macOS is it possible to write visual basic

[Harmush]

my uni course needs me to write a piece of sortware in visual basic but i don't have any windows machines at home. how can i do this? i was thinking bootcamp and doing it that way but i don't own a copy of windows either. can i write visual basic in anything else?

 

[lazydog]

You could give RealBasic a look. It's supposed to be compatible with VisualBasic to a certain degree - not sure how much though. Also it's not free.

b e n

 

[itickings]

If they expect you to use Visual Basic, you probably won't be able to get away with alternatives in my experience.

Regarding the "no Windows" situation, check if your uni got a deal with Microsoft such as Microsoft Academic Alliance. Some do, and will supply interested students with an academic license and installation files for free.

 

[eviltobz]

microsoft have basic versions of their development tools available for free download. visual basic express i think it'll be called. so that just leaves you needing to acquire a copy of windows from somewhere. if you're on an intel machine, parallels and the like are good for running visual studio rather than just having to bootcamp it.

 

[Harmush]

I just checked and my Uni (LJMU). Does have academic alliance. So I can get vista and the enterprise visual basic and bootcamp them on me mac book. Thanks for pointing that out. Never checked for it as I have never had a need for it.

Thanks again

 

[ghayenga]

You could give RealBasic a look. It's supposed to be compatible with VisualBasic to a certain degree - not sure how much though. Also it's not free.

b e n

RealBasic can import VisualBasic projects, but not the other way around. So if he needs to write something in VisualBasic for a class he wouldn't be able to show them VB source code.

 

[itickings]

I just checked and my Uni (LJMU). Does have academic alliance. So I can get vista and the enterprise visual basic and bootcamp them on me mac book. Thanks for pointing that out. Never checked for it as I have never had a need for it.

Thanks again

Glad I could help. Universities usually aren't very good at advertising the program, you need to know what to look for.

While I'm not particularly fond of that specific programming language, the current generation of it is usable, and Microsoft's development environments are actually really good. Good luck!

 

[Harmush]

Yeah I really wouldn't have noticed it. But when I asked my tutor he give me the URL. I will install it on bootcamp or maybe try parallels. Thanks again lads. Really helped that did.

 

[dannomac]

I will install it on bootcamp or maybe try parallels. Thanks again lads. Really helped that did.

While they're both good products, you might want to try VMWare Fusion too. The reason I mention this is VMWare has a student price of $39.99USD compared to Parallels' $79.99USD.

 

[itickings]

While they're both good products, you might want to try VMWare Fusion too. The reason I mention this is VMWare has a student price of $39.99USD compared to Parallels' $79.99USD.

Good recommendation. However, while $39.99 is way better than $79.99, $0 is even better than $39.99.

Bootcamp is most likely already included with the computer, VMWare Fusion has a 30 day free trial available, and there is also a free trial for Parallels Desktop. Should be enough to get through a course.

Having said that, I find virtualization software like Fusion/Desktop immensely useful for the occasional use of Windows applications.

 

[weckart]

If all else fails, VirtualBox is free and Windows 7 Beta is free until August (and lighter on resources than Vista).