What is Visual Basic?
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Visual Basic is a high-level, object-oriented event-driven programming language, developed by Microsoft as the successor to QuickBasic (MS-QB), which was Microsoft's own version of BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, ca. 1964, Dartmouth) which was used to program MS-DOS (Microsoft's Disk Operating System) for IBM compatible PCs (mostly in the 1980s).
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When Microsoft introduced its Windows operating system, it featured a GUI (Graphical User Interface), and Visual Basic was used to design much of Windows versions since, as well as to create many of the free apps (applications) included with Windows, such as Calculator, Paint, Notepad, etc. However, other programming languages were used and have been used to program Windows and its apps, such as Visual C++ and more.
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I have taken a course on QuickBasic, as I learned BASIC at age 10, and have written many programs using it...
What is a high-level programming language?
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A high-level programming language is probably not what you are thinking it is: It is not used by the CIA or by computer scientists who went to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), CIT (California Institute of Technology), Cornell, Stanford, N.C. State University, or Dartmouth to get advanced degrees in engineering. My guess is those folks are the ones skilled in machine language: Coding in binary (0s and 1s only, very tedious and error-prone) to create compilers--the programs that are necessary to convert all other code into binary so that computers can understand them for processing. Assembly languages are programming languages that are not as cryptic as machine language but still use mnemonics (e.g., abbreviations) such as B2, Sub1 etc. in order to create programming languages that amateurs like the rest of us use to create cool apps for everyday use. Assembly languages are used mostly for interpreters: A program that runs each line of code, one at a time, into binary so that you can at least run your programs to test and 'debug' them.
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A high-level programming language is one whose syntax resembles that of everyday text, so learning it is not as different or difficult as learning a foreign language. This is why mostly 'amateurs' use them, and by amateurs, I mean anybody, but probably someone without advanced degrees in Computer Information Systems, etc. BASIC, COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language), Visual Basic, C, C++, Perl, Visual C++, Objective C, JavaScript, PHP, and so many more are all examples of high-level programming languages. You can learn them by taking a course at your local college, or from buying a book at a bookstore and using the Internet for more help.
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Every programming language is developed for some purpose, such as TI-BASIC, a version of BASIC for use on Texas Instruments 80-series graphing calculators (you might own one!), was developed to edit MS-QB so that certain commands not needed were removed (to free up disk space) and others were implemented (that previously did not exist) that are necessary for design of a graphic calculator.
What is an assembly language?
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So, an assembly language is used to create interpreters to run the programs created by amateurs using high-level programming languages, one line of code at a time, and machine language is created by highly-trained and skilled professionals to convert the code from an assembly language into binary to create compilers, so that a finished 'app' (application, computer program) can run by opening it by double-clicking an icon, for example.
What is an object-oriented programming language?
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An object-oriented programming language is one used for designing and creating apps for a GUI, such as some version of Windows or Mac OS, as these involve the use of a mouse or trackball to navigate the screen, clicking and moving the cursor around...hence an object-oriented language as images (pictures of or meant to represent desktop objects); anyway I think you get the point!
What is an event-driven programming language?
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An event-driven programming language is usually a scripting language, where specific code is executed (triggered, called, etc.) when the user performs certain 'events,' such as simply moving the cursor with their mouse or track-pad (or touch-screen) around the screen, over text or on an image etc. causing the code to do something specific, such as highlight text by changing it to another color, underlining it, hiding other images, etc. Of course, clicking and double-clicking, as well as entering text are the most obvious and frequent uses of this, which could be programmed to open media files for sound, video, etc.
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