Re: Basic
- From: "Rick Rothstein" <rickNOSPAMnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 13:53:01 -0400
As long as you mentioned my name<g>... I own a copy of REALbasic 2005;
but I'm still learning it, so I can't provide a detailed "review". The
first thing that struck me about REALbasic is there is a lot of what
would be considered "extra" functionality in VB that is built directly
into the language. For instance, there is a standard ListBox that
provides *real* columns and column headers with column sorting built-in;
their controls provide MouseEnter and MouseExit events, there is a full
Regular Expression parser built-in, and so. Then there are the *true*
extras... threads, a sprite engine, and so on.
A lot of your VB code can be moved as is... but there are differences
that will need to be attended to. For example, there are control arrays,
but they differ from those in VB, so your code will need to be reviewed.
File In/Out is completely different that in VB... it is "script-based"
(BUT the script engine is internal to the REALbasic compiler and doesn't
open the computer up to outside attacks by script writers the way VB's
script engine does). Access to the printer is via a Class, not a
built-in object, and that Class comes with a lot of "extras" over VB's
object. Obviously, there are too many differences to cover in a message
such as this, but the documentation (User's Guide and Language
Reference) is available online, so one can read up on what's inside the
REALbasic environment they one wants to. My overall reaction to
REALbasic is highly positive.
Oh! And I want to mention something about the controversy raging in the
REALbasic newsgroup about the new IDE. When I first tried out REALbasic
5.5 (which had the old IDE), I had trouble figuring out what to do and
when. It was SDI based and highly unintuitive (at least to me)... window
floating around all over the place, a lot of them looking extremely
similar to other open windows. The new IDE, while not truly MDI based,
is housed in a single window with a tabbed interface and toolbars. I
found it much, much easier to work with the new interface. Things were
where I would expect them to be, I could maneuver between the panels
much easier... it is just all around better than the old IDE. So why the
controversy? I'm not sure. I think it is a case of the long-time users
having been totally familiar with the way the old IDE worked and the new
IDE is completely different from it. Personally, I think they would come
to like it they gave it a chance.
Rick
> >I know this is a VB group but having used VB6 for a while I have just
> >noticed a product called RealBasic2005
> >
> >Anyone tried it? Comparisons or Comments please
>
> Looked at it briefly, but when I realized there were important pieces
missing
> off of the version I received for free - then I dropped it. It didn't
seem to be
> worth my time to look into indepth, when I already had a functional
VB6 compiler
> completely paid for. I had no pressing need at the time to target the
Mac or
> Linux.
>
> Seems like a good idea in concept. It looks like, in concept, that one
could
> port a VB6 app to their dialect.
>
> I think if that company really wants people to invest in it, they are
going to
> have to target limited, key individuals (Like Mike, Rick, Frenchie,
etc... :-)
> with free copies of their Professional version. If those guys endorsed
it, you
> might see some more movement. Microsoft, for example, used to give
away Beta
> versions of their software to key individuals who attend a given
tradeshow or
> other event. This is smart marketing and costs very little as long as
the folks
> targetted are honest and don't give copies away to everyone for free.
>
> FYI - You'll need to get the "Professional" version to do data-access
and some
> other stuff. (Just like you can't use the "Control Creator" version of
> Microsoft(TM) Visual Basic for certain functionality.)
>
> I won't know if it's something solid until I can use it for a "real"
project.
> And I'm not going to use a demo of a new technology for a "real"
project when
> I've got something else that already works well, unless I'm certain
the odds are
> in my favor for radically better results.
>
> Hope this helps.
> _______________________
> Michael B. Johnson
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Re: Basic
- From: Mike Williams
- Re: Basic
- Prev by Date: Re: How to determine size of object?
- Next by Date: MonthView question
- Previous by thread: Re: Basic
- Next by thread: Re: Basic
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
