C++ is a very low-level language. Very close to the operating system. For the uneducated its very daunting but very powerful. Also very dangerous as its one of the few languages that has enough access to the hardware to potentially damage it. If you master it thought the sky is the limit.
VB6 is a higher level language, very friendly and very much used. Its much slower than C++ as its not a true compiled language but its very much aimed at the less experienced programmer. In many cases the syntax is much like speaking English. With the use of ActiveX etc it is though very powerful.
VB.Net, C#.Net and all the new microsoft products level the field a bit.
They all compile to a common code that is then run as you executable. In fact both VB.Net and C#.Net a now more like Java than many would like.
The .Net Framework is very powerful and wide ranging but for the beginner it can be a minefield as there is so much there to learn.
One particular thing that has reared its head in both my work and robotics as my hobby is that under VB6, it was easy to write fairly efficient comms code. Sometimes it was a bit quirky but nothing to stop the game. .NET Framework 1.0 didn’t have a comms library but not a problem, there were plenty availableto download or you could re-use your old VB6 code.
Under .NET 2.0 Framework they have implemented a class called SerialPort which has a wealth of commands. Unfortunately it has been ‘updated’ and uses Unicode rather than 8 bit ASCII. This means not 8 bit Bytes can be sent. By default it sends 2 Bytes for each character. There is a work-around but it took some searching on Microsofts ever growing problems pages. Unfortunately it can only be fixed on the Windows platform. It cannot be fixed on the PocketPC, CE or Windows Mobile .Net platform.
Python was never intended to be a fully fledged language like VB etc as the IDE requires as much debugging as the language interpretter itself. It was initially a scripted language. Still very powerful as it could sit alongside pretty much any application without having to install too much extra software. There are I believe now IDE’s for Python but the level of syntax checking is not as much as VB etc…
If you want to try VB the the .NET Express products are good although certain functions are not available to the free version.
Sorry if its a bit lengthy but at the end of the day, there are so many languages now, each almost as capable as the other. I’ve seen some very powerful applications written in some of the so called simpler languages (and some really stupid ones in the most powerful). It becomes a matter of choice and cost…
BTW… one major advantage of Python, like Java it is one of the few that can work on any platform, i.e. Linux, Unix, Solaris MacOSX etc. If its say Microsoft then its Windows only…
