Links

There are HUNDREDS of VB sites out there, but no one can remember them all. Here is a selection...

Please note that this is a wiki so feel free to add your own links in the appropiate section or to remove/correct any links found to be dead.

Support

• How to ask questions - If you expect to get an answer, try giving as much information as possible
• Google - Contrary to popular belief, you are most likely NOT the first person to come across your problem.
• Google guide - How to use Google effectively
• VB6 online help - An online version of the VB6 help in MSDN
• MSDN library online - Everything you need to know about windows and the API

VB Sites

General

• Karl E. Petersons classic VB code - A site devoted to Classic VB (VB6) code, samples, etc...
• VB Accelerator - Free code/libraries/information on anything (VB related)
• VBWire - Visual Basic news and information source
• VBnet - Visual Basic developers resource centre
• Spider-Bit - Visual Basic products/tutorials/sources
• GH-Gold VB Keycodes - Special keys used in VB - If you need to use special characters like Carriage Return, Backspace, etc (note you can see a list of most keywords in VB by pressing Ctrl+Space or Ctrl+J).
• VBRun - The Microsoft Visual Basic 6 resource center.
• DevX.com - Articles and source code sorted by difficulty degree.
• EliteVB Archive - Articles and source code for various things (this is an archive of the EliteVB site)
• XtremeVBTalk - one of the oldest support forums for VB on the web, experts are always around to help

Communications

• Winsockvb.com - Articles, tutorials and source code regarding the Winsock control.
• VB Internet programming - All you want to know about internet programming with Visual Basic.
• Dial-up networking - Dial-up networking examples/tutorial using the RAS api.

Games

• GPWiki - The Visual Basic game programming wiki

Graphics

• Shrinkwrap VB - Older site about VfW video capture and AVI generation in VB
• DirectX4VB - The source for DirectX and multimedia programming in Visual Basic
• GDI+ Type Library for VB6 - A complete type library with additional samples for GDI+ in VB6

Performance

• VBSpeed - For all the speed junkies, you'll find lots of very fast functions and excellent optimisation tips here

Strings

• Vovisoft VB6 Unicode functions - Series of VB6 functions for handling Unicode text and converting between different formats (Page in Vietnamese)

Tutorials

• Luckey's vb gaming site - If you need to develop you own game using VB, this is for you. Tutorials and sources available.

Source code sites

• FreeVBCode - Exactly what it says... Free VB code!
• No more pasting - Don't paste code in the channel. Here will do
• Planet Source Code - Planet Source Code. Millions of lines of visual basic, of all standards

Databases

• Working with databases - The basics of SQL and using databases in VB.
• Using Ado.NET
• VBA For MS Access - Quite a good site about database MS Access development

Connection strings

• Carl Prothman's Connection strings - The world's largest collection of Connection Strings on the Internet!
• ConnectionStrings.com - Another site listing Database Connection strings.

SQL

• SQLCourse.com - A unique introductory SQL tutorial

Media libraries

Icons

• Leo's Icon Archive - A HUGE libaray of icons of all styles and subjects
• The Icon Factory - Another large freeware icon site

Programming practices

• Making Wrong Code Look Wrong - Article on the common misconceptions about Hungarian notation and its use

Standards

• NTFS documentation - A bit off for Visual Basic, but still, one of the BEST resources for NTFS information.
• XHTML reference - Everything you need to know about XHTML.

3rd party utilities

VB extras

• ApiViewer 2004 - An updated version of ApiViewer, contains all declarations from Windows XP and lower.
• MZ-Tools - A plugin to VB with a host of very useful features

Install creators

• InnoSetup - The best installer in the west.
• NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) - Good competition.

Editors

• REd - Fully COM controllable and modular resource editor (still under development)
• Resource Hacker - Simple easy to use resource editor
• UltraEdit32 - Commercial programmer's text editor, but worth every penny
• XN Resource editor - Open source (Delphi 2006) resource editor

Humour

• Dilbert - A satirical look at office life in the IT industry
• The Old New Thing - A blog by Raymond Chen, long-time Microsoft employee/insider that covers various programming concepts, ideas, and real life. Be sure and check out the comments for technical & comedy gold.
• Human virus scanner - What do YOU suffer from?