Zsolt Tövis - Chief Software Architect
Zsolt TövisChief Software Architect
What is BASIC
What is BASIC

What is BASIC?

BASIC (and its enterprise variant, Visual Basic .NET) is a programming language that was long a cornerstone of corporate software development, particularly within Microsoft-based infrastructures. By 2025, this technology has entered the "maintenance phase" of software development. Microsoft has effectively halted its development, the language receives no new features, receiving only security updates to ensure the continued operation of existing systems.

Business Benefits

The primary business value of this technology today is ensuring continuity. Visual Basic-based systems (whether custom software or Excel automations) run stably in Windows environments, allowing the company's critical business processes to operate without immediate capital investment. The structure and readability of the language allow developers to quickly understand existing business logic during troubleshooting, without requiring a complete system redesign.

Drawbacks and Risks

Deploying this technology today carries significant strategic risk. Microsoft is not developing the language further, making it difficult and costly to address new market demands (such as cloud-based services or Artificial Intelligence integration). Human resources present a critical issue. The base of experienced experts is continuously shrinking, and new developers are not learning this technology. This will drastically increase maintenance costs and exposure in the future.

Practical Application

BASIC and its variants (VB.NET, VBA) are primarily present today in the realm of "legacy" systems. Typical use cases include the financial sector, manufacturing, and logistics, where decade-old, stable background systems run on this language. It is also prevalent in office automation (Excel macros), performing complex calculation and reporting tasks without human intervention. However, it is no longer used for launching new enterprise-grade projects.

Executive Summary

The presence of BASIC technology in the company is not a development direction, but a condition to be managed. Starting new investments on this platform is not recommended, as it represents a technological dead end. The strategically correct decision is to maintain ("preserve") existing systems with minimal expenditure, while preparing a strategy to migrate critical functions to a modern, supported platform (such as C# .NET). Maintaining this technology in the long term entails increasing costs and risks.

Frequently Asked Questions

The use of the language and the runtime environment is free, costs arise from developer tools (Visual Studio) and server-side operating system licensing fees.

The labor market situation is unfavorable. The number of developers skilled in this technology is declining, and there is no new pipeline of talent. Available senior experts often work at higher daily rates due to their specialized knowledge.

Modern (.NET-based) versions receive security updates, so they are technically defensible. The risk lies in the use of old, unsupported versions, which may be vulnerable to modern cyberattacks.

The risk is high. The technology is tightly bound to the Microsoft ecosystem and the Windows platform, making it difficult to switch to other technology providers or operating systems.

The technology typically requires a Windows Server environment. This can mean higher resource requirements and licensing costs compared to modern, platform-independent, or cloud-native solutions.

The technology is not future-proof. The vendor has officially placed it in "maintenance only" status, meaning technological progress is passing it by. Complete cessation of support is expected in the long term.

Modernization is possible, as Microsoft provides a path to the modern C# language. However, migration is not automatic. It requires expertise and testing, but it is the only sustainable path in the long run.

Only if it is unavoidable for the operation of the existing system. In all other cases (new modules, separate applications), choosing modern technology is recommended to avoid future technical debt.

A high proportion of obsolete technologies can appear as a risk factor during technology due diligence, which can negatively influence the assessment of the company's IT maturity.

Systems should be stabilized, development minimized, and a strategy formed for the gradual replacement of functions. Instead of an abrupt replacement, a planned, phased phase-out is the low-risk solution.

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