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VB.NET uses Namespace for organization and Module for static-only containers.

Namespaces

Namespace MyCompany.Utils
    Public Class Logger
        Public Sub Log(msg As String)
            Console.WriteLine($"[LOG] {msg}")
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

' Use:
Dim l = New MyCompany.Utils.Logger()

Imports

Imports MyCompany.Utils

' Now Logger is directly accessible:
Dim l = New Logger()

Imports aliases:

Imports U = MyCompany.Utils

Dim l = New U.Logger()

Modules — VB's static-only equivalent

A Module is like a C# static class. Everything inside is implicitly Shared:

Module MathUtils
    Public Function Square(n As Integer) As Integer
        Return n * n
    End Function

    Public Const Pi As Double = 3.14159
End Module

' Call directly — no instance needed:
MathUtils.Square(5)
MathUtils.Pi

For a single-file program, the Module Program containing Sub Main() is conventional. For libraries, prefer Class over Module (more flexible).

Standard library namespaces

Most-used .NET namespaces:

• System — primitives, Console, Object
• System.Collections.Generic — List(Of T), Dictionary, etc.
• System.Linq — LINQ extension methods
• System.IO — file I/O
• System.Net — networking
• System.Text — encoding, StringBuilder
• System.Text.RegularExpressions — regex
• System.Threading.Tasks — async/Task
• System.Xml, System.Json — serialization

Imports patterns

Implicit imports — Imports lines auto-added by Visual Studio:

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq

Usually present at the top of every file.

Friend (assembly-internal)

Friend Class Helper
    Public Sub DoStuff()
    End Sub
End Class

Friend is like C#'s internal — visible across files in the same assembly but not outside. Useful for library implementation details.

Project organization

A typical VB.NET project (.vbproj):

MyApp/
    MyApp.vbproj
    Program.vb            ' contains Module Program with Sub Main
    Models/
        User.vb
        Order.vb
    Services/
        UserService.vb
        OrderService.vb

Each file declares its Namespace (matching folder structure is convention, not required).

Why Modules persist

For utility code (parsing, formatting, math), Module saves typing — no Class boilerplate, no Shared keyword on every method. Many VB6-style helpers continue this pattern.

For object-oriented design, use Class. Modules are for stateless function collections.