Understanding How Many Standards Are in a VB Program

November 14, 2025 •

4 min read

While the exact number of standards in a Visual Basic (VB) program is not quantifiable, adhering to a consistent set of coding conventions is considered a fundamental best practice for professional developers. These standards are not rigid rules but practical guidelines that improve code readability, maintainability, and long-term quality for individuals and teams.

Quick Summary

Coding standards in Visual Basic do not have a fixed number but are a collection of best practices covering naming, formatting, commenting, and program structure. These guidelines ensure consistent, readable, and maintainable code across projects, making development and collaboration more efficient.

Key Points

Not a Fixed Number: The term "standards" in VB refers to a collection of coding conventions and best practices, not a quantifiable number of rules.
Promote Readability: VB standards, such as consistent naming and formatting, are primarily used to make code more readable and easier for developers to understand.
Improve Maintainability: Adhering to conventions for commenting and structure ensures that code is more maintainable over time, reducing future costs and debugging efforts.
Use Naming Conventions: Standardized naming (e.g., PascalCase for methods, UPPER_CASE for constants) helps clarify the purpose and type of variables and procedures.
Prioritize Best Practices: For modern development, using Option Explicit, avoiding Variant data types, and implementing Try...Catch for error handling are critical best practices.
VB 6.0 vs. VB.NET: Standards have evolved significantly between classic VB and modern VB.NET, especially regarding object-oriented programming, data types, and error handling.
Consistency is Key: The most important aspect of any standard is consistency. Choosing and sticking to a set of conventions is more valuable than the specific conventions themselves.

Visual Basic Standards: Guidelines, Not Commandments

When asking "How many standards are in a VB?", it's important to understand that you're not asking for a number but for a collection of conventions. Unlike a specification with a fixed number of rules, coding standards are dynamic and can be adapted by teams to fit their specific needs. However, a core set of principles, many of which are promoted by Microsoft, form the basis of most effective VB standards. Adopting these standards offers numerous benefits, including reduced maintenance costs, fewer bugs, and smoother collaboration.

Naming Conventions

Effective naming is arguably one of the most visible and important aspects of any coding standard. It allows for quick recognition of an element's purpose and type.

PascalCase: Recommended for function, method, class, structure, and module names. Example: CalculateTotal, EmployeeName.
camelCase: Used for local variables and parameters. Example: maxElement, currentFile.
UPPER_CASE: Reserved for named constants. Words are separated by underscores. Example: BUFFER_SIZE, MEMORY_ERROR.
Prefixes (Hungarian Notation): Used in classic Visual Basic for indicating data type (s for string, i for integer) and scope (g for global, m for module-level). While less critical in modern VB.NET due to improved tooling, it remains a common standard, especially in legacy projects.

Formatting and Layout Conventions

Proper formatting makes code easier to read and follow. Consistent indentation and use of whitespace are critical for improving code clarity.

Indentation: Use a consistent indentation, such as four spaces, for nested blocks of code. This helps visualize the program's logical structure.
One Statement Per Line: Avoid using the colon (:) to combine multiple statements on a single line. This improves readability and is a widely accepted practice.
Line Continuations: Use implicit line continuation where possible and the underscore (_) sparingly for readability. Manual indentation of continuation lines is also a best practice.
Blank Lines: Use blank lines to separate logical sections of code, such as between procedure definitions or variable declarations.

Commenting and Documentation

Comments are crucial for explaining the why behind the code, rather than simply restating the what. A robust standard includes rules for both block and inline comments.

Procedure Headers: A brief comment block at the start of each procedure should describe its function, parameters, and return values.
Inline Comments: Use inline comments sparingly to explain complex or non-obvious implementation details.
Separate Lines: For clarity, comments should generally be placed on a separate line rather than at the end of a line of code.
Start with Uppercase: Start comment text with an uppercase letter and end with a period.

Program Structure and Language Usage

Beyond style, standards dictate best practices for language features to improve robustness and efficiency.

Explicit Variable Declaration: Always use Option Explicit at the top of every module to enforce explicit variable declaration. This prevents bugs from typos and avoids the use of slow Variant data types.
Variable Scope: Declare variables with the smallest possible scope (Private or local) to minimize potential side effects and improve modularity. Global variables should be used with extreme caution.
Data Types: Avoid the Variant data type and use specific, appropriate data types (Integer, String, etc.) to optimize performance and memory usage.
Error Handling: Utilize structured exception handling with Try...Catch...Finally blocks in modern VB.NET instead of the outdated On Error GoTo.

VB 6.0 vs. VB.NET Standards Comparison Table

There are some key differences in standards and best practices between classic Visual Basic (VB 6.0) and the modern, object-oriented VB.NET.


Feature	Classic VB 6.0	Modern VB.NET	Reasoning for Change
Naming Conventions	Heavy reliance on Hungarian notation prefixes for type and scope (`txt` for textbox, `g` for global).	Focus on more descriptive, self-documenting names using PascalCase and camelCase.	Better IDEs provide type information, reducing the need for prefixes. Emphasis on readability over conciseness.
Error Handling	Primarily relies on unstructured `On Error GoTo` statements, which can lead to "spaghetti code".	Supports robust, structured `Try...Catch...Finally` blocks for more reliable exception handling.	Structured exception handling is safer and more readable, preventing code flow issues associated with `GoTo` statements.
Data Types	Frequent use of the versatile but inefficient `Variant` data type. `Integer` is 16-bit.	Discourages `Variant` in favor of specific types. `Integer` is 32-bit, `Long` is 64-bit.	Strong typing at compile time ensures greater performance and correctness. Allows developers to catch type-mismatch errors earlier.
Procedural vs. OOP	Primarily procedural with some object capabilities. Code is often placed in forms and modules.	Fully object-oriented, with a focus on creating reusable classes and separating business logic from the user interface.	Embracing OOP principles leads to more maintainable, scalable, and reusable code, especially in large applications.

Conclusion: The Goal of Visual Basic Standards

There is no final, definitive answer to "how many standards are in a VB?" because the term refers to a comprehensive set of programming best practices. The goal is not to count rules but to internalize a philosophy of writing clean, clear, and efficient code. By adopting consistent conventions for naming, formatting, commenting, and leveraging modern language features, developers can significantly improve the quality of their Visual Basic applications. Adhering to these principles transforms coding from a solitary task into a collaborative effort, ensuring that projects remain manageable and robust throughout their lifecycle.

Additional Resources

For more detailed information, consult the Microsoft Learn documentation on Visual Basic coding conventions. You can also find numerous articles and guides, such as those from eident.co.uk and James Madison University, which offer historical and practical perspectives on VB standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main purpose of coding standards in Visual Basic is to improve code readability, consistency, and maintainability. This helps teams collaborate more effectively, reduces errors, and makes the code easier to understand and debug over the long term.

While Hungarian notation was common in classic VB 6.0, it is less necessary in modern VB.NET because the language and development environment provide better tools for tracking variable types. Many modern style guides prefer descriptive names using PascalCase or camelCase without type prefixes, but consistency within a project is most important.

Modern VB.NET standards recommend using structured exception handling with Try...Catch...Finally blocks. This is a significant improvement over the older On Error GoTo statements used in classic VB, as it provides a clearer and safer way to manage errors.

Option Explicit is a crucial standard because it forces developers to declare all variables explicitly. This prevents bugs caused by typos and helps avoid the use of the less-efficient Variant data type, leading to cleaner and faster code.

The standard for naming constants is to use all uppercase letters, with underscores separating words. This clearly distinguishes constants from variables and other elements in the code.

It is better to use specific data types like String, Integer, or Double whenever possible. The Variant type is less efficient in terms of performance and memory and can introduce hidden type conversion bugs.

A standard practice is to use a consistent indentation, typically four spaces per level, for all nested blocks of code. This practice makes the program's structure clear and readable.