VB.NET Tutorial: Learn .NET Language from Scratch (2026)

I started my .NET journey with VB.NET because a senior developer told me it was easier than C#. He was right about the learning curve — the English-like syntax made my first loops and conditionals feel natural. But I stayed with VB.NET long after I learned C# because I discovered its strengths: vast legacy codebases, Excel automation macros, and rapid Windows Forms development. VB.NET may not be trendy, but in enterprise settings, it powers thousands of critical line-of-business applications.

Visual Basic .NET is a multi-paradigm, object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft as the successor to classic Visual Basic 6. It runs on the .NET runtime, providing full access to the .NET framework libraries, language interoperability with C# and F#, and modern language features like async/await, LINQ, and generics. This tutorial covers VB.NET fundamentals and practical patterns drawn from real-world business applications.

Module Program
    Sub Main(args As String())
        Dim name As String = "World"
        Dim count As Integer = 42
        Dim isComplete As Boolean = False

        If count > 0 Then
            Console.WriteLine($"Hello, {name}! Count is {count}")
        Else
            Console.WriteLine("No items")
        End If

        For i As Integer = 1 To 10
            Console.WriteLine($"Iteration {i}")
        Next
    End Sub
End Module

Public Class Employee
    Public Property Id As Integer
    Public Property Name As String
    Public Property HireDate As Date

    Public ReadOnly Property YearsOfService As Integer
        Get
            Return DateDiff(DateInterval.Year, HireDate, Date.Today)
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Overridable Function CalculateBonus() As Decimal
        Return 1000
    End Function

    Public Event SalaryChanged(oldSalary As Decimal, newSalary As Decimal)
End Class

Public Class MainForm
    Private Sub btnLoad_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnLoad.Click
        Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor
        Try
            Dim data = GetEmployees()
            dgvEmployees.DataSource = data
            StatusLabel.Text = $"Loaded {data.Count} employees"
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show($"Error: {ex.Message}", "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
        Finally
            Cursor = Cursors.Default
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Async Sub btnExport_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnExport.Click
        Await Task.Run(Sub() ExportToExcel())
        MessageBox.Show("Export complete")
    End Sub
End Class

Dim products = New List(Of Product) From {
    New Product With {.Id = 1, .Name = "Laptop", .Price = 1200, .Category = "Electronics"},
    New Product With {.Id = 2, .Name = "Chair", .Price = 250, .Category = "Furniture"}
}

Dim query = From p In products
            Where p.Price > 100
            Order By p.Name Descending
            Select New With {.Name = p.Name, .PriceWithTax = p.Price * 1.08}

Dim total = products.Sum(Function(p) p.Price)
Dim byCategory = products.GroupBy(Function(p) p.Category).ToDictionary(Function(g) g.Key, Function(g) g.ToList())

Try
    Dim data = File.ReadAllText("config.json")
    Dim config = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of AppConfig)(data)
    If config Is Nothing Then
        Throw New InvalidDataException("Configuration file is empty or invalid")
    End If
Catch ex As FileNotFoundException When ex.FileName = "config.json"
    Log.Error("Configuration file missing, using defaults")
    config = New AppConfig With {.UseDefaults = True}
Catch ex As Exception
    Log.Error(ex, "Failed to load configuration")
    Throw
Finally
    Console.WriteLine("Configuration loading attempt completed")
End Try

Public Class ExcelReportGenerator
    Public Sub GenerateReport(filePath As String, data As DataTable)
        Dim excel = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application
        Dim workbook = excel.Workbooks.Add()
        Dim sheet = CType(workbook.Sheets(1), Excel.Worksheet)

        For i As Integer = 0 To data.Rows.Count - 1
            For j As Integer = 0 To data.Columns.Count - 1
                sheet.Cells(i + 2, j + 1) = data.Rows(i)(j).ToString()
            Next
        Next

        workbook.SaveAs(filePath)
        workbook.Close()
        excel.Quit()
        Marshal.ReleaseComObject(excel)
    End Sub
End Class

Originally published on Ayodhyyya. Last updated June 1, 2026.