With the launch of Windows 3.0, more and more developers have become interested in this graphical interface operating system, and a large number of Windows applications have begun to emerge. However, the development of Windows programs is very different from traditional DOS. Developers must focus a lot of energy on developing GUI, which discourages many people who want to learn Windows development. In 1991, Microsoft demonstrated a product called Thunder. All developers were stunned. It could "draw" the required user interface with the mouse, and then write business logic in simple BASIC language to generate a Complete application. The development of this new "Visual" is like Thunder, opening up a new world for Windows developers. This product was eventually named VisualBasic, using event-driven, QuickBASIC syntax and visual IDE. The latest development experience brought by Visual Basic 1.0 is event-driven, which is different from traditional procedural development. At the same time, the VBX control brings the concept of visual components into Visual Basic. Visual Basic 1.0 is a revolutionary BASIC, and its birth is also a good story in the history of VB.
VisualBasic1.0
1992-Visual Basic is getting better and better. With the launch of Windows 3.1, Windows has been fully recognized by users, and Windows development has entered a new era. The functions of Visual Basic 1.0 are too simple, and the powerful functions of Windows 3.1 are not fully utilized. Therefore, Microsoft launched a new version of Visual Basic 2.0 in 1992. The biggest improvement of this version is the addition of object variables, such as
DimbAsCommandButton
DimcAsControl
Moreover, with the most primitive concept of "inheritance", object-type variables are divided into general types (Control and Form) and proprietary types (CommandButton, Form1, etc.). General-type variables can refer to instances of proprietary types, even through late binding. Provides access to the properties and methods of a proprietary type. You can also obtain the runtime type information of an object instance through the TypeOf...Is operator (this function is the current is operator of C# or the instanceof operator of Java). In addition to language improvements and expansions, Visual Basic 2.0 has good support for VBX, and many third-party controls have emerged, greatly enriching the functions of Visual Basic. Microsoft has also added OLE and simple data access functions to VisualBasic2.0.
VisualBasic2.0 Standard Edition
VisualBasic2.0 Professional Edition
1993 - Database components gain new power
Within a few months of the launch of Visual Basic 2.0, Microsoft released a new version of Visual Basic 3.0, which shows the strong vitality of VB at this time. At first glance, the interface of Visual Basic 3.0 has not changed much, but in fact this version is very timely. It adds the latest ODBC2.0 support, Jet data engine support and new version OLE support. The most attractive part is that its support for databases has been greatly enhanced. Grid controls and data controls can create excellent data window applications, and the Jet engine allows Visual Basic to quickly access the latest access databases. VisualBasic3.0 also adds many new financial functions. In addition, a considerable number of professional-level controls have been added to enable the development of Windows applications of a considerable level. Visual Basic 3.0 was the most popular version of Visual Basic in China before 1998, because the executable file it developed was very small and could usually be installed on a floppy disk. However, Visual Basic's use of virtual machines to run P code also dissatisfied many developers. They believed that the efficiency of running the program was very low. At this time, Visual Basic's competitor Delphi was also born.
VisualBasic3.0 Special Edition
1995-The second revolutionary change, marching towards COM.
From 1993 to mid-1995, there was no new news in Visual Basic, and anxious developers wanted to see what had happened to this mysterious new version. The BETA of Visual Basic 4.0 finally meets everyone. This version includes both 16-bit and 32-bit versions. The 16-bit version is like an upgraded version of Visual Basic 3.0, while the 32-bit version is a new revolution. First of all, people found that the VBX controls were missing and were all replaced by OCX controls. This OCX may refer to OLECustomControls. This OLE is no longer a traditional OLE. In today's terms, it is a COM control. The second biggest change is that the language used in Visual Basic 4.0 is changed to Visual Basic For application, which is unified with the macro language used in Office 95. This new language has many highlights:
1. Added "class module". This is the most important basis of object-oriented encapsulation.
2. With the addition of attribute procedures, function procedures, and subroutine procedures, VB already has the encapsulation features required for component development.
3. Added Byte type, Boolean type and Object type. This greatly improves VB's type system.
4. ForEach statement and Collection object. The ForEach statement provides great convenience for traversing collection types. You can now use ForEach on dynamically growing Collections without worrying about the total number of collection contents or annoying subscript issues.
This version of Visual Basic can also develop DLL projects, which are actually COM DLLs. Written classes can be shared with other languages in this way.
In short, this version 4.0 laid the foundation for Visual Basic to become a COM language. Using Visual Basic 4.0 to develop COM-based DLL is more convenient than any other development tool. However, the performance problem of Visual Basic 4.0 has become more serious. The P-code component has become a serious performance bottleneck of Visual Basic 4.0, and the huge runtime library also makes users dissatisfied. VisualBasic4.0 also has poor support for previous versions, and it is difficult to port projects that use a large number of VBX to VisualBasic4.0. Therefore, the popularity of Visual Basic 4.0 in China is very low.
VisualBasic4.0
1997 - A great year for VisualBasic
In 1997, Microsoft launched Visual Basic 5.0, which is almost as important as 4.0. COM (called ActiveX at this time) is already quite mature, and Visual Basic 5.0 certainly provides the strongest support for it. However, before the country realized the importance of COM, it was mainly concerned about the other biggest highlight of this version: the local code compiler. Visual Basic 5.0 finally adds a native code compiler in response to users' requests, which can greatly improve the efficiency of applications. In addition to this improvement that everyone knows, VisualBasic5.0 has significant improvements and enrichments to the VisualBasicForApplication language:
5. Event. Visual Basic 5.0 finally allows users to create events by themselves, and the syntax of this event is quite powerful and complete, which is rare in a language that does not support function callbacks. VB now has complete encapsulation of properties, methods, and events.
6. Interface. This is the basis for VB to implement polymorphism. At the same time, it provides more convenience for writing COM components.
7. Enumeration. Enumerations appear as a subtype of Long integer in Visual Basic 5.0, and enumerations can be used to completely encapsulate constants.
8. Improvements to class modules. Through the attributes of the class module, you can specify that the class module has a variety of specified behaviors, such as private constructors, etc. You can use this function to create designs that conform to the Singleton and Monostate patterns.
9.Debug.Assert. Although this assertion system is a bit useless, it finally brings convenience to debugging.
10. Visual Basic 5.0 supports creating your own collection class. Collection types can be created for use in ForEach statements.
11. The new data type Decimal can accurately handle calculations with more significant digits.
The IDE of Visual Basic 5.0 supports "intelligent sensing", which is a very convenient function for developers. You don't have to remember long member names and keywords. Just press "." and everything you want will pop up.
VisualBasic5.0 also supports the development of your own ActiveX controls, in-process COMDLL components, out-of-process COMEXE components, and ActiveX documents running in the browser. This greatly enriches the development capabilities of Visual Basic. In Internet development, Visual Basic 5.0 can also make achievements.
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