Tutorial: Create a simple Visual Basic (VB) console app

This article shows how you use Visual Studio to create a simple Visual Basic application, a console app. In this app, you ask the user for their name, and then display it back with the current time. You also explore some features of the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE), including source control in Git. Visual Basic is a type-safe programming language that's designed to be easy to learn. A console app takes input and displays output in a command-line window, also known as a console.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

Prerequisites

If you haven't already installed Visual Studio, go to the Visual Studio downloads page to install it for free.

Create a project

First, you create a Visual Basic app project. The default project template includes all the files you need for a runnable app.

Run the app

After you select your Visual Basic project template and name your project, Visual Studio creates a Program.vb file. The default code calls the WriteLine method to display the literal string "Hello World!" in the console window.

There are two ways to run this code, inside Visual Studio in debug mode, and from your computer as a regular standalone app.

Run the app in debug mode

Run the app as a standalone

To see the output outside of Visual Studio, in a system console window, build and run the executable (.exe file).

Add code to ask for user input

Next, you add Visual Basic code that prompts you for your name and then displays it along with the current date and time. In addition, you add code that pauses the console window until the user presses a key.

Now that your new code is in the app, build and run the executable (.exe file) in a system console window, as described previously in Run the app as a standalone. Now when you press a key, the app exits, which closes the console window.

Extra credit: Add two numbers

This example shows how to read in numbers, rather than a string, and do some arithmetic. Try changing your code from:

Module Program
    Sub Main(args As String())
        Console.Write("Please enter your name: ")
        Dim name = Console.ReadLine()
        Dim currentDate = DateTime.Now
        Console.WriteLine($"Hello, {name}, on {currentDate:d} at {currentDate:t}")
        Console.Write("Press any key to continue...")
        Console.ReadKey(True)
    End Sub
End Module

to:

Module Program
    Public num1 As Integer
    Public num2 As Integer
    Public answer As Integer
    Sub Main(args As String())
        Console.Write("Type a number and press Enter")
        num1 = Console.ReadLine()
        Console.Write("Type another number to add to it and press Enter")
        num2 = Console.ReadLine()
        answer = num1 + num2
        Console.WriteLine("The answer is " & answer)
        Console.Write("Press any key to continue...")
        Console.ReadKey(True)
    End Sub
End Module

And then run the updated app as described in the earlier section, Run the app.

Add Git source control

Now that you have an application, you might want to add it to a Git repository. Visual Studio makes that process easy with Git tools you can use directly from the IDE.

To associate your code with Git, start by creating a new Git repository where your code is located:

1. In the status bar at the bottom-right of Visual Studio, select Add to Source Control, and then select Git.

   

2. In the Create a Git repository dialog box, sign in to GitHub:

   

   The repository name autopopulates based on your folder location. Your new repository is private by default, which means you're the only one who can access it.

   Tip

   Whether your repository is public or private, it's best to have a remote backup of your code stored securely on GitHub. Even if you aren't working with a team, a remote repository makes your code available to you from any computer.

3. Select Create and Push. After you create your repository, you see status details in the status bar:

   

Use Git actions in Visual Studio

Here's a brief summary of Git actions available in the Visual Studio status bar:

• The Up/Down arrows show how many outgoing/incoming commits are in your current branch. You can use this icon to pull any incoming commits or push any outgoing commits.

• To view a specific commit, select the Up/Down arrow, and then select View Outgoing/Incoming.

• The Pencil shows the number of uncommitted changes to your code. You can select this icon to view those changes in the Git Changes window.

The Git menu provides tools for repository actions on your files. You can use git fetch, pull, push, and sync for version control in Visual Studio.

To learn more about how to use Git with your app, see the Visual Studio version control documentation.

Clean up resources

If you're not going to continue to use this app, delete the project.

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click on WhatIsYourName to open the context menu for your project. Then, select Open Folder in File Explorer.

2. Close Visual Studio.

3. In the File Explorer dialog, go up two levels of folders.

4. Right-click on the WhatIsYourName folder and select Delete.

Next steps

Congratulations on completing this tutorial! To learn more, see the following tutorial.

See also

• Visual Basic language walkthroughs
• Visual Basic language reference
• IntelliSense for Visual Basic code files