Which is easier to learn, Java or Visual Basic? (from an experienced programmer or novice ONLY) please!?

I have to take a required programming class to enter a Master program at UCLA.

The M.L.I.S. Program gears people for Library management and Information Technology.

The programming skills will probably never be used to program anything personally, but to aid in communicating requirements to an Information Technolgy person in the I.T. department.

I need to take the class before entering UCLA and take it in a summer (accelerated) 8 week time frame.

Which would you perceive easier to learn for a major novice who has never written a line of code in his/her life?

I did work in the I.T. world for 17 years, but never programmed as an I.T. Analyst and Storage Management person and computer operator.

Visual Basic is a lot easier to learn then Java and has been tortured by Microsoft to support OOP(object oriented programming).

However if your new IT job has to do with only databases then I recommend using Visual Basic because you can create a database in no time with it compared to Java.

If your IT job requires you to work on other operating systems besides Windows like Linux/Unix or Macs then I would not even bother with Visual Basic cause it only runs on a Windows machine. Java is supported by all major operating systems.

Here is another thing to consider. The fundamentals of programming are all the same in every language. Learning how to program with a language that has a easier syntax like Visual Basic will make learning a language with a harder and more cryptic syntax like Java easier.

Also because Java's syntax resembles C/C++, You can easily pick up C/C++(the most used language) if you choose to learn Java.

Edit* One more thing I would like to point out about Java vs Visual Basic. Java is alot more powerful , runs faster, and takes up less memory then Visual Basic.

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Hands down, Visual Basic is easier to learn. It is not nearly as powerful and efficient as Java, but I.T. is full of tradeoffs.

Visual Basic is much more readable for a novice than Java. A novice programmer can take a look at a snippet of VB and have a good degree of confidence in what it's doing. Java, on the other hand, uses more cryptic syntax that only well-seasonsed C++, C# or Java programmers can understand quickly.

There are 2 flavors of Visual Basic, VB6 and VB.NET. Of these, VB6 is easier to learn.

It depends, but I'd say VB. I haven't worked with it much, but I've seen it. Java is object-oriented which might take a little time to get used to. It's also so nit-picky that the wrong capitalization will make the whole thing freak out. But, Java is much more versatile, can be used to make cool applications on ANY platform that has a JVM (every computer does), and the cool thing about Java is that it's in everyday appliances 鈥?like cell phones, TV's, some toasters 鈥?even in car engines!

VB is a lot easier. But i would recommend studying Java, cause VB becomes less and less used(unlike Java is gaining more and more popularity)

If there is a choose, VB 6 is easier to understand and easier to code, even using SQL.

well im still an it student, and have spent 3 years at least studying c++, php, java, actionscript, a little javascript and some jsp. in my humblest opinion i think java would be easier to learn as it is modular, you do not need to know everything, you just needed to know what you want to do... i havent learned how to use VB(coz we are using linux at school) but unless you'd be making software for specialized hardware, in my humblest opinion i think java would be easier to learn, it being close to human language and all, but it is also modular. hope this helps