Visual Basic Concepts

They’re Not Just OLE Servers Any More

Thread-safe DLLs. ActiveX controls. Scalable components for operation on remote computers. ActiveX documents. Native code. If you’ve created OLE servers with Visual Basic in the past, get ready for some surprises.

In addition to developing new kinds of software components, Visual Basic now supports the Component Object Model (COM) vision of component software evolution, by allowing you to implement multiple interfaces on class modules.

In keeping with the broad set of new features outlined in this chapter, Visual Basic terminology is shifting as well. They’re components now, not just OLE servers.

The new terminology may seem disconcerting at first, but in the long run it will make a lot more sense, as Visual Basic becomes the fastest, easiest way to develop robust, interoperable software components. You’ll also find it a lot easier to discuss interactions between components without the overworked word "server."

And if you really want to, you can continue to use the old terminology. Just pronounce "ActiveX component" as oh-lay ser-ver.