Using Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll in C# projects

Question

Hi...

Are there any disadvantages to use the functions in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll reference in C# projects (ex: IsNumeric, Shell, Cint, split,...) ?

Answer 1

Can you please check-out below thread ?

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/6b3c8897-6748-401c-81fa-1da421e475ee

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Answer 2

There are advantages and disadvantages of using VisualBasic classes in C#

According to Robert Dunaway in this blog post:

• You cannot have a hard and fast rule stating that the Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll should not be used.  In some cases I see that it certainly can and should be used.
• Not all methods in the Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll exist in the .NET Framework.
• Work around(s) for Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll methods are sometimes faster and sometimes slower.
• Equivalent methods of the .NET Framework are sometimes much slower than that of Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll.

Some examples of the above statements:

CInt is slower than the one used in the .NET framework.

Now() method is 15 times faster than usual DateTime.Now.

Answer 3

Hi,

This is basically to support using some traditional VB keywords so even though this is a library as any other it's a bit weird to use VB like keywords in a C# app rather than the .NET equivalent (AFAIK it is missing on some platform depending on what you are targetting).

In short I would see this is the other way round. Why to use this DLL when alsmot if not all its function have a .NET counterpart ? (Decimal.TryParse, Process.Start, (int) casting, String.Split etc...)

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Answer 4

I liked the SplashScreen thingy that was defined in that DLL.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winforms/thread/32e83eda-7a7e-4b5f-a166-f3cd8620bdc2

Rudy   =8^D

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Answer 5

If you want to use the visualbasic.dll just to use functions for which there are other equivalents in C# (i.e. CInt, Split) then you should talk with your team and decide if, as a whole, you want to do this or not.  If you have a lot of programmers with a VB background it may be more familiar, and therefore easier to read and understand code using those methods.  If you're one of just a few VB programmers on your team and most everyone else isn't familiar with those VB style methods, then you may decide that they should be avoided unless there is a compelling reason not to.

If you're using it for some class that doesn't have comparable functionality elsewhere (a few examples are given, and one that I use a lot is TextFieldParser, for which there is no equivalent in the C# System.dll.) then there is no problem that I see with using vb.dll.

Answer 6

Just to clarify something - the VisualBasic dll does not provide support for VB keywords - that is done by the language.  "CInt" is a keyword, not a method, and is not available from C#, for example.  This dll does allow things like VB string functions (Split, Left, etc).

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