Beginning programmer here, would be grateful for some help. I've only just started and was wondering which language would be better to learn out of C# and VB.NET. I'm leaning heavily towards C# as from what I've read it just seems generally better and comes with the pre-built forms and everything (which I need for now, seeing as I am only just starting and don't fancy building everything myself). However, at school I am going through a VB.NET course which has just started (was the only one in programming).

My question is, would it be too confusing for me to try and learn two languages at once in C# and VB.NET? I'm looking to start trying to program a sports simulator and was wondering if I should do it in VB or C#. I already know a bit of VB from what I've been taught so far at school but I think overall C# would be a lot better to learn..

Cliffs:
C# or VB.NET?
Leaning towards C#, but being taught VB.NET in school and unsure whether learning two languages would be too confusing for a beginner

They're pretty similar, but, in the UK at least, there's more work going in C#. You could learn both pretty easily in parallel if you're not sure.

Both languages run on the .NET virtual machine. Because of this, they share all of the .NET libraries. If you go to the MSDN page for Form, you can choose from a few different languages and it will show you the class signature and examples in the selected on. Learning both would likely go fine, because all of the class libraries would carry over, so it is as close to "it's just syntax" as possible.

As for comparing the languages, C# is used more often.

Between those two, learn C# and it's not even close.

Casual Observation: Job postings for C# seem to out number postings for VB jobs by at least 10:1.

Between the two, C# every time. It isn't 'faster' than VB.net as a lot of people will tell you, they both compile pretty much exactly the same, it's a syntax difference. But, there are more learning resources, it's easier to move to other things from, more jobs, better semantic structure etc etc.

I'm not exactly a Microsoft fanboy but C# is a surprisingly good language (had to learn it at university). I'd go with C# for sure and I'll also give the standard recommendation of picking up "Code Complete" to get good coding habits from the getgo

Definitely C#. Aside from it being the more useful language (in practical terms) there's still some messed up stuff in VB.Net (Much better than old VB) that can teach you bad programming habits.

I don't particularly like "what language should I learn" debates but in this case it's C# not close. That said, don't limit yourself to these language just because you think they are good. A sports simulator might be better written in a lightweight scripting language and heavy database use. (I've written similar programs in PHP/Perl/Python and MySQL)

I wince seeing Python put next to those other two, but I agree: everything should be first written in the "highest level" (read: most powerful) language available.

If it then turns out that certain parts are slow and often-run, creating a bad botteleneck for the whole thing, well, then you optimize those parts. But even then you fix algorithms first, and only then re-writing in another language if you must. But just the slow *and* often run parts.

Of course, to my knowledge this isn't really a concern for C# vs VB.Net, as I believe they're compiling with similar technology to the same VM.

BUT, there is an ocean of languages out there. All depends on OP's goal. If it's purely to pick up a language useful as part of some corporate development team, well, then learning both may be good. Probably C# first to get the more usual syntax, then learn VB's quirks.

If OP's goal is just to write software, though, there have to be better choices. *searches* Python and Ruby of course. If OP just wants to write software for the .NET system, then IronPython is out there.

Thanks very much for all the answers here guys. I definitely suspected C# would be a better choice but just wasn't sure if it would confuse me learning multiple languages at the same time.

Anyhow, I am probably looking at a future career in programming because it is something that interests me so all these other answers are relevant as well. Cheers for all the help though.