XPost: comp.lang.visual.basic.misc, microsoft.public.scripting.vbscript   
   From: nodoby@devnull.spamcop.net   
      
   Hi,   
      
   A sincere Thank You! for your clear and concise explanation!  Your post ties   
   a lot of things together for me that I'd have been a long time, if ever,   
   getting clear in my own head.  My research has come across articles and   
   pages concerning many parts of the information you gave, but without the   
   tie-ins and clarifications you are so good at.   
      Your post is good enough I am going to make a document out of it so I can   
   study it a little closer; so far I've only read it through a couple of   
   times.   
      
   From the FWIW and irrelevant information department:  I am an analytic type   
   by nature, education and experience, disabled by DJD and arthritis.   
   Unfortunately I'm also a brain concussion victim about 7 years ago now and   
   am working hard to overcome the concussion-induced memory retrieval problems   
   it caused, which also manifests itself as a learning disability.   
     If I knew something once, I still know it, but, learning NEW things can be   
   a real chore. e.g.  If I learn something today, I may have to wait until   
   tomorrow or even over the next several days even, to remember that I know   
   that!   
      My doctor prescribed mental exercises, and programming is part of that   
   effort, on top of being something I enjoy.  With proper concentration and   
   attention I am now semi-instantly able to remember things during short   
   periods of time.   
      I've now chosen VB-(whatever)  as my "next step" in the process.   
      
   So I sincerely thank you for your efforts and the information you provided   
   on my behalf.   
      
   Regards,   
      
   Pop`   
   --   
   People don't complain about what's right;   
   only about what's wrong.   
   What's wrong with saying something's   
   right now and then?   
      
      
   mayayana wrote:   
   > Word and Excel are using VBA. There's VB,   
   > VBScript, VB.Net and VBA for MS Office users.   
   > VB.Net has been called simply VB more recently.   
   >   
   >  It can all get very confusing. What they have in common   
   > is similar language structure.   
   >   
   > VBScript -   
   > VBS is interpreted code (script). It runs via   
   > some kind of host. That can be Internet Explorer (for   
   > webpage scripting), the Windows Script Host (for   
   > scripting in Windows) or also as server-side script   
   > in ASP. It's all VBScript but it might just as well be   
   > three different languages. VBScript itself is fairly limited.   
   > What gives it most of its functionality is the availability   
   > of COM objects. Since the COM objects vary depending   
   > on the environment, the scripting is entirely different   
   > in each environment. For instance, in IE you're mainly using   
   > the IE Document Object Model. If you use script for   
   > Word you're using the Word Object Model. On Windows   
   > there are several native objects that provide access to   
   > the file system, Registry, GUI, etc. (But that's somewhat of   
   > a hodge-podge.)   
   >   
   > VBS was originally created to wreak havoc for javascript   
   > in Netscape by creating an incompatible web scripting   
   > competitor. It never took off for web use, but later MS   
   > adapted it and added a few odds and ends to satisfy Windows   
   > admins who wanted some kind of updated, GUI-capable,   
   > version of BAT files. The result was a willy nilly collection   
   > of functions and objects that were collectively dubbed the   
   > Windows Script Host.   
   >   (That history is a big part of the reason that Internet Explorer   
   > is such a security problem. MS never clearly delineated   
   > web scripting from Windows scripting. They just added   
   > the creation of COM objects for Windows scripting and   
   > defined "safe" or "unsafe" scripting in order to attempt   
   > keeping the two types of scripting separate. Thus in Microsoft's   
   > javascript there's ActiveXObject, which can load a   
   > COM object, but that's not part of standard javascript.)   
   >   
   > VB -   
   >   
   >   VB is programming code that compiles to EXE files.   
   > Mainly VB5 and VB6 are still in use. VB has an IDE for   
   > "RAD" software development, and a flexibility that allows   
   > it to be a simple system using ActiveX at one extreme,   
   > or a mainly Win32-API system similar to C++ at the   
   > other extreme - and everything in between. As Richard   
   > Mueller said, VBS can often be compiled as VB with   
   > very little editing, but actually that's only at the very beginner   
   > level of VB where one is using late-bound COM objects   
   > and ignoring data types. In actual practice, VBS is interpreted   
   > and VB is compiled to native code, so they have very little   
   > in common other than general syntax similarities.   
   >   
   > VB.Net -   
   >   
   > VB.Net is basically Microsoft's version of Java using a VB-style   
   > syntax. The express edition is free. I think it's VB.Net 2005.   
   > MS is now calling VB.Net just "VB". They want to phase out   
   > actual VB (and most C++ usage) in favor of sandboxed,   
   > JIT compiled software (like Java). .Net runs on top of a virtual   
   > machine which wraps the Win32 API. In the case of .Net the VM   
   > is called the ".Net framework" and runs about 70 MB. There   
   > are 3 (going on 4) versions of that at this point.   
   >    Basically, Java presented a sandboxed, object-oriented   
   > language that looked familiar to C++ programmers. .Net   
   > does a similar thing, adding other language versions. So   
   > VB.Net is sort of MS Java designed to look familiar to   
   > VB programmers.   
   >   
   > VBA -   
   >   
   >  Sometiumes VB is referred to as VBA, but as far   
   > as I know VBA generally refers to the VB-like code   
   > that can be used to write automations for MS Office   
   > programs. I don't know much about that. It seems to   
   > be somewhat different in syntax from both VB and   
   > VBScript.   
   >   
   >   So in order to find information you need to understand   
   > some of the differences and some of the politics involved   
   > here. And you also need to consider what you want to   
   > use it for. For basic Windows scripting, VBS and the   
   > Windows Script Host is what you want. VB is best for   
   > "desktop software", but VB is also officially unsupported   
   > at this point and it may be hard to find the software. (VB6   
   > or Visual Studio 6) VB.Net may be good if you're creating   
   > local software or server-side web-based software. It's   
   > basically like Java in that way: A big VM dependency,   
   > slow operation, easily decompiled, etc. But most of   
   > the experts that I've read seem to think that MS created   
   > "what Java should have been". And it's got the advantage   
   > of being a Microsoft product. So apparently .Net would   
   > be a good choice if you're running server-side on a Windows   
   > server.   
   >   
   >  Also, a bit of version info.:   
   >   
   >  As is typical for Microsoft, their version numbers are   
   > a mess of marketing moves. The Windows Script Host   
   > is currently at v. 5.6, but in the past it had two concurrent   
   > versioning systems. MS pretty much skipped v. 3 and 4   
   > to straighten it out.   
   >   
   >  VB is VB 5 or 6, which are nearly the same. They also   
   > coincide with Visual Studio 5 and 6.   
   >   
   >  VB.Net was introduced as VB.Net 1. Then there was   
      
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