Declaring and initializing a string array in VB.NET

Array initializer support for type inference were changed in Visual Basic 10 vs Visual Basic 9.

In previous version of VB it was required to put empty parens to signify an array. Also, it would define the array as object array unless otherwise was stated:

' Integer array
Dim i as Integer() = {1, 2, 3, 4} 

' Object array
Dim o() = {1, 2, 3} 

Check more info:

Visual Basic 2010 Breaking Changes

Collection and Array Initializers in Visual Basic 2010