VB 6.0
Author
I was cleaning some stuff off of my bookcase the other night and really started looking at the massive box that contains a copy of Visual Basic 6.0 from 1999. Despite the interesting trip down memory lane when minimum requirements were a 486mhz processor with 32MB of RAM. The embarrassing thing was when I bought it, my computer did not have sufficient hard drive space to handle it, which didn't even use 1.5 Gig for a complete maximum install (10% of what FSX takes up). Yes my hard disk was bigger than 1.5 gig (barely) but loading VB would have meant removing a lot of other stuff. Anyways though, the reason I'm posting this is not just to comment on how things have changed, but is there a reason for me to keep this box that takes up a substantial footprint on scarce shelf space? I'm hoping someone here can answer that for me. I would like to explore game programming some more (the reason I bought this thing in the first place, 10 years ago, I haven't progressed much on that front but my game art is rather good). However if I do get into programming, something tells me it will be with a different language such as C++, to that end I already have visual C++ Express installed and have been working with that.
Anyways though, do I have a valuable piece of software (in this case valuable means usable, not what I paid for it), or just another paper weight.
I don't think old versions of Visual Studio count as collector's items. You could try to hawk it on eBay, assuming that's even legal. (I dunno.) What edition is it? Because I had Learning Edition and it was borderline junk.
As for me, I throw it away.
I still remember getting VC++ Standard 4.0 Full Version with MacMillan Starter Kit (yellow box), a long long time ago (1998?).
Anyway, both the software and the book get useless and outdated. I throw the CD and donate the book to the library.
I still remember getting VC++ Standard 4.0 Full Version with MacMillan Starter Kit (yellow box), a long long time ago (1998?).
Anyway, both the software and the book get useless and outdated. I throw the CD and donate the book to the library.
I once did a stint (Late 2008) as a contract programmer repairing legacy systems for a certain state health department, all of which were written in uncommented, poorly documented, bloated Visual Basic 6, writte by random employee X.
Some people have flash backs of the Vietnam war, I have flashbacks of late 2008, memories that will haunt my programmer soul till the day I die.
Burn it. Only fire will kill it. Kill it with fire.
Some people have flash backs of the Vietnam war, I have flashbacks of late 2008, memories that will haunt my programmer soul till the day I die.
Burn it. Only fire will kill it. Kill it with fire.
Quote:Original post by Promit
I don't think old versions of Visual Studio count as collector's items. You could try to hawk it on eBay, assuming that's even legal. (I dunno.) What edition is it? Because I had Learning Edition and it was borderline junk.
Yeah, you might've got $99 a couple of years ago for the pro version. I had a friend that sold some copies of VB6 before Ebay stopped it due to legal letter from Microsoft.
Even J Harbour is using VB.NET nowadays. Before he stubbornly made the switch, you might've found some people looking for a copy of VB6 to work through his VB game programming books LOL!
But even he finally realized it was time to move on.
I suggest throwing it away before you get infected with the packrat disease and can't bring yourself to throw any of your old programming stuff away like me LOL. I still got my copies of Turbo C++,PASCAL and MASM with the original manuals! Talk about knocking someone over the head with those suckers!
One of my clients still has loads of VB6 code, which my team occasionally has to maintain.
Porting the project to a modern language would be prohibitely expensive at this point, since the original developer hadn't documented the design decisions they had made in the beginning of the project. Thus, following the logic behind the original spaghetti code is almost like writing notes for a piece of music just by listening to it.
Anyway, in this case it is absolutely essential that we have VB6 at our disposal even though you cannot purchase it new anywhere. I'm sure that there are other teams in this exact situation, but not necessarily armed with a copy of VB6 even though they would need it.
Hence, I recommend that you try to sell it in a place that professional programmers generally buy stuff from. If you're lucky, you might get a good price from it.
EDIT: However, if selling it is illegal, then I don't recommend it :)
Porting the project to a modern language would be prohibitely expensive at this point, since the original developer hadn't documented the design decisions they had made in the beginning of the project. Thus, following the logic behind the original spaghetti code is almost like writing notes for a piece of music just by listening to it.
Anyway, in this case it is absolutely essential that we have VB6 at our disposal even though you cannot purchase it new anywhere. I'm sure that there are other teams in this exact situation, but not necessarily armed with a copy of VB6 even though they would need it.
Hence, I recommend that you try to sell it in a place that professional programmers generally buy stuff from. If you're lucky, you might get a good price from it.
EDIT: However, if selling it is illegal, then I don't recommend it :)
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
