Introduction

Using the .NET Framework, Microsoft Visual Basic developers can build robust applications that were very difficult to write in previous versions of Visual Basic. This article will discuss the the powerful features of the Visual Basic.NET and it`s Data types.

Need for Framework

Framework refers to the foundation on which you build and run applications. Having such a foundation makes it easier to build applications while using a consistent, simplified programming model.

We can use Win32 APIs to do things that we cannot do with the standard Visual Basic functions such as accessing arbitrary registry keys and values. In many cases, you also use Component Object Model (COM) component libraries to extend the application's functionality; the most obvious example is the ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) library that our application uses for data access.

While Visual Basic is flexible enough to offer these different extensibility mechanisms, that flexibility requires you to learn several complex API architectures. We have to learn how Win32 APIs work and how to call them from Visual Basic, which can be a time-consuming, error-prone task. You also have to learn how to use various COM components from Visual Basic, each with a different object model.

Finally, as you build your Visual Basic applications utilizing Win32 APIs, ADO, and possibly many other COM components, you now have to manage the deployment of those applications along with their dependencies. A typical Visual Basic application's dependency list includes much more than just the Visual Basic runtime; it must include all the libraries your application uses, such as ADO 2.6.

So the idea behind a common framework is to solve these problems and make it easier for you to develop robust applications without having to learn many different API architectures and without having to deploy and handle versioning for a dozen libraries.