While evolution is often more advantageous than revolution, there are still many businesses running VB6 applications that they struggle with maintaining, scaling, and integrating with their more modern systems. Migration of legacy applications to VB.NET is a way to modernize, increase performance, and extend the application lifecycle.

Modernization is not necessarily a straight-forward code conversion. Without proper planning and factors to be aware of, business risk downtime, data inconsistencies, and performance issues with their VB.NET application. In this blog, we will dive into the best practices for modernizing VB6 to VB.NET to ensure a smooth transition.

Why Migrate from VB6 to VB.NET

• Maintainability – VB.NET provide a structured and modern programming environment making it easier to maintain code.
• Scalability – Net applications have the potential to integrate with other modern architectures and cloud or APIs and web services.
• Security & Compliance – VB.NET applications can leverage up-to-date security protocols and compliance standards
• Integration Capability – they can determine seamless integrations with databases, APIs, and other enterprise systems
• Better performance – Runtime efficiencies and better compatibility with modern Windows environments.

VB6 to VB.NET Modernization: Best Practices

1. Perform a Complete Analysis

• Conduct an audit of your current VB6 application. This is an opportunity to find all the modules in the application, their dependencies, and environmental dependencies that may cause performance issues.
• Categorize features based on how you want to migrate or not migrate it. Classify them as “must do”, “should do”, or “unused and don’t need to worry about”

2. Plan and Incrementally Migrate

• Don’t try to rewrite the entire system at once, you are asking for trouble. It is best to migrate portions of the system and avoid a complete blackout.
• Start with non-critical (or less critical) modules first so you can determine the best way to migrate.

3. Refactor Legacy Code

• You will want to do the best you can to refactor the legacy code prior to incorporating it into the VB.NET architecture, and applying object oriented programming principles.
• Remove logic that is no longer necessary in your code and enhance the future maintainability.

4. Use current features

• Utilize the .NET libraries and frameworks to provide your code structure to access the database. Use the framework provided for the UI to make use of modern design patterns and to scale and maintain the application.

5. Data Integrity and Compatibility

• Maintain and check your data acquires and subsequently migrates previous data if it exists.
• Utilize tools for automated testing to validate data integrity and application functionality.

6. Security and Compliance

• Be sure the latest and greatest is applied for authentication, authorization, encryption etc.
• And finally, don’t fall out of compliance with your governing bodies or legislation based on your industry.

7. Testing and Quality Assurance

• Make sure you perform unit testing, integration testing and performance testing while migrating.
• Be sure to monitor key performance indicators, fix as many problems within the application before scheduling it for production.

8. Train Your Team

• Make sure your developers have the tools to continue their own training on the proper practices associated with their new VB.NET skills and continue to improve upon the code as they maintain the application or create additional updates.

Common Issues Faced with VB6 to .net migration

• Legacy dependencies incompatible with the VB.NET platform
• Preserving business logic consistency during migration
• Changing interfaces and user experiences to modern standards
• Converting/dependence on large databases or many system integrations
• Keeping application downtime minimal throughout the phased migration

VB.NET Modernization Services at Empirical Edge

At Empirical Edge we help organizations successfully move from VB6 to VB.NET by modernizing their VB6 applications and decreasing the associated risks while maximizing their applications’ performance.

Services offered include:

• Application Migration Assessment: Performing a thorough review on the applications and dependencies.
• Custom VB.NET Development: Rewriting or refactoring legacy code to modernize it for future use.
• Application Performance Optimization: Maximizing efficiency during runtime, memory consumption, and database tuning.
• UI/UX Modernization: Modern interface design and user experiences for the desktop and the web.
• Testing & Ongoing Support: After our clients successfully migrated their applications are actively usable and reliable.

Find out more about our services here: VB.NET Development Services

Conclusion

Migrating VB6 applications to VB.NET is a strategic step toward modernization, scalability, and improved performance. By following best practices like assessment, incremental migration, code refactoring, and testing, businesses can ensure a smooth transition while future-proofing their applications.

At Empirical Edge, we combine technical expertise with proven migration strategies to deliver secure, scalable, and high-performance VB.NET solutions tailored to your business needs.

Ready to modernize your legacy VB6 applications? Contact Empirical Edge today!