Visual Basic .NET compiled or interpreted?

is Visual Basic 2010 a compiled or interpret开发者_JAVA百科ed language? Can a vb program be disassembled?

It is compiled to IL code which is normally JITted. It is possible to create native images using a tool like Ngen.

It is very easy to disassemble .NET assemblies. There are many tools available (free and commercial) that do this.

Depends on the execution environment. But it is generally compiled. Twice, first from source code to IL (Intermediate Language). Again at runtime from IL to machine code by a just-in-time compiler. Except on, say, the .NET Micro Framework which uses an IL interpreter. The intermediate form allows pretty decent decompilation, Reflector is the best tool for that.

It's kinda both. It's compiled into IL which is then "just in time compiled" (JITed) into machine code at runtime.

It's a mix of both. It's compiled to CIL (Common Intermediate Language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Intermediate_Language). This CIL is JIT (Just in Time) compiled into native code by the CLR (Common Language Runtime).

Because the CIL code is left in tact, it is fairly straightforward to decompile the CIL into C#, VB .NET or another .NET variant. Several products exist to do this (Reflector, dotPeek). In order to prevent source code theft, you can use an obfuscator (eg. Dotfuscator) to make sure that any attempts to decompile the CIL into C#/VB .NET results in gibberish.

It's complicated.

Like Java, .Net languages (including both C# and VB) are compiled down to a byte-code-like language called IL (Intermediate Language). This IL is what is then distributed to other computers.

However, it doesn't stop there. The IL is in turn compiled to native code by the JIT(just in time) compiler before it is actually executed. And yes, vb, like all languages, can be disassembled.