What is the difference between VB.NET and C#?
Quick Answer
Both compile to the same IL and run on the same CLR, so they have the same capabilities and can be mixed in one solution. The differences are syntax and defaults: VB.NET is case-insensitive, verbose (End If, End Sub), has language features like Handles/WithEvents, XML literals, optional parameters by default, and (historically) permissive late binding unless Option Strict On.
They're two front-ends for the same platform — same IL, same CLR, same base class library — so anything you can do in one you can do in the other, and you can have both in one solution. The differences are surface-level: VB.NET is case-insensitive and wordier with things like End If and End Sub, it has WithEvents and Handles for events instead of C#'s += syntax, and by default it's looser about type conversions and late binding unless you turn Option Strict On. In practice new development is all C# because that's where the tooling and language features go, and VB.NET is about maintaining existing business applications.
Practical differences interviewers ask about:
- Case sensitivity — C# is case-sensitive; VB.NET is not.
- Type strictness — C# always requires explicit conversions for narrowing; VB.NET allows implicit narrowing and late binding unless
Option Strict On. - Events — VB.NET's
WithEvents+Handlesvs C#'s+=subscription. - Null —
Nothingin VB.NET is both null and the default value of a type. - Unsigned/unsafe — C# has full unsigned types and
unsafepointers; VB.NET support is more limited. - Tooling / community — most new .NET samples, libraries and Roslyn features land in C# first.
Microsoft has stated VB.NET is stable but no longer receiving new language features, so new projects use C#; VB.NET work is maintenance of existing line-of-business apps.