Visual Basic —

Understand Where You Are

Today large-scale Visual Basic 6 distributed systems, such as the one depicted in Figure 15-3, are normally attempting to achieve high levels of integration within a business. This implies integration among systems that might require links to e-mail, workflow, document image databases, multiple conventional data sources, and the Internet.

To achieve the necessary integration and performance, you might need to use multiple APIs and protocols. The technical skills required to architect, design, implement, and support such systems are significantly higher level than those called for in traditional mature environments.

Figure 15-3 A modern corporate environment

With so many technologies and products involved, the development environment and tools are very fluid. The tools are increasingly complex in order to cope with the complexity of the environment. With the move from Visual Basic 3 to Visual Basic 6, we have seen Visual Basic move through three major leaps in functionality and capability. Practice and skills in this environment are immature.