A *(Microsoft) *(Programming Language) favored by developers for its ease of use (often billed as *(Rapid Application Development) or _(RAD) capabilities). These include features of both the _(IDE) such as drag-n-drop _(GUI) building tools and tightly integrated debugging support as well as language features such as a syntax based on the original _(BASIC) which is easy to learn, read and use. Visual Basic is widely acknowledged as one of the best systems for using and building certain categories of _(COM) components. Due to early interpreted and pseudo-compiled versions, the language acquired a reputation for poor performance, but particularly in later releases which introduced true compilation and agressive optimizations borrowed from Microsoft's _(C++) compilers, this has been disproven for most common usage scenarios (such as business applications). Version 7 moves VB to the _(.NET) platform which means compiled VB code is identical to other compiled languages targeted to the .NET _(CLR). For many years, VB was the language of choice for corporate line of business applications, but with the increasing popularity of _(Java), the release of .NET and the carefully-designed _(C#) language, the popularity of VB appears to be on the decline.

<ul class="links">
<li><a href="http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=visual+basic">Visual BASIC</a> on _(FOLDOC).
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