This post is a quick overview of an Abto Software blog article.
As modern computer technology evolves dynamically, business modernization is becoming more important. Legacy applications – typically utilized by organizations in the healthcare segment, government, construction – are presenting major roadblocks sensibly deteriorating business competitiveness, customer satisfaction, everyday performance, and sustainability.
That’s why business leaders across industries are approaching:
VB6 migration: technology dive-in
Visual Basic 6 (VB6), initially introduced in the late 1990s, has had notable importance and left lasting impact. But, however, over time, various factors have prompted business leaders towards exploring better alternatives. Visual Basic 6 support was stopped, which means users sticking to it don’t receive regular updates and patches. The absence of active mainline support poses multiple considerable challenges – security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, limited flexibility and scalability, performance regression, and more.
Embracing modernization does not only demonstrate a commitment to innovation and progress but facilitates brand perception and reputation, improves customer trust, enhances employee morale, and more.
VB6 to C# migration – a trend worth following
If you’re still using VB6 applications, software modernization is about long-term justification and opportunities. Speaking about VB6 to C# conversion, legacy modernization and upgrade, especially considering today’s trends, is a future-proof strategy, and that for multiple good reasons.
These include:
Software longevity and support
Talent pool
Improved security
Enhanced integration
Business performance and scalability
User satisfaction and loyalty
Automated migration
Automated migration is used to convert programming languages or platforms by utilizing specialized programs. In the narrow context of handling VB6 to C# migration, by using such tools, software developers can translate legacy code directly into C# code without completely rewriting applications.
The process in a step-by-step breakdown:
Initial assessment and inventory – code analysis and cataloging of forms, modules, classes, and other important components
Initial conversion – the use of the migration tool to translate VB6 constructs to their C# counterparts and convert UI components to their .NET equivalents
Careful review – migration tools generate logs, error messages, and warning, which must be reviewed to understand potential issues
Manual intervention and refinement – rewriting certain “problematic” sections, finding appropriate .NET replacements, handling functionalities, which are more complex, and more
Thorough testing
Additional optimization and refactoring
Application deployment
Post-migration support and maintenance
Manual migration
Manual migration means moving legacy code from one, outdated technology to another without utilizing specialized programs or scripts, but rather manually transferring or rewriting outdated applications and data. To handle VB6 to C# migration without utilizing such tools, software developers must have nuanced expertise in both the original programming language and the target technology.
But how should you choose between those approaches?
VB6 and C# comparison
Let’s look more closely at the differences between VB6 and C# programming:
VB6 characteristics
Nature, paradigm – procedural programming, limited object-oriented features
Development environment – Visual Basic 6.0 IDE
Supported platforms – Windows desktop
Runtime environment – VB6 Runtime
Syntax – English-like syntax
Memory – manual memory management, automatic aspects (limited)
Library & framework – VBA library, ActiveX controls
Community and support – legacy support
C# characteristics
Nature, paradigm – object-oriented programming, supports functional concepts
Development environment – Visual Studio, powerful debugging & profiling, management tools
Supported platforms – Windows desktop, web, mobile, multiple platforms (.NET Core, .NET 5/6+)
Runtime environment – .NET framework, .NET Core, .NET 5/6+
Syntax – C-style syntax
Memory – garbage collection
Library & framework – .NET libraries, NuGet package manager for third-party libraries
Community and support – large, active community, Microsoft support (official)
Choosing between automated and manual migration
In the paragraphs below, we compared automated and manual conversion in brief:
Automated migration
Cost – generally lower
Time – faster conversion
Migration accuracy – good for standard code
Code quality – very variable
Customization – limited to tool’s capabilities
Modernization – limited to tool’s capabilities
Dependency handling – can attempt automatic conversion or offer .net equivalents
Error handling – manual review
Integration – limited to tool’s capabilities
Maintenance – might require manual tweaks after conversion
Manual migration
Cost – typically higher because of developer hours
Time – slower conversion, as code is being rewritten and adapted manually
Migration accuracy – high, if approached correctly
Code quality – clean, idiomatic, and optimized
Customization – highly flexible and adaptable
Modernization – provides opportunity to refactor and modernize
Dependency handling – deliberate decisions on redesign or replacement
Error handling – manual review
Integration – allows integration with modern .net technologies
Maintenance – better structured for simpler future maintenance
Summing up
If you start noticing:
Operational disruptions, including downtimes, unexplained errors, or crashes
Customer feedback about outdated user interfaces, lacking features, or similar customer issues
Security vulnerabilities that can’t be addressed due to the nature of the programming language
Compatibility issues with newer operating systems, software or hardware components, or databases
Performance shortfalls when handling increased loads
Integration challenges when introducing modern platforms, web services, or other
You know it’s time for modernization.
Abto Software, having the needed knowledge and expertise, assists partners by covering VB6 to C# migration. From evaluating legacy programs to performing project planning, execution, validation, as well as maintenance, our company smoothly converts outdated applications to drive business performance.
Contact us for investigation, code migration and finalization, optimization, deployment, and support.