Difference Between Modules and Class In VB.NET With Examples

This tutorial will only describe the difference between modules and class in VB.Net with Examples.

Let’s Start!

What is Module in VB.Net?

A module is quite similar to a class but every module has exactly one instance and it does not need to be assigned to a variable and does not support inheritance.

A module in VB.net lasts a lifetime the same as your program because all of its members are Shared.

Module’s access levels can be adjusted with the access modifier.

Example of Module in vb.net:

Open the Visual Basic, select “File” on the menu, hit new and create a new project.
The New Project dialog will appear.

Select “windows” in the project types, hit the “windows form application” in the templates and hit “ok“.
Go to the solution explorer. Right click the application, click add and select a Module.
The add new Item dialog will appear and do the process like what is shown below.
Create module in vb.net
Add the following code in the Module1

Module Module1
Public Sub popUpMsg(ByVal msg As String)
MsgBox(msg)
End Sub

End Module

Design the form just like shown below.
Go to the form design and double click a button to fire the click event handler of it. Add the following code in the method.

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
popUpMsg("Hello World")
End Sub

Output:

What is a class in VB.Net?

A Class is a group of an object that defines its functionality as a set of properties and the methods that will respond to.

And it is also a container of your data and code. Wherein you can limit the data that you’re accessing.

In Object-Oriented Programming(OOP), classes, methods, and properties help you create a complete application.

This is an example of how to use a class in vb.net application.

Open the Visual Basic, select “File” on the menu, hit new and create a new project.
The New Project dialog will appear.

Select “windows” in the project types, hit the “windows form application” in the templates and hit “ok“.
Go to the solution explorer. Right click the application, click add and select a class
The add new Item dialog will appear and do the process like what is shown below.
Design the form just like shown below.
Select Lines(class) and add this following code:

Private lenLines As String

Property Lines() As String
Get
Return lenLines
End Get
Set(ByVal Value As String)
lenLines = Value
End Set
End Property

ReadOnly Property Length() As Integer
Get
Return lenLines.Length
End Get
End Property

Go to the form design and double-click a button to fire the click event handler of it. Add the following code in the method.

Dim oLine As Lines

oLine = New Lines()

oLine.Lines = txtlines.Text
txtlen.Text = oLine.Length.ToString()

Output:

Summary

In summary, the difference between module and class in vb.net is that module is quite similar to a class but every module has exactly one instance and it does not need to be assigned to a variable and does not support inheritance.

And a module in VB.net lasts a lifetime the same as your program because all of its members are Shared.