Anthony D. Green (@ThatVBGuy)

Hello and welcome to my Patreon page! If you're here then you probably know me already from my <a href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/vbteam/happy-20th-birthday-visual-basic/" target="_blank">8 years at Microsoft</a> interacting with the VB community in various places, <a href="https://anthonydgreen.net/">my blog</a>, my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AnthonyDGreen" target="_blank">YouTube videos</a> showing off potential new features for VB.NET in my mod, <a href="https://anthonydgreen.net/2022/08/20/introducing-modvb/" target="_blank">ModVB</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ThatVBGuy" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://github.com/AnthonyDGreen" target="_blank">GitHub</a>, or somewhere else. However you got here, welcome, and thank you for your consideration in supporting me here. What am I creating? I have <a href="https://anthonydgreen.net/2022/11/04/the-road-ahead-wheres-this-all-going/" target="_blank">an extensive vision</a> for what VB.NET can be beyond what it is today and where it's already successful. I've built this vision over two and a half decades of being a user, and almost a decade of working on the product directly and interacting with customers about their myriad issues. I believe in a bright future for a modernized VB that retains its attractiveness to new programmers while building and maintaining all the general purpose productivity across a broad set of application types that long-time professional developers need to stick with the language for their entire career. I'm building: <ul><li>An extension that installs on top of the latest version of Visual Studio and modernizes the VB.NET language (in a self-consistent way) with new features such as:<ul><li>Full support for modern <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOCFk7-p2w" target="_blank">web</a>, cloud, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eoO3xXDza8" target="_blank">cross-platform mobile</a> development</li><li>Built-in support for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-tEq-5VVHc">JSON</a></li><li>A host of productivity features such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvW7fmbw5jk" target="_blank">pattern matching</a>, nullable reference types, and more</li><li>A litany of improvements to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynBHLuicCYs&amp;t=371s" target="_blank">streamline the language</a>, improve application performance, and fix bugs</li></ul></li><li>Templates for web, cloud, and cross-platform mobile development</li><li>Tutorials, samples, and other content for learning and mastering VB.NET at all levels</li><li>Other tools to enhance the VB.NET experience</li></ul>All in all I have over ten pages of outlines for enhancements to VB.NET based on my experience as a language designer and years of listening to customer feedback. I just need the time to deliver on them. Who am I and why should you trust me? Aside from being a VB enthusiast like you, I worked on VB.NET at Microsoft for 8 years as a program manager and language designer. The majority of that time was working on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roslyn_(compiler)">the Roslyn project</a>, a necessary and ambitious project to rebuild the VB.NET (and C#) compilers and IDE experiences in managed code from the bottom up while building an incredible set of APIs as a platform for building code-smart experiences on top of that investment such refactorings, code analyses, and more. I'm incredibly proud of the work that I did during my time at Microsoft but I still feel like there's so much more than can still be done for current and future VB enthusiasts. I have the experience of leading teams to deliver complete product-grade functionality in the programming languages and tools space and for VB specifically in all facets of the process, design, development, testing, integration, language, IDE, documentation, marketing, etc. AND I'm a certified VB fanatic. I want to put this one-of-a-kind capability to further use building out the boldest and most ambitious vision for the future of VB.NET since Roslyn. Why should you or your company support me financially? Because you want more features, more templates, more support, and the freedom to continue using the language and codebases you've already invested in without fear of stagnation or being left behind. What's in it for you? The work. The features and capabilities. All I have to offer is the fruits of my labor. It is very much my desire that as much as possible of the VB experience be kept forever free and accessible to anyone from any background. Functionality shouldn't be gated behind a paywall and neither should communities that offer support and that's why my Patreon tiers don't come with significantly increased access. I'm going to work on this vision regardless but your contribution can significantly speed up the process by giving me more time to focus exclusively on delivering more, sooner, and more often. If you find a bug in what I've built I'm going to fix it whether you pay me or not. If you have a question about a new feature I'm going to try to answer it whether you're a patron or not. If there are specific rewards you think would help, I'm open to suggestions. What if you can't afford to join at my lowest tier? You can still help by sharing amongst your friends and colleagues and in your programmer communities. Spreading the word is essential to raise the support needed to get to the next chapter in VB.NET's history ASAP so I thank you. Also, happy to take referrals for VB contract work to supplement the generosity of my patrons. What if you want to give more than my highest tier? If you have it like that, please, give until it hurts. Seriously. I'm just trying to make enough to keep a roof over my head, food on my table, and a little extra in my pocket for living life and dodging life's asteroids. If you're so fortunate to be able to give more than my highest tier or want to give a custom amount at any level for any reason, your support is very much appreciated. Thanks for reading and for your consideration! Warmest Regards, -Anthony D. Green

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Anthony D. Green (@ThatVBGuy)

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