Leaving RB behind

[angusmann]

Hi all. I've been a keen user of LB for more years than I can remember so I was excited when RB came along.

I'm a doctor. I enrolled in law school several years ago also. I thought it would be good to be an expert in both fields. But eventually I found that I could either be a good lawyer OR I could be a good doctor. But I could not be both at the same time.Why? The subject is too complex and life is too short.

I decided to be a good doctor and now I watch the world of law from the outside.

Anyway......

RunBasic has great potential and it's a great concept. I applaud Carl for taking it as far as he has. The same can be said for Liberty Basic. But I suspect that Carl needs to choose....is he devoting his time to LB or is he devoting it to RB? Each project is too complex, and life is too short to devote your time to both. You can't do both.

LB has stagnated for so long I've lost track. Version 5 seems but a pious hope and I've grown tired of waiting for it. RB is moving forward but so slowly I can't wait any longer. Since giving up on RB I've taught myself PHP and I've coded the application I needed to. All in the time it took to make it possible to "wait" in a subroutine.

So with a heavy heart I'm giving up on RB. I need a language that can do what I want today, not at some time indeterminate in the future.

I don't seek to complain or criticize, only to give some feedback. Perhaps in a few years RB will be a viable alternative to PHP but it's not yet, and I can't wait until it is.

[Carl Gundel - admin]

Apr 7, 2009 10:55:15 GMT -5 angusmann said:

RunBasic has great potential and it's a great concept. I applaud Carl for taking it as far as he has. The same can be said for Liberty Basic. But I suspect that Carl needs to choose....is he devoting his time to LB or is he devoting it to RB? Each project is too complex, and life is too short to devote your time to both. You can't do both.

It's more complicated than that I'm afraid. I'm sure you agree that Run BASIC is unique and that for many people it is an ideal way to program for the web. In fact I dare say that there is nothing else like it. So, how do I get people to spread the word? People say, "This isn't ready for prime time." This is a chicken and egg situation. If I could motivate people to promote Run BASIC to others this thing could go viral. Then I stop spending my time working on stuff that isn't Liberty BASIC and/or Run BASIC and things would go much, much faster.

I invite people to share their thoughts about this.

So with a heavy heart I'm giving up on RB. I need a language that can do what I want today, not at some time indeterminate in the future.

I don't seek to complain or criticize, only to give some feedback. Perhaps in a few years RB will be a viable alternative to PHP but it's not yet, and I can't wait until it is.

Sorry to see you go. Come back once in a while to see how we're going.

-Carl

[mackrackit]

Since giving up on RB I've taught myself PHP and I've coded the application I needed to

I am curios, what were you able to do with PHP that is not possible with RB?

As for Carl developing either LB or RB, I am just glad that he is. Over the years I gather that Carl is pretty much a one person shop on these projects and must have a "day job" to pay the bills. I am the same way. My "day job" has to come first and I keep hoping that some day things will turn around and my hobby/business will take care of the things the day job does.

What does RB need in my opinion... Some way to have it start at boot like apache (Linux box), I guess a command line version is needed for this to happen. Other than that RB is great. I have not even explored all of the things RB is capable of.

LB version 5... What more does LB need? A Linux version, then I can stop Wine-ing But other than that...

Having the developer of LB and RB actively participate on the forums is as they say priceless. Where else can you get that kind of support?

BTW...if all goes well I will be purchasing another RB license or two in the near future for an actual customer of mine.

[kokenge]

I'm curious. What was the application.

I came the route of Java to PHP to RB. When I found PHP, I was happy because I could do in days what took weeks to do in Java. Then I found RB and could do in days what took weeks to do in PHP.

True - PHP only has SQLite support now, but I understand that's on the priority list. I've converted some PHP stuff and the code was really cut down. Just the fact that you get rid of Session control is a big factor.

So - what is it that PHP can do that BR can't do??? It is bugging me.

Have a great day..

[kokenge]

mackrackit

You and I must have had the same thoughts and posted at the same time...

[davos1]

angusmann

I saw your posts about reading data in a subroutine, what seems to be a problem a simple cycle.
Thats the problem with new software and that requires dedication to improve and deploy correctly the software.
it is a functionallity that one thinks that it works correctly in each programming language.
As your post was a year ago...may 2008, and the problem continues, maybe it is what you are pointing now, thanks for your advice.

thanks a lot

Alberto

[davos1]

angusmann
by the way, just a little late, but a working solution of your program is this:
it seems that when you are in a subrouting the next read cause the compile error-even when you are not accessing that code-, so we exit before with a return, to avoir the run time error:

'VARIABLES
'cs$(X,Y) Color Scheme X, y=1-9=colors
'ncs(X) Name of color scheme X
'ncs Number of color schemes
'spw Screen pixel width
'q$ Quotation mark - chr$(34)



'DIM things and set variables
dim cs$(20,10)
dim ncs$(20)
spw=800
q$=chr$(34)

global spw, q$, ncs

'**********************************************************
'* CODE LIVES HERE ! *
'**********************************************************
gosub [LoadColorSchemes]
print "There are ";ncs;" color schemes."
'**********************************************************
'* CODE ENDS HERE ! *
'**********************************************************
end


[LoadColorSchemes]
print "inside sub"
ncs=0
[readcsloop]
print "before read"
read a$
print "after read";a$
if a$="END" then
print "en end"
return
rem [exitreadcsloop]
end if
ncs=ncs+1
print "NCS";ncs
ncs$(ncs)=a$
for a=1 to 9
read a$
cs$(ncs,a)=a$
next a
goto [readcsloop]
[exitreadcsloop]


return



data "Standard", "#9EBECA","#7F9AA3","#61767D","#C9B89D","#A38F7F","#7D6D61","#363636","#C9C9C9","#000000"
data "Eighteen", "#C7D499","#A3AD7D","#7F8761","#D4B998","#AD987D","#877661","#2B2B2B","#D4D4D4","#000000"
data "Bleu", "#99CAFF","#82ACD9","#6B8EB3","#FFF099","#D9BD82","#B39C6B","#000000","#FFFFFF","#000000"
data "Greems", "#C9E0C1","#A7BAA0","#84947F","#DEE0C1","#B8BAA0","#92947F","#1F1F1F","#E0E0E0","#000000"
data "Hitman 8", "#D2B87D","#AB9667","#857550","#8E9B9E","#D1D1D1","#FFFFFF","#2E2E2E","#D1D1D1","#000000"
data "Schwarz", "#C6DAFD","#A7B8D6","#8997B0","#FCFBC5","#D6CDA7","#B0A889","#030303","#FCFCFC","#000000"
data "Rainforest","#AEC784","#8DA16A","#6B7A51","#C7B383","#A1906A","#7A6E51","#383838","#C7C7C7","#000000"
data "What", "#83C2C9","#6A9DA3","#51797D","#C9A183","#A3796A","#7D5D51","#363636","#C9C9C9","#000000"
data "Winter", "#C6D5E6","#A4B1BF","#848E99","#E6E1C5","#BFB7A4","#999384","#1A1A1A","#E5E5E5","#000000"
data "END"

[BillSturm]

I hear a lot about the slow update cycle of LB and now RB. What I find frustrating is how we have come to expect an endless cycle of new releases. People are always clamoring for the next major release. I suspect the marketing departments of some of the larger companies have worked hard to get people to expect (and pay for) regular updates.

I say, if the current version is working, why mess with it. Work with what you have. Engineering is about making great products out of the resources at your disposal.

It is also essential to take the proper time to release quality code. The highest quality code is not usually made to a deadline, it is done when it is done. That is why there is so much high quality open source code, it is made as a hobby and quality comes before profit. I think Carl works in a similar fashion. Even though he expects a modest profit from his endeavors, he obviously puts quality pretty high on his list.

Bill

[jerry]

The post above is 5 years old.

As a programmer, I can do more with more tools. Sitting around figuring how to to "more with less" is counter productive. RunBasic 101 is awesome but I fear for its future.

Carl, your baby needs more polish and functionality. Please, look over the feature requests and give us the tools we are asking for. I bough RB101 once, I'll be happy to buy an improved and expanded 2.0!

jerry