7/11/22, 8:31 PM Tutorial: Create a simple Visual Basic (VB) console app - Visual Studio (Windows) | Microsoft Docs

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Tutorial: Create a simple Visual Basic

(VB) console app
Article • 06/07/2022 • 9 minutes to read • 8 contributors  

In this article
Prerequisites
Create a project
Run the app
Add code to ask for user input
Extra credit: Add two numbers
Add Git source control
Clean up resources
Next steps
See also

Applies to: Visual Studio Visual Studio for Mac Visual Studio Code

This article shows how you'll 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'll 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:

＂ Create a Visual Studio project

＂ Run the default application
＂ Add code to ask for user input
＂ Extra credit: Add two numbers
＂ Add Git source control
＂ Clean up resources

Prerequisites

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

1. Open Visual Studio.

2. On the start window, choose Create a new project.

3. In the Create a new project window, choose Visual Basic from the Language list.
Next, choose Windows from the Platform list and Console from the Project types
list.

After you apply these language, platform, and project type filters, choose the
Console App template, and then choose Next.

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７ Note

If you do not see the Console App template, you can install it from the Create
a new project window. In the Not finding what you're looking for? message,
choose the Install more tools and features link.

Then, in the Visual Studio Installer, choose the .NET desktop development
workload.

After that, choose the Modify button in the Visual Studio Installer. You might
be prompted to save your work. Next, choose Continue to install the
workload. Then, return to step 2 in this Create a project procedure.

4. In the Configure your new project window, enter WhatIsYourName in the Project
name box. Then, choose Next.

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5. In the Additional information window, .NET 6.0 (Long-term support) should

already be selected for your target framework. If not, select .NET 6.0 (Long-term
support). Then, choose Create.

Visual Studio opens your new project.

Run the app

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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

1. Select the WhatIsYourName button or press F5 to run the default code in Debug
mode.

2. When the app runs in the Microsoft Visual Studio Debug Console, "Hello World!"
displays. Press any key to close the debug console window and end the app:

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).

1. In the Build menu, choose Build Solution.

2. In Solution Explorer, right-click on WhatIsYourName and choose Open File in File

Explorer.

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3. In File Explorer, navigate to the bin\Debug\core6.0 directory and run

WhatIsYourName.exe.

4. The Main procedure terminates after its single statement executes and the console
window closes immediately. To keep the console visible until the user presses a
key, see the next section.

Add code to ask for user input

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

1. Enter the following Visual Basic code after the Sub Main(args As String()) line
and before the End Sub line, replacing the WriteLine line:

VB ＝ Copy

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)

Write and WriteLine write a string to the console.

ReadLine reads input from the console, in this case a string.
DateTime represents a datetime, and Now returns the current time.
ReadKey() pauses the app and waits for a keypress.

2. Select the WhatIsYourName button or press F5 to build and run your first app in
Debug mode.

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3. When the debug console window opens, enter your name. Your console window
should look similar to the following screenshot:

4. Press any key to end the app, and then press any key to close the debug console
window.

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:

VB ＝ Copy

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:

VB ＝ Copy

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")

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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 under "Run the app".

Add Git source control

Now that you've created an app, 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.

 Tip

Git is the most widely used modern version control system, so whether you're a
professional developer or you're learning how to code, Git can be very useful. If
you're new to Git, the https://git-scm.com/ website is a good place to start.
There, you can find cheat sheets, a popular online book, and Git Basics videos.

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 corner 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.

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The repository name auto-populates 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.

The first icon with the arrows shows 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. You can also choose to view these commits first. To do so,
select the icon, and then select View Outgoing/Incoming.
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The second icon with 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.

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.

Build a library with Visual Basic and the .NET Core SDK in Visual Studio

See also
Visual Basic language walkthroughs
Visual Basic language reference
IntelliSense for Visual Basic code files

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