---
esco_uri: http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/13bdd41a-2a18-441f-96db-41252c519413
esco_label: "Visual Basic"
relation: optional
onet_soc: 15-1252.00
source: stackexchange
confidence: medium
qa_count: 5
generator: gemma3:27b (prompt-designed and spot-checked by Claude)
generated: 2026-07-10
---

# Visual Basic — Software Engineer

For a Software Engineer, Visual Basic competence isn't about being a VB.NET *expert* in 2024 – it’s about practical understanding, especially when dealing with legacy systems or integrating with older .NET frameworks. You likely won't be greenfielding new applications solely in VB, but you *will* encounter VB codebases during maintenance, refactoring, or integration tasks. This means being able to read, debug, and modify existing VB.NET code effectively is crucial. Expect to use Visual Studio for these tasks, leveraging its debugging tools and intellisense even with older language versions.

## Praxiswissen (Stack Exchange, CC-BY-SA 4.0)

**The questioner was asked in an interview why using the Repository pattern alongside Entity Framework (EF) is generally discouraged.**

The core issue isn't that patterns are *bad*, but that EF already fulfills the purpose of the Repository pattern – abstracting data access. Adding another repository layer on top of EF creates unnecessary complexity and maintenance overhead because it duplicates functionality already provided by `DbContext` and `DbSet`. Instead of a full UoW/Repository implementation, consider a simpler Service layer to encapsulate data retrieval logic and shield your application from underlying data source changes.

*Source: [Why shouldn't I use the repository pattern with Entity Framework?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/q/180851) — answer by Chris Pratt, CC-BY-SA 4.0*

**The asker is deciding between using Entity Framework (EF) or a direct ADO.NET approach for a high-traffic public website expecting up to 1000 requests per second, questioning if EF's productivity benefits outweigh potential performance drawbacks.**

Choosing an ORM isn’t just about the framework itself; it’s fundamentally about your overall data access strategy and database design. Prioritize a well-normalized database with appropriate indexing and features *before* focusing on the data access layer, as poor database structure will overwhelm any ORM optimization. Be mindful of loading strategies like eager vs. lazy loading – understand when each is appropriate to avoid performance bottlenecks; raw SQL forces you to explicitly define data needs which can be a benefit.

*Source: [Is Entity Framework Suitable For High-Traffic Websites?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/q/117357) — answer by Aaronaught, CC-BY-SA 4.0*

**The questioner was asked in an interview why using the Repository pattern alongside Entity Framework (EF) is generally discouraged.**

The core issue isn't that patterns are *bad*, but that EF already fulfills the purpose of the Repository pattern – abstracting data access. Adding another repository layer on top of EF creates unnecessary complexity and maintenance overhead because it duplicates functionality already provided by `DbContext` and `DbSet`. Instead of a full UoW/Repository implementation, consider a simpler Service layer to encapsulate data retrieval logic and shield your application from underlying data source changes.

*Source: [Why shouldn't I use the repository pattern with Entity Framework?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/q/180851) — answer by Shyju, CC-BY-SA 4.0*

**The asker is deciding between using Entity Framework (EF) or a direct ADO.NET approach for a high-traffic public website expecting up to 1000 requests per second, questioning if EF's productivity benefits outweigh potential performance drawbacks.**

Choosing an ORM isn’t just about the framework itself; it’s fundamentally about your overall data access strategy and database design. Prioritize a well-normalized database with appropriate indexing and features *before* focusing on the data access layer, as poor database structure will overwhelm any ORM optimization. Be mindful of loading strategies like eager vs. lazy loading – understand when each is appropriate to avoid performance bottlenecks; raw SQL forces you to explicitly define data needs which can be a benefit.

*Source: [Is Entity Framework Suitable For High-Traffic Websites?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/q/117357) — answer by Marc Gravell, CC-BY-SA 4.0*

**The asker questions the necessity of database constraints given their application's object-oriented approach and use of an ORM, noting that non-cascading constraints create complex update/delete logic and seem redundant when the application already manages relationships.**

Database constraints remain crucial for data integrity even with ORMs or object-oriented applications because they provide a foundational layer of protection against bad data from *any* source accessing the database, not just the primary application. While ORMs can enforce some rules, relying solely on them duplicates effort and introduces risk; the database itself should be the ultimate authority on valid data. Furthermore, constraints significantly aid query optimization, potentially preventing performance issues that become difficult to address under heavy load.

*Source: [Constraints in a relational databases - Why not remove them completely?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/q/76052) — answer by Péter Török, CC-BY-SA 4.0*

## Weitere Anreicherung

Stage-2 source for future practitioner grounding: arXiv cs.SE (software-engineering preprints).
