jp0d
I learned VB .net when it first came out back in 2003 (might have been earlier). VB was quite widely used back then and now days it's declined in popularity a lot. I checked the repo insights and it's a single person who's built this and has been maintaining it. Their contribution and dedication is definitely commendable even though the language isn't popular these and even more so on Linux! This is pure selfless programming!
gentooflux
Seeing as how it's written in VB.Net, and 3 more of his 5 total public projects are also VB.Net, I don't think "selfless" really fits; I'll bet this project very much scratches this man's own itch.
Dedicated for sure though, and commendable, especially since it's FOSS.
impendingchange
Haha, I laughed when you said this. I've only been writing it for a little over two months now. But thank you!
tombert
Interesting, I didn't actually know that VB.NET ever got ported to Linux with the rest of .NET Core.
Does it still have the drag-n-drop GUI feature to make graphical apps, or is that a strictly Windows thing?
impendingchange
And what makes this project significant is there's a lack of VB.NET tools on Linux.
It has been challenging trying to get Gtk 3 widgets to play nice. Finally just rolled my own custom-drawn editor, treeview, and listbox. Going to release them later in a library.
tombert
This isn't meant to be a passive aggressive dig, but a genuine question...why make an VB.NET IDE?
I think it's cool that you did it, it's just not a language that I've seen get a lot of love.
impendingchange
VB.NET's verbose syntax actually makes it PERFECT for AI assistance. And it is being developed with full AI integration.
And, Linux lacks any such tools. Not even VS Code has a plugin for VB.
ethan_smith
The WinForms designer (drag-n-drop GUI) isn't fully supported on Linux - SimpleIDE likely focuses on code editing rather than visual design, as the .NET MAUI/WinForms designers remain Windows-centric despite .NET's cross-platform capabilities.
impendingchange
Well, that would certainly be a stretch goal. Right now its all code.
robertherber
I did learn programming with VB many years ago. It definitely holds some sentimental value for me although I wouldn’t consider using it today.
impendingchange
Definitely a great deal of nostalgia for me. Years ago, I had written this project up from scratch and later lost all my source code in an accident.
I learned about vibe coding two months ago and, wow, writing this with Claude has been lots of fun. Almost to the point in the project of having full AI integration in the IDE.
impendingchange
A lightweight, professional VB.NET IDE built with GTK# 3 on Linux using .NET 8.0. SimpleIDE provides a modern development environment specifically designed for VB.NET projects on Linux systems.
Absolutely love this! I learned programming with VB.NET and it still holds a special place in my heart.