Visual Basic Instinct : Top Sites

Top Sites

At VBI, each site is rated on a scale from 1 to 6. This is a list of the twenty top sites we've rated.

	Edanmo's VB Page
This site is all about advanced source code. The source code itself is outstanding -- VB source for custom controls you have dreamed about and system operations you've wanted to perform. On top of that, you get a bunch of free pre-compiled controls and time saving type libraries ready for use.

	vbAccelerator
An absolutely excellent site! The source code, custom controls, and in-house articles stand out in the crowd of Visual Basic sites. There's nothing more to say.

	VBnet
VBnet focuses mainly on using the Windows API from Visual Basic. The site includes tons and tons of code samples on how to perform any given task using API calls. You must be in serious trouble if you cannot find a solution at VBnet. As part of VBnet's philosophy, the code isn't contained in downloadable form; rather, it's listed entirely in the article. Inconvenient if there is a lot of code to copy, but more convenient when you want to browse through it to get the general idea. All in al...

	Brad's VB-32 Programs & Samples
A real top site. The source code available at Brad's reveals the downsides to Microsoft's common controls by taking them places you've only dreamed, and demonstrates a lot of API functions available. The site is only updated at irregular intervals. This may discourage you from returning, but check in now and then to catch the few updates. It may be worth it.

	VB Web
An excellent site. The VB Web contains numerous tutorials on all flavours of Visual Basic development, with a vast source collection and well structured content.

	AllApi.net
AllApi.net contains a lot of API information for VB developers. They have a lot of source code and a fair set of tutorials, and provide a good resource. The most important feature at AllApi.net is the API Guide. This excellent piece of software contains a searchable index of the entire API, with descriptions and examples for each function. A must-have if you regularly work with API calls.

	Carl & Gary's Visual Basic Home Page
Carl & Gary's was one of the first Visual Basic sites, and they benefit from their long experience. The site contains an enourmous amount of information, and they cover every aspect of Visual Basic programming. However, the information is unstructured and hard to navigate. The Links section, by their own admission, contains 99% of the content, and the table of contents for this section is endless.

	Common Controls Replacement Project
Microsoft provides VB developers with control wrappers for the Windows common controls API -- an often used resource for GUI developers. The CCRP intends to replace Microsoft's wrapper with new and improved wrapper controls that impose fewer limitations on the programmers, increase our opportunities and ease our work. All controls developed with the CCRP are free, but they have decided to keep their source to themselves. This shouldn't stop you from using their controls, though.

	Cool Visual Basic
Cool Visual Basic is a large information base, focusing on in-depth technical articles and product reviews.

	DevX Guide to Visual Basic 7.0
The site brings a good overview of the new features and issues in Visual Basic 7.0. It is a spin-off from Visual Basic Programmer's Journal and the Windows Developer's Exchange, and has a wide range of technical writers.

	DirectX for Visual Basic
An excellent site for DirectX information. The author goes to great lengths to satisfy all levels of experience in his audience, as he guides the user through the entire world of DirectX. The only downside is the lack of a search function -- there is so much code, and so many tutorials, finding the one document that deals with a specific problem can be tough.

	FreeVBCode
This site is a large and well sorted collection of source code. The code pieces range from banal to excellent, and should satisfy all levels of expertise.

	Introduction to Visual Basic 5.0 Programming

	Just VB Jobs
A very good employment site for Visual Basic developers. The site contains jobs either exclusively for or including VB competence, and features jobs all over the world. A flexible search routine makes the site easy to navigate. Both recruiters and employees can register and submit information online, and information can be automatically sent your way when someone has taken an interest in your resume or job offer. An extra star is awarded for orienting themselves at the international market...

	Microsoft Developer's Network
Microsoft's Developer's Network provides information mainly to those that subscribe to the MSDN CDs. But a small sample of the files on the CD are placed online.

	VB by JC
The author provides a small, but delicat set of articles and projects exploring advanced programming issues. The samples are well worth looking at just for the fun of exploration, and can serve you well if you are into this sort of problem. With so few items, a search option would be inappropriate, and no points can be deducted on those grounds. The site is nice and well structured, so the only negative side is in fact quantitive.

	VB-2-The-Max
VB-2-The-Max is based around Francesco Balena, Italian VBPJ editor and regular VBITS speaker. The site is a tremendous resource for intermediate to advanced programmers, with lots of small tweaks and code samples you can utilize in your applications. The site appears somewhat unstructured, but the search option remedies this in the usual way, so chances are good you will find any relevant items they have to offer you.

	VBeXpress 2000

	VBWire

	VB-World
The maintainers of VB-World do an excellent job in gathering information. Their website contains a lot of exciting and ground breaking source code, most of dealing with the Windows API. There are some book and software reviews here, but it is not this that makes the site worthwhile. A minor downside is the structuring of the information. The items are divided into categories, but it is not always intuitive where an item might be located; books are stored in Graphics and Multimedia, which I fi...