The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Visual Basic

In 1988, Alan Cooper showed Bill Gates Tripod, a groundbreaking shell construction kit for Windows. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface allowed users to create personalized shells without deep OS knowledge. This evolved into Visual Basic, a revolutionary visual programming language that empowered countless developers, especially those transitioning from mainframes. VB's ease of use democratized programming, making it accessible to millions. However, Microsoft's shift to .NET and VB.NET, while adding features, sacrificed the simplicity that made VB so popular, leading many developers to abandon it. This story highlights the tension between innovation and business decisions, and the lasting impact of a seemingly simple tool.