[VB] Good Bot Programming Practices?

[Tontow]

But wouldn't it be better/faster if I eliminate the need for a secondary buffer? Why double buff when you can avoid it?

I find it absolutely hilarious that someone determined to do this in VB cares about speed. VB is meant to be written quickly and run slowly. If you care about performance, use a real language.

Nothing wrong with using vb to the max while you're programming in it

Thank you.  I believe that everything can be translated from one programming language to another, including both good and bad programming habits.  Thus, I want to do the best job I possibly can instead of producing something that looks like I wiped my ass with.

[MyndFyre]

Thank you.  I believe that everything can be translated from one programming language to another, including both good and bad programming habits.  Thus, I want to do the best job I possibly can instead of producing something that looks like I wiped my ass with.

Still, though, there are different kind of habits used in different settings.  I again reiterate that Code Complete is an invaluable resource.  Your habits should reflect what you're going for -- code reuse, code portability, RAD.  My current project is aiming primarily for code reuse and portability, and so almost everything that I'm designing is deliberate, structured, and abstract.  If you're using RAD, you might not worry about code portability (for example, in my project, I have generic collections for compilation in .NET 2.0.  I pretty much only write code in VS.NET 2003 (.NET 1.1), but whenever 2.0 is released, I'll be ready to support either platform.

[Chriso]

• detect when a full message is ready

How/what would be the best way to do that?

I'm guessing that I need to:

Use

Code Select Expand

socket.getdata data, vbArray + vbByte to retrieve the data as a byte array.

And since all packets have a message length, that also includes the header, I should create an equivalent to SOCKET.BytesReceived to detect when a full message is ready.

You're better off with Socket.GetData(Data, vbString)..  It would probably be vbArray Or vbByte anyways, and I doubt it would work also.  A byte array could be pretty much the same thing as a string.  You're using VB, so just stick to a string.

I use Socket.PeekData(Data, vbString) first to check if there is any data.

[UserLoser.]

I use Socket.PeekData(Data, vbString) first to check if there is any data.

What's the point?  The DataArrival event will only be fired if there's any data received