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Small Basic Curriculum: Lesson 6: Graduating to Microsoft Visual Basic

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Small Basic > Curriculum >** **Online > Lesson 6: Graduating to Microsoft Visual Basic

Estimated time to complete this lesson: 1 hour

Graduating to Visual Basic

In this lesson, you will learn how to:

  • Download a free version of Visual Basic.
  • Export Small Basic programs to Visual Basic.
  • Run your programs from Visual Basic.

Introduction to Visual Basic

Now that you’re a master of Small Basic, let’s see what else is out there for you to continue your fun with programming.

This lesson introduces you to a new and more powerful programming environment that is called Visual Basic.

 

http://msdn.microsoft.com/gg685463.Visual_Basic(en-us,MSDN.10).jpg

Downloading and Installing Visual Basic

Just like Small Basic, you can get Visual Basic Express Edition for free

You can download the most recent version from the following page:

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-basic-express

http://msdn.microsoft.com/gg685463.fig2(en-us,MSDN.10).jpg

The installation should take about 10-15 minutes.

Exporting programs from Small Basic

After you write a program in Small Basic, you can easily export that code to run from Visual Basic.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/gg685463.fig3(en-us,MSDN.10).jpg

If you click Graduate on the toolbar, Small Basic will launch a wizard that will walk you through the export process.

The Graduate Wizard

http://msdn.microsoft.com/gg685463.fig4(en-us,MSDN.10).jpg

The wizard will translate your Small Basic program into Visual Basic and then automatically launch the Visual Basic environment for you.

Running the program from Visual Basic

After you export your program, a new programming environment appears.

Your new environment should resemble this window.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/gg685463.fige5(en-us,MSDN.10).jpg

If you click Play on the toolbar, your program should run just the same way as it ran from Small Basic.

Learning more about Visual Basic

Visual Basic is a very powerful language and environment that you can use to further your programming fun.

You can find lots of resources on the Internet for learning about Visual Basic.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/ms789086 is a good place to start to learn about Visual Basic.

Let’s Summarize…

Congratulations!

Now you know how to:

  • Download and install Visual Basic.
  • Export your Small Basic program to Visual Basic.
  • Run the exported program from Visual Basic.

 

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