What is the difference between 'foo = Nothing' and 'foo is Nothing' in VB.NET?

Question

In VB.NET, what is the difference between

if foo is Nothing Then
      doStuff()
End If

and

if foo=Nothing Then
    doStuff         


        

Answer 1

Here's some IL to validate the differences:

.method public static void Main() cil managed
{
    .custom instance void [mscorlib]System.STAThreadAttribute::.ctor()
    .entrypoint
    .maxstack 3
    .locals init (
        [0] object o,
        [1] bool VB$CG$t_bool$S0)
    L_0000: nop 
    L_0001: newobj instance void [mscorlib]System.Object::.ctor()
    L_0006: call object [mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers::GetObjectValue(object)
    L_000b: stloc.0 
    L_000c: ldloc.0 
    L_000d: ldnull 
    L_000e: ceq 
    L_0010: stloc.1 
    L_0011: ldloc.1 
    L_0012: brfalse.s L_001f
    L_0014: ldstr "Is Nothing"
    L_0019: call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string)
    L_001e: nop 
    L_001f: nop 
    L_0020: ldloc.0 
    L_0021: ldnull 
    L_0022: ldc.i4.0 
    L_0023: call bool [Microsoft.VisualBasic]Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Operators::ConditionalCompareObjectEqual(object, object, bool)
    L_0028: stloc.1 
    L_0029: ldloc.1 
    L_002a: brfalse.s L_0037
    L_002c: ldstr "Is nothing"
    L_0031: call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string)
    L_0036: nop 
    L_0037: nop 
    L_0038: nop 
    L_0039: ret 
}

VB Code:

Sub Main()
        Dim o As New Object

        If o Is Nothing Then
            Console.WriteLine("Is Nothing")
        End If

        If o = Nothing Then
            Console.WriteLine("Is nothing")
        End If
    End Sub