Interview - Karl Moore, VB.NET Writer and Guru

What language are you most wanting to see get .NETed next (python.NET, php.NET, perl.NET etc)?

I should hope PHP. It might help me start understanding some of that code my friend John Percival keeps wafting about.

Quick! VB.NET or C#.NET -- and why?

The technical differences are so miniscule, you should just go with whichever language you know best. Visual Basic guys go for VB.NET. Java and C++ chappies head toward C#. No problemo.

Have you tried Everett (VS.NET 2003)? If so, is it any good and is it a major advancement over VS.NET 2002?

Ooh, good question. I actually have a sealed copy from Microsoft on my desk right now. Although I haven't installed it yet, I have played with Everett during an even earlier "hush hush" beta.

The changes aren't shocking. You can now upgrade just a snippet of VB6 code over to VB.NET, for example. Structured error handling has been made a little more "automatic", plus there's a managed Oracle data provider. Changes, yes, but no assuredly no "major advance".

What's your favourite feature of ASP.NET?

I think ASP.NET on its own is my favourite feature! We had this split in the Microsoft community a couple of years ago: you had Web developers and desktop developers. With the .NET tools, regular desktop VB guys can write Web applications in seconds.

If you forced me, I'd have to say the advanced data binding features really tickle my fancy. Oh, and that fancy Calendar control. Very cool looking.

VB.NET Related

Outside of OOP, what is your favorite new feature of VB.NET over VB6, and why?

I'd probably have to say that the fact that it is VB .NET -- which means it can plug directly into all those .NET Framework classes -- is my favourite feature. Most days, I find a new class somewhere that does something I would have used five-dozen API calls to do back in the golden olden days, or was just simply impossible.

It doesn't always fit the bill, but it's definitely my number one benefit.

How would you convince the corporate decision makers to move from an entrenched VB6 philosophy to .NET? Should they get existing developers to move applications to .NET?

The corporate world has so many considerations to take into account, it's not always just new wizzy programming features that count. I'm pretty unbiased too, so don't make much of a "convincer". Perhaps I'd better finish that "Make Friends and Influence People" thing...

When it comes to upgrading VB6 applications to .NET, I'd say don't do it. Yes, VB.NET includes an upgrade wizard, but it's a rocky road -- and you'll see few benefits at the end of the journey. My advice? Use it for new development work only.

The Book... How and Why?

How did you become a published author?

I'd already met both Gary in Barcelona, then Dan Appleman in London, and struck up friendships with both. Together, they're the directors behind Apress -- so when the idea for this book came around, they were obvious targets!

Even better, WHY did you become a published author?

To enjoy all those glitzy, luxurious, complementary celebrity author evening events I never get invited to.

Even better, WHERE did you ... Okay, never mind. Let's try a different question. Why buy the book? Who's it for?

"Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials" is a book for people that want to learn .NET without all the drudgery associated with those usual 1500-page draft excluders. It's light-hearted and covers "real life" areas of .NET: from doing databases the easy way, to knocking out fully-interactive Websites in minutes; from utilizing the latest Web Services, through to the secrets of putting together your own supercool desktopI'd recommend it to those new to .NET, or moving from VB6. But then again, I'm 100% bias and on commission!

I've had 3 friends get curious about .NET just in the first few days the book lay on my table, and they were all interested in the technology because of the way you wrote about it. What would you say to these people, besides to stop hanging around at my place picking up books off my table?

I think I'd just apologise profusely for my humour. I wrote the whole book in a conversational style, with a little giggle material here and there to help ease the learning curve.

Actually, the Apress legal department even had to remove a few of the more risqué gags, just in case. Still, at least the Irish, the Pope and Kathy Bates can now all learn to program without getting offended...

Seriously though, it was all very light hearted and nothing but good fun. Read it and learn .NET in style!