Visual Basic on Mac
Posted by Pumpkin_King_7@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 12 comments
I have had a Mac as my personal computer for decades. I believe I want to learn to code Visual Basic (as my first programming language). My work computers are often PC and I'm a pro at Excel. I know Macros in Excel are for Visual Basic.
IIUC, the best platform for Visual Basic isn't available on Mac (btw, why?) What can I download, what will be the cost, what are other pieces of advice?
Pumpkin_King_7@reddit (OP)
Thank you all for your responses. I didn't realize it was so "legacy". I've done some actual research and I think I'm going to learn Rust.
resume-razor@reddit
Are you doing this for legacy maintenance or a new project? The environment is strictly Windows-focused, so you'll have a tough time finding native support on macOS without a virtual machine.
Ok-Writer2800@reddit
Great point, I agree!'
Ste4mPunk3r@reddit
Excel is moving from VBA into (if I remember correctly) TypeScript. Also it has python now. Forget VBA and learn those 2
shadow-battle-crab@reddit
I love VB so very much, but its a dead language. Which makes me so very mad because its like the most fun and rewarding languages to learn on. But it can't make modern applications and therefore its not really practical to solve any modern problems, and therefore its not a option. You would have a better time learning something like python.
Man, do I wish that microsoft would make some kind of VB 2026, that would be so nice...
ChatBot42@reddit
VB would be a complete waste of time at this point. I'd point you toward Python as a first step.
grantrules@reddit
I mean, Apple is king of walled gardens. Microsoft wants you using their tools on their OS. Letting things out of the walled gardens is a business decision.
ApprehensiveFix5084@reddit
The only thing like Visual Basic for the Mac is called Xojo. You can dabble around with it and make your own Applications for free, but if you want to compile and distribute binaries the price has gotten ridiculous for anything short of a business.
captain_slackbeard@reddit
Visual Basic is an interesting choice of language these days, but maybe you can just learn to use it within Excel?
Wanting to learn Visual Basic these days is like walking into a car dealership and asking for a Yugo.
Super_Preference_733@reddit
Are you talking classic vb or vb.net? If your talking classic vb support ended April 8, 2008. Its a dead language.
Commercial-Lie8338@reddit
tbh visual basic is kinda dying tech at this point, microsoft stopped supporting vb.net development few years back
if youre already good with excel macros maybe look into python instead? way more useful in long run and works great in mac. or if you really want microsoft stuff, c# has better future and you can run it on mac now with dotnet core
just my 2 cents but starting with something thats being phased out might not be best move for first language
abrahamguo@reddit
I think that JetBrains Rider supports Visual Basic on macOS for free for non-commercial use.