Initialization of Variables Unlike many other languages, VB does not allow you to initialize variables; this must be done with an executable statement. However, each variable does have a default initialization value. Numeric variable types are initialized to zero, Strings are initialized to "", Booleans are initialized to False, etc.

Dim keyword is not used when variable is declared implicitly. In this case value of the variable assigned directly. This is not recommended approach as it may introduce the ambiguity and potential issues with the code. In order to force explicit variable declaration in Visual Basic it is required to use Option Explicit statement.

Variables can be declared either explicitly or implicitly in Visual Basic. To declare variable explicitly it is required to use Dim keyword or Public keyword to declare the variable as public class or module member (refer the Variables Scope article for more information). Type of the variable can be declared using As keyword.

· local-level (the variable is accessible only to the procedure in which it is declared) In addition to the keyword used to declare the variable, the location of the variable declaration also affects its scope. A variable may be declared in one of two places: · The General Declarations Section of a form or standard module.