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:::Peter Provost has proposed that Microsoft react to the group of MVPs who are petitioning Microsoft to re-establish development and support of VB6, by releasing the source code. Microsoft doesn’t want VB6, there’s a vocal fanbase of programmers… why not? It would be epic.
As Peter points out, at least part of the problem is that both the VB6 compiler (including the compiler of all Microsoft’s languages, including C# and VB.NET) and the environment is written, not in the target language itself, but in C++. Since VB6 represents close to 10 years of code evolution, and the language is explicitly about making the end-users life easier (even if it means work on the compiler-writer’s part), I’m going to guess that the VB6 codebase is [not]{style="font-style:italic"} the several hundred thousand lines of C++ that Microsoft would like to have the world reacting to.
To me, the whole VB6 tempest is interesting because I never could get enthusiastic about VB and then VB.NET came along and I found myself perfectly happy to work in it.