I learned programming via QBasic (in 21 days!), then VB3, then VB6. My father still writes toy programs in VB6. Things like binding Access DBs to controls was magical to me.
What would it take to have a VB today? I feel like the web, APIs, auth, screen sizes, they’ve all become so complicated. And while Retool aims to make it as easy to develop, it’s just not the same.
What would it look like to really feel “the same” as the good old days?
As to what it would take to have a VB today, VB.NET still exists:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic_(.NET)
Maybe that would do the trick?
Of course at that point you could also use C# instead of the VB.NET syntax (which is rather different from "classic" VB).
I don't think you can do anything nowadays that replicates the VB style of interface design. That was completely tied to a fixed layout and only a few desktop screen sizes, but everything these days needs screen size responsiveness from mobile to 4k. And you also need cross platform, accessibility to screen readers, language localization, dark mode, and so on. A flowable and styleable layout just works better for everything, and runs in the HTML/HTTP client that every device already has. Sadly the VB style of design was a temporary waystop and not an enduring norm. I guess the closest you could do would be a big HTML table and just let the small screens scroll biaxially painfully.