Experimenting with an EZGUI Module for ThinBasic

[Michael Hartlef]

Sorry to hijack this Topic, but is there any other SDK on the same Level as the PowerBasic one?

[ErosOlmi]

Not now.

I experimented with FreeBasic and was quite OK but problem is always related to String handling.
thinBasic uses OLE32 BSTR strings. Other language uses other kind of strings. Making conversions in/out is very inefficient.

I made also some experiment using FreePascal than has WideString that are identical to BSTR strings except for functions returning strings.
Here are some explanation of the problem: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9...ue-for-interop

[Billbo]

Eros,

If you praise Power Basic so much and you even use it to write thinBasic, why do you do thinBasic? I know it's freeware and Power Basic is shareware (I think almost $100 USD.)

Eros, if I may, I have wanted to mention several times before. Petr is Czech, Rene is German, and you are Italian. You three must be highly educated. The English of you three is some of the best I have seen, and I am speaking of Americans and British. Speaking the language in one thing, but the thought process you three display in it is as though it is your native language, not a second (or for all I know, a third or more), plus, highly educated.

Bill

[ErosOlmi]

Regarding Power Basic and thinBasic: the only fact that one is a compiler (Power Basic) and the other is an interpreter (thinBasic) put them into complete different categories.
You cannot compare a compiled language able to execute billions of instructions in few milliseconds with an interpreted language that is at least hundred of times slower (sometimes thousands). Who needs speed must always go to compiled languages.
thinBasic try to recover from this speed gain having many compiled native commands (thinBasic keywords/commands/modules) able to perform more operations with a single command. This reduce the number of instructions you need to write earning some of the time lost in interpretation of the source code.

The only thing that is really in common is syntax: we love BASIC like syntax.
Power Basic has a lot more capabilities that I still have to find a way to do in thinBasic: native COM component interface and a powerful OOP just to mention few.
But thinBasic was not only inspired by Power Basic: I get some inspiration from PHP and other languages like AutoIt and even from languages I hate like C, C++ and C#

Why thinBasic: well, difficult to say. All started without a precise project but as a tool for personal use ...
Then, day by day, it become what it is now: a mix of passion, challenge, needs at work, joy to have and idea and being able to solve using programming.
During this journey I had the lucky to meet great people, like the one you mentioned, and others with similar passions. What's best?
We all do other things and work in real life but this project and this community were (at least for me) something important.

Regarding personal education ... every people has its trip in life. Sometimes missing education can be recovered with great passion and dedication to a target you absolutely want to get.
Many of us love to study new things as a personal attitude: there is always something new and interesting things to feed the brain. This is enough for many situations.

[Billbo]

Eros,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Yes, speed and billions of instruction in a few milliseconds do count.

there is always something new and interesting things to feed the brain.

I consider it a wasted day if I do not learn something new.

Thanks, again,

Bill

[primo]

i don't use powerbasic, but i am watching its forum.
the return of the company members and forum members also the reviving of its forum and the notes from here and there, makes me optimistic that they work on a x64 version of the product, since it is the x64 is the very near future . and i wish to powerbasic a good future like the old time.

[Petr Schreiber]

Regarding education - I think it was the communication with Eros which motivated me to find better ways to express in English. And as for the programming, again, I learned more by working (although remotely) with Eros than on the University lessons (although there were some nice ones)

I think the Star Wars model of sith lord and its apprentice has some true to it. Mass education is important, but personal approach is always the king!


Petr

[Billbo]

I preciate the replies. I think that when I get some thing paid off, I purchase Power Basic. To tell you the truth, I have not heard anything bad about it.

Bill

[Michael Hartlef]

Not now.

I experimented with FreeBasic and was quite OK but problem is always related to String handling.
thinBasic uses OLE32 BSTR strings. Other language uses other kind of strings. Making conversions in/out is very inefficient.

I made also some experiment using FreePascal than has WideString that are identical to BSTR strings except for functions returning strings.
Here are some explanation of the problem: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9...ue-for-interop

Which PowerBasic version is need at the minimum these days? Is 9 enough?

[ErosOlmi]

PB 10 as a huge number of new features compared to 9 but for what is concerning to develop thinBasic modules, PB 9 is OK.