# VB.NET

8 Hacker News commenters recommended VB.NET and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend VB.NET for readable, beginner-friendly syntax on .NET. Common caveat: critics say it is largely C# with VB syntax and lost VB 6's distinct character.

## Why people recommend it

- Readable, less C-style clutter (3 comments): "I find it more legible and beginner-friendly than any C-derived languages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49953641)) "the code is vastly more readable (to me) than C-style code" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45923899)) "vastly more readable than C/C#/Java etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49949459))
- Easier than many other languages (2 comments): "So much easier then JavaScript/typescript, Python, and many other languages." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49951177)) "In some ways it's actually easier than VB6" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46441046))

## What people warn about

- Feels like C# with VB syntax (4 comments): "VB.NET was a different beast, and C# was a superior language. But it was never the same." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47982263)) "VB.NET has the verbosity of C# but with none of the benefits." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48119829)) "Unfortunately it was a one-to-one match to C#." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49951516))
- Lost VB 6's distinct strengths (2 comments): "However VB 6 had much easier way to deal with COM interop, and had better AOT developer experience versus Native AOT in .NET." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48306666)) "for what it could have been, its definitely not the same" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48084250))
- Seen as a poor design (2 comments): "This was something VB.NET fixed but was also why VB.NET was (in my opinion) a failure." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48121726)) "VB.Net was a very thin veneer of VB on top of the .Net runtime. It was not good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49286445))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Rust](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rust.md): 2039 recommend
- [Go](https://hackerapproved.com/p/go-programming-language.md): 1254 recommend
- [Python](https://hackerapproved.com/p/python.md): 1067 recommend
- [Zig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zig.md): 743 recommend
- [TypeScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/typescript.md): 574 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "VB.NET", https://hackerapproved.com/p/vb-net/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).