Why VB.NET Is Not a Programming Language

It is probably safe to assume when a company asks for a .NET guy, if you searched for VB.NET people you will likely fulfill what they are requesting.

The C# programming language is also part of .NET. Since C# is more advanced than VB.NET and ASP.NET, a company looking for a C# guy is going to be specific and say C#. C# is based on C++ which is based on C, and all C languages tend to be the instrument of the advanced programmer.

By the way, ASP.NET tends to be written in the VB.NET language, but still meets the classification requirement since ASP.NET is specific to web development. ASP is not actually a language, but a container. The difference between traditional ASP and ASP.NET is that ASP.NET tends to use VB.NET as the syntax as opposed to VB6 syntax. ASP is an acronym for Active Server Pages and also contains HTML syntax in the ASP page. It is, however, perfectly valid to consider ASP in the same subclass as VB.NET and other languages, even though it is technically not a language, it is at the same category level. ASP.NET should be in the picklist.

Programmers need to be specific on their resumes about what .NET languages they actually know. Companies should be specific on what .NET languages they require a developer to know. If left nonspecific at just .NET, then it is safe to assume VB.NET. VB.NET is the most commonly used .NET language by far. It is not unusual for people to abuse terminology to some degree on their resume. It all gets blurred into geek jargon for a lot of company H.R. people and higher ups.

The entire issue is to avoid some people being listed as having VB.NET experience and others as just .NET, which will reduce search matches by as much as 50% and create more variance in the database picklists. The closer to a scientific method of classification and categorization being applied to the use of the software tool, the better the tool will meet your needs in the end.

Sorry the email is long, but I have to put a lot of thought into these things because if there is any intention of making the CRM marketable down the road, these are the sort of things that need to be considered carefully for the sake of making sure the program works the absolute best possible for general use.