C# and VB.NET are syntactically very different languages with very different history. As the name suggests, the C# syntax is based on the core C language originally developed by Bell Labs (AT&T) in the 1970s and eventually evolved into the fully object oriented C++ language still in use today. Much of the Java syntax is also based on this same C++ language,which is one of the reasons the two share a common look and feel. See Comparison of Java and C Sharp for more on this topic.
VB.NET has its roots in the BASIC language of the '60s with its name being an acronym for "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". In its beginning, BASIC was used in the college community as a "basic" language for first exposure to computer programming and the acronym represented the language accurately. In the '70s, the language was picked up by microcomputer manufacturers of the era to be used as both a simple ROM embedded programming language as well as a quasi operating system for input/output control. In the early '80s, the language was picked up by Microsoft and expanded significantly beyond its original intent into their "Visual Basic" language/platform that was sold throughout the 1990s as a "rapid application development" (RAD) tool for Windows programming. It competed directly against other RAD tools of the 1990s such as PowerBuilder. Even though Visual Basic was a successful development platform, it was discontinued after its 6th version (VB6) when Microsoft introduced the .NET Framework and its related Visual Studio development platform in the early 2000s.
VB.NET has its roots in the BASIC language of the '60s with its name being an acronym for "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". In its beginning, BASIC was used in the college community as a "basic" language for first exposure to computer programming and the acronym represented the language accurately. In the '70s, the language was picked up by microcomputer manufacturers of the era to be used as both a simple ROM embedded programming language as well as a quasi operating system for input/output control. In the early '80s, the language was picked up by Microsoft and expanded significantly beyond its original intent into their "Visual Basic" language/platform that was sold throughout the 1990s as a "rapid application development" (RAD) tool for Windows programming. It competed directly against other RAD tools of the 1990s such as PowerBuilder. Even though Visual Basic was a successful development platform, it was discontinued after its 6th version (VB6) when Microsoft introduced the .NET Framework and its related Visual Studio development platform in the early 2000s.
According to the Microsoft :
"Because of the previous differences between Visual Basic and C/C++, many developers assume incorrectly about the capabilities of Visual Basic .NET. Many Visual Basic developers think that Visual C# is a more powerful language than Visual Basic. In other words, Visual Basic developers assume that you can do many things in Visual C# that you cannot do in Visual Basic .NET, just as there are many things that you can do in C/C++ but cannot do in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 or earlier. This assumption is incorrect."
The "Differences Between Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET" white paper describes some of the differences between Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET. However, remember that the .NET Framework is intended to be language independent. When you must select between Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET, decide primarily based on what you already know and what you are comfortable with. It is easier for Visual Basic 6.0 developers to use Visual Basic .NET and for C++/Java programmers to use Visual C# .NET. The existing experience of a programmer far outweighs the small differences between the two languages.
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