IT Employment

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Should I stay in Java or go to VB?

0 helpful
8 replies

by brian.kiser

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

I work for state government and have been in Java/J2EE development for about a year. I have over 10 years experience in client-server development, but have always wanted to do Internet programming. Now that I've got that opportunity in Java, I'm finding I'm not happy anymore. The tools are primitive, compared to the slick Microsoft IDE I'm used to. Most of my team has a ton of ego but hardly any experience (some of them weren't even programmers before this job). I'm constantly butting heads with several big egos and also fighting the tools. (The language itself is nice.) So now I'm unhappy every day and starting to withdraw into a shell. I miss friendly faces and the Microsoft toolset. I also miss being a pro at what I did.

So now a friend is offering me a job which will be some Visual Basic 6 and some VB.NET (maybe even some C#), depending on the project. I am strongly considering it. The only reason right now I can think to stay in Java is a possible pay increase IF I leave state government employment, because companies seem to be paying more for Java. This would be nice, but I'm miserable now. I can't imagine staying here long term.

Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

8 replies

by guruofdos

What is more important to you? What is your gut feeing? Is job satisfaction more or less important than financial remuneration?

I don't know what to advise, other than keep your options open. Internet programming is all well and good, but it has its limits. There is only so much you can do! It may surprise you that over 90% of computing devices are NOT connected to the internet or indeed any other form of network! That means an awful lot of coding in 'non-internet' languages. Embedded systems, stand alone applications, industrial control and automation, medical systems all need programmers and very few young programmers these days have the necessary background. Everyone seems to be so net-savvy, but ask them to sit and write code for a stand-alone system and they're scuppered! VB is a great language and with a correctly thought out structure, VB can do virtually anything. C is more 'industrial' and low level but requires dedication and hard work to really get good at it. Anyone canwrite C programs but a GOOD programmer can write tight, neat, small, fast and efficient programs...there IS a difference!

I would consider not only where you want to be tomorrow, but also where you want to be in 1, 5 and 10 years time...that MAY influence your thinking!

by mhfl

Hello,

Maybe the better option now is first to look inside you, and identify what you want... Be happy with the VB or well paid with Java. Note that Microsoft have a prevision that VB will be dead as the way we know in +/- 8 years.
So, even if you look to go into VB, try to start to move to another language (C# or even staying up-to-date with Java)....

Hope I helped.

Marcos

by brian.kiser

Marcos,

Can you provide a link or elaborate on your statement about VB being dead in +/-8 years? Are you referring to the fact that VB.NET will replace older versions of VB?

by guruofdos

Microsoft are pushing the drive that in their opinion, the entire world has to be 'internet enabled'. The 8 years or so Marcos mentions refers to support for VB...any M$ product is supported for 5 years, with an additional 3 years limited support before all support is withdrawn. W98 now has very little support and even the support for VB6 on the MSDN site is very limited. But as I said before, the world of programming is NOT all internet related...I continue to use VB6 for stand alone apps as Ineed no part of .NET!

by henry888chin

If the new opportunity is a good one that will further your career, you should consider to take it! To know more skills does not hurt. The trick is that you want to get FREE education while working on the new technologies.

In your case, I thinkthat it is a very good opportunity for you to move on UNLESS you know that you will get out of this miserable situation soon. I once got stuck in the similar situation and another company want to hire me with a promise to train me in the new language (VB6, I was working on a project using Ada95), I took it and I had no regret. I have less pressure that before and making more monies too!

In any case, you must make your own decision.

by brian.kiser

Unfortunately, the pay is the same. I have maxed out the pay grades for Kentucky state government, so NO move will net me a pay increase.

I have just under a year of Java and J2EE under my belt. I'm certainly no expert at this point. I know enough to know there's a lot more to learn. ;) I guess it's better than nothing.

I am probably going to accept this move. VB is pretty close to Visual FoxPro, which I used to love (did some version of FoxPro for about 8 years). Visual Basic is really common and lots of people use it, so I'll have a "mainstream" skill under my belt. Relatively easy to learn means I'll be competent quickly. It's got some good pluses.

I'm a little concerned that the popularity of the language will make competition for jobs steep. Other than that, I can't think of any negatives.

I may get to do some C#, which would be really nice, too.

Thanks to everyone for the comments!

by don_c

You got to be true to thy self. Being unhappy is not good. My dad always told me that if I didn?t like what I was doing than change it. Cause he didn?t me to turn like him a grumpy old man

This discussion is closed to new replies.