VB Programmer got in trouble
 

Hello everyone

I used to be an advanced Visual Basic before I switch to Linux. Now, I'm trying to find some way to start programming in Linux, but I need the transition to be smooth, since I've got enough pain while switching from windows to Linux.
I need some simple graphical programming environment that can guide me into more advanced and Linux-friendly programming, I mean I want a smooth start towards the real Linux deep programming.
If someone can guide me to a quick & painless transition, it will be a wonderful grace..........

Thanks in advance...

Depending on what you want to do, there are a number of languages you can pursue:

C (classic linux)
C# (with Mono Framework)
Java (Eclipse is an excellent IDE)
Python (Super easy, IMO)

There is an approach that may simultaneously help you across the divide and provide useful programming results at the same time. I suggest that you download and install Netbeans --

http://www.netbeans.org/

-- which is a free Java IDE, and play with it. The advantage of Java is that it is portable between platforms and it's easy to get started constructing GUI interfaces and writing useful code. The drawbacks are that Java is slower than many other languages, it tends to be excessively pedantic and wordy, and its internal structure leaves a lot to be desired. But since you are just coming from Visual Basic, you certainly won't notice those details.

After you have sampled Java, you will be in a better position to consider C++ and other similar languages, because they all have the same basic syntax.

Because you're coming from Visual Basic, while you're learning Java I strongly recommend that you pay particular attention to objects and classes. Understanding them is essential to your progress in modern programming.

...

The QT toolkit is the basis of the kde desktop . For gnome see GTK+ - The GIMP toolkit, a widget toolkit used by GNOME applications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTK%2B

If you are an advanced VB programmer, then you can look for Gambas development environment. It is also based on basic interpreter but it says not a clone of VB.

You didn't mention which version of VB you used to use. Java SE is roughly equivalent to VB6 and earlier. Java EE is more like VB.Net, or maybe the whole .Net framework.

I found the transition from VB.Net to C#.Net to be almost transparent. You can use "C#.Mono", but I think there are usually better approaches. I would only do that if you are working with existing C# code. The differences between C# and Java are minor, and Java is more universal and implements OO standards better. In spite of the name, C# is much more closely related to Java than to C or C++.

If you are looking more for a VB6 level approach, Python might be a good choice as someone already mentioned. It is easy to learn, and it will run on all of the popular architectures. If you want to program for the web, PHP is quite popular, and Perl still has quite a following. You can get a lot of help from their communities.

I wish you the best in your journey.

Thanks to ALL for your helpful answers.
Now I have concluded that I may use Gambas, Python, or Java. but Qt & GTK+ seems a little complicated for me at this moment.
I've already tried Gambas2, it was nice but I felt uncomfortable with it, I feel it is sort of unstable. I'm going to look for Java & Python, hoping I can get a better experience.
But, Is there a powerful Python Graphical Programming Environment? Something similar to VB Graphical Environment? (by the way I used to code with VB6).

Thanks in advance

Thanks to ALL for your helpful answers.
Now I have concluded that I may use Gambas, Python, or Java. but Qt & GTK+ seems a little complicated for me at this moment.
I've already tried Gambas2, it was nice but I felt uncomfortable with it, I feel it is sort of unstable. I'm going to look for Java & Python, hoping I can get a better experience.
But, Is there a powerful Python Graphical Programming Environment? Something similar to VB Graphical Environment? (by the way I used to code with VB6).

Thanks in advance

You can use Geany for your IDE needs. It will allow you programming in a lot of languages. Or else you can use NetBeans. It has I guess a patch for Python support.