Creating a HelloWorld Console Application Using VisualBasic.NET

This tutorial will walk you through the steps to create a simple console application in VisualBasic.Net (VB.Net). For our example, we are going to use the classic "Hello World" program, which is usually the first program a person uses when learning a new language or concept. Please note that you can use either Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Basic Express 2005 for this example. You can download a free copy of the latter at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/ . Ok, let's get started!

If you've never programmed before, learning a new programming language can be a bit intimidating. I promise this will be as painless as possible and the best part is that Visual Basic is one of the easiest languages to use. Once you start programming you will never want to stop! We are going to start with a simple console application that will display the words "Hello World" in the command prompt. If you are familiar with Visual Studio you know that you can create window and website applications that contain a GUI, which is simply a Graphical User Interface, rather than textual. A console application is in fact the opposite. It allows us to create a textual interface and does not contain a graphical one; instead it outputs the results in the command prompt. (Which I'm sure all you DOS fans out there like). A lot of people use a console application to test out a program because it is quicker and when you are ready to build the actual application you know which parts of the code will work. Let's get started!

1. To open up a new Console Application, make sure Visual Basic Express is up and running and click File > New Project. You will notice other installed Visual Studio templates such as Windows Applications and Class Library. Left click on Console Application.

2. Change the name of the Console Application to HelloWorld (make sure this is one word) and click OK. Note: Since we are using Visual Basic Express, vb.net is the only language we can use. If Visual Studio were being used there is a dropdown box where the language can be changed).