more intuitive way of declaring variables.
Platform Dependency: C++ code is platform-dependent, which means the code written for one platform may not run on another platform without modifications. Visual Basic, on the other hand, is platform-independent as it runs on the .NET framework, allowing the code to be executed on multiple platforms with minimal changes.
Performance: C++ is known for its high performance and ability to directly manipulate hardware resources. It allows fine-grained control over memory management and efficient code optimization techniques. Visual Basic, being a higher-level language, is generally slower than C++ as it relies on the .NET framework for execution.
Ease of Use and Learning Curve: Visual Basic is often considered easier to learn and use compared to C++. Its syntax is more English-like and provides a visual development environment that simplifies the creation of graphical user interfaces. C++, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve due to its complex syntax and low-level features.
Application Types: C++ is commonly used for building system-level software like operating systems, device drivers, and embedded systems, where performance and hardware interaction are crucial. Visual Basic is mostly used for developing Windows applications with a graphical user interface, making it suitable for rapid application development.
Library and Framework Support: C++ has a vast collection of libraries and frameworks available, providing developers with a wide range of functionalities and tools. Visual Basic, being a part of the .NET framework, has access to a rich set of libraries and development tools streamlined for Windows-based development.

In summary, C++ and Visual Basic differ in terms of syntax complexity, platform dependency, performance, ease of use, application types, and library/framework support. Understanding these differences is essential for developers to choose the right language for their specific requirements.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on Visual Basic, C++

Alexandre

Founder & Developper at Finance D

Jul 1, 2021

Decided

I had a goal to create the simplest accounting software for Mac and Windows to help small businesses in Canada.

This led me to a long 2 years of exploration of the best language that could provide these features:

Great overall productivity
International wide-spread usage for long-term sustainability and easy to find documentation
Versatility for creating websites and desktop softwares
Enjoyable developper experience
Ability to create good looking modern UIs
Job openings with this language

I tried Python, Java, C# and C++ without finding what I was looking for.

When I discovered Javascript, I really knew it was the right language to use. Thinking of this today makes me realize even more how great a decision this has been to learn, use and master Javascript. It has been a fun, challenging and productive road on which I am still satisfied.

Obviously, when I refer to Javascript, it is not without implying the vast ecosystem around it. For me, JS is a whole universe in which almost every imaginable tools exist. It's awesome - for real. Thanks to all the contributors which have made it possible.

To be even clearer about how intense I am with Javascript, let's just say that my first passion was music. Until, I find coding with Javascript! Yep, I know!

So in conclusion, I chose Javascript because it is versatile, enjoyable, widely used, productive for both desktop softwares and websites with ability to create modern great looking user interfaces (assuming HTML and CSS are involved) and finally there are job openings.

399k views399k

Comments

Rachel

Nov 24, 2020

Needs adviceon

JavaScript

Python

C++

Hi, I'm just starting to learn code, and I stumbled upon this website. I think I should learn JavaScript, Python, and C++ to begin with. I'm a quick learner so I am only worried about what would be more useful. Suppose my goal is to build an online clothing store or something. Then what languages would be best? I need advice. Please help me out. I'm 13 and just beginning and it's hard to understand when people use technical terms so please keep it simple. Thanks a lot.

292k views292k

Comments

Xiang

Feb 23, 2021

Decided

Python has become the most popular language for machine learning right now since almost all machine learning tools provide service for this language, and it is really to use since it has many build-in objects like Hashtable. In C, you need to implement everything by yourself.

C++ is one of the most popular programming languages in graphics. It has many fancy libraries like eigen to help us process matrix. I have many previous projects about graphics based on C++ and this time, we also need to deal with graphics since we need to analyze movements of the human body. C++ has much more advantages than Java. C++ uses only compiler, whereas Java uses compiler and interpreter in both. C++ supports both operator overloading and method overloading whereas Java only supports method overloading. C++ supports manual object management with the help of new and delete keywords whereas Java has built-in automatic garbage collection.

381k views381k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Visual Basic	C++
Visual Basic is derived from BASIC and enables the rapid application development (RAD) of graphical user interface (GUI) applications, access to databases using Data Access Objects, Remote Data Objects, or ActiveX Data Objects, and creation of ActiveX controls and objects.	C++ compiles directly to a machine's native code, allowing it to be one of the fastest languages in the world, if optimized.
Statistics
Stacks 569	Stacks 18.2K
Followers 514	Followers 9.4K
Votes 8	Votes 866
Pros & Cons
Pros 5 ALGOL-like syntax makes code more readable 3 XML Literals Cons 4 Specific to the microsoft platform	Pros 205 Performance 108 Control over memory allocation 99 Cross-platform 98 Fast 85 Object oriented Cons 8 Slow compilation 8 Unsafe 6 Fragile ABI 6 Over-complicated 5 No standard/mainstream dependency management
Integrations
.NET	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Visual Basic, C++?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

C++ vs Visual Basic: What are the differences?

Key Differences between C++ and Visual Basic

Syntax and Structure: C++ uses a more complex syntax compared to Visual Basic. It requires explicit declarations of variables, more precise memory management, and the use of pointers. On the other hand, Visual Basic uses a simpler syntax with automatic memory management and provides a more intuitive way of declaring variables.
Platform Dependency: C++ code is platform-dependent, which means the code written for one platform may not run on another platform without modifications. Visual Basic, on the other hand, is platform-independent as it runs on the .NET framework, allowing the code to be executed on multiple platforms with minimal changes.
Performance: C++ is known for its high performance and ability to directly manipulate hardware resources. It allows fine-grained control over memory management and efficient code optimization techniques. Visual Basic, being a higher-level language, is generally slower than C++ as it relies on the .NET framework for execution.
Ease of Use and Learning Curve: Visual Basic is often considered easier to learn and use compared to C++. Its syntax is more English-like and provides a visual development environment that simplifies the creation of graphical user interfaces. C++, on the other hand, has a steeper learning curve due to its complex syntax and low-level features.
Application Types: C++ is commonly used for building system-level software like operating systems, device drivers, and embedded systems, where performance and hardware interaction are crucial. Visual Basic is mostly used for developing Windows applications with a graphical user interface, making it suitable for rapid application development.
Library and Framework Support: C++ has a vast collection of libraries and frameworks available, providing developers with a wide range of functionalities and tools. Visual Basic, being a part of the .NET framework, has access to a rich set of libraries and development tools streamlined for Windows-based development.

C++ vs Visual Basic

Overview

C++ vs Visual Basic: What are the differences?