What Is a Visual Basic Programmer and How to Become One

By ZipRecruiter Marketplace Research Team

A Visual Basic (VB) programmer maintains older codebases that heavily used the Visual Basic programming language. As a Visual Basic programmer, your job duties include integrating old code with new applications that use newer programming languages, troubleshooting issues that arise, updating and patching snippets of code, and ensuring the continued functionality of computer software applications that rely on a codebase written primarily in Visual Basic. As fewer companies use Visual Basic in software development, your responsibilities include learning and utilizing newer programming languages to supplement your skills and help your employer adapt to new technological standards.

To pursue a career as a Visual Basic programmer, you need a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information technology and experience using a variety of computer programming languages. You can earn professional certificates in Visual Basic (VB) and Visual Studio from Microsoft and online code schools. Other programming languages to add to your list of qualifications are PHP, Java, C, C++, Python, JavaScript, and SQL. You need a background in coding and scripting, along with the ability to adapt and learn new technologies as they emerge and become standard in the industry.

Although Visual Basic is no longer a popular choice for software developers in many industries, some companies still rely on computer applications that were built using the Visual Basic programming language. Some financial institutions, particularly older banks, need Visual Basic programmers to maintain existing applications and assist in the transition to newer platforms. Health care is another industry that uses software applications founded on Visual Basic. Epic, a company that provides electronic medical records (EMR) software, uses Visual Basic and needs programmers who are fluent in the coding language.