An associative array links a set of keys to a set of values. In Visual Basic, associative arrays are implemented as Dictionaries.

This code produces a message box saying "Nevada."

Imports System.Collections.Generic

Protected Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, 

              ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click

        Dim States As New Dictionary(Of String, String)

        States.Add("CA", "California")
        States.Add("NV", "Nevada")
        States.Add("OR", "Oregon")

        MsgBox(States("NV"))
End Sub