Is there a difference between MsgBox and MessageBox.Show?

Question

Is there a difference between the following two?

 msgbox()
 messagebox.show()

Some tutorials use msgbox(), and some use the other, messagebox.show()---I see that both can have an editable style, but I was wondering: Why are there two?

Is it to accommodate older programmers (who have learnt on an older version of Visual Basic)?

So in that case, which one should I use in Visual Basic 2010 (Visual Studio 2010)?

Answer 1

MsgBox() is the same as Messagebox.Show().

It exists for VB6 programmers who are used to it.

There are no rules on which one to use, but since MsgBox simply ends up delegating to MessageBox, I personally would go directly with MessageBox.

Answer 2

Here is the source code for Msgbox. As you can see it doesn't do anything particularly interesting before calling MessageBox.Show.

<MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining), HostProtection(SecurityAction.LinkDemand, Resources:=HostProtectionResource.UI)> _
Public Shared Function MsgBox(ByVal Prompt As Object, ByVal Optional Buttons As MsgBoxStyle = 0, ByVal Optional Title As Object = new Object()) As MsgBoxResult
    Dim owner As IWin32Window = Nothing
    Dim text As String = Nothing
    Dim titleFromAssembly As String
    Dim vBHost As IVbHost = HostServices.VBHost
    If (Not vBHost Is Nothing) Then
        owner = vBHost.GetParentWindow
    End If
    If ((((Buttons And 15) > MsgBoxStyle.RetryCancel) OrElse ((Buttons And 240) > MsgBoxStyle.Information)) OrElse ((Buttons And &HF00) > MsgBoxStyle.DefaultButton3)) Then
        Buttons = MsgBoxStyle.OkOnly
    End If
    Try 
        If (Not Prompt Is Nothing) Then
            [text] = CStr(Conversions.ChangeType(Prompt, GetType(String)))
        End If
    Catch exception As StackOverflowException
        Throw exception
    Catch exception2 As OutOfMemoryException
        Throw exception2
    Catch exception3 As ThreadAbortException
        Throw exception3
    Catch exception9 As Exception
        Throw New ArgumentException(Utils.GetResourceString("Argument_InvalidValueType2", New String() { "Prompt", "String" }))
    End Try
    Try 
        If (Title Is Nothing) Then
            If (vBHost Is Nothing) Then
                titleFromAssembly = Interaction.GetTitleFromAssembly(Assembly.GetCallingAssembly)
            Else
                titleFromAssembly = vBHost.GetWindowTitle
            End If
        Else
            titleFromAssembly = Conversions.ToString(Title)
        End If
    Catch exception4 As StackOverflowException
        Throw exception4
    Catch exception5 As OutOfMemoryException
        Throw exception5
    Catch exception6 As ThreadAbortException
        Throw exception6
    Catch exception13 As Exception
        Throw New ArgumentException(Utils.GetResourceString("Argument_InvalidValueType2", New String() { "Title", "String" }))
    End Try
    Return DirectCast(MessageBox.Show(owner, [text], titleFromAssembly, (DirectCast(Buttons, MessageBoxButtons) And DirectCast(15, MessageBoxButtons)), (DirectCast(Buttons, MessageBoxIcon) And DirectCast(240, MessageBoxIcon)), (DirectCast(Buttons, MessageBoxDefaultButton) And DirectCast(&HF00, MessageBoxDefaultButton)), (DirectCast(Buttons, MessageBoxOptions) And DirectCast(-4096, MessageBoxOptions))), MsgBoxResult)
End Function

Answer 3

There is a difference when you are attempting to mix icons with different buttons. MsgBox has predefined styles (there may be a way to create new styles).

For example:

MsgBox("Do you wish to save changes?", MsgBoxStyle.YesNoCancel, "Save Changes")

^ This will display a box with Yes, No and Cancel buttons without an icon.

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MsgBox("Do you wish to save changes?", MsgBoxStyle.Question, "Save Changes")

^ This will display a box with a Question mark icon but with ONLY an OK button.

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MessageBox.Show("Do you wish to save changes?", "Save Changes", MessageBoxButtons.YesNoCancel, MessageBoxIcon.Question)

^ This will display a box with Yes, No and Cancel buttons AND a Question mark icon.

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As you can see, using MessageBox.Show enables you to have any buttons you want with any icon.