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Gambas: Visual Basic on Linux
- pcdoodle 7y agoI can't believe I haven't heard of this, it looks awesome. Looks like it can compile web apps too?
- themodelplumber 7y agohttps://gambaswiki.org/wiki/comp/gb.web https://gambaswiki.org/wiki/comp/gb.web I remember reading about this some time ago, like almost 10 years ago. So you have to wonder if there are businesses out there using Gambas web apps without knowing it. :-) Some of the developers who use Gambas are very experienced.
- 1wd 7y agohttp://gambaswiki.org/wiki/doc/diffvb http://gambaswiki.org/wiki/doc/diffvb lists "Differences From Visual Basic" and says "Gambas is not intended to be a clone of Microsoft Visual Basic" and "you can't simply copy your VB projects over and expect them to compile under Gambas".
- jsjddbbwj 7y ago>Thankfully, in Gambas you cannot use GOTO to trap errors! Instead, use CATCH, FINALLY or TRY For error handling goto is generally much clearer than using exceptions.
- stan_rogers 7y agoThe construction being referenced is On Error [ERR_NO] Goto LABEL, which is not usually local to the error, and, depending on the dialect may be a generic handler that first needs to figure out what error it's handling.
- rsynnott 7y agoOr, worse, and common in classic VB, ON ERROR RESUME NEXT. Which just skips the line that errored.
- throwaway3neu94 7y agoIt sets Err. Which is essentially how SH, C and Go work too. (With the obvious exceptions of longjmp and panic/defer, global vs local var, and Go forcing to assign the error.) On Error Resume Next isn't great, but calling it much worse than On Error Goto, or much worse than other languages, is a stretch. My point is only that people complain about it in VB disproportionally often compared to other languages. (Does that mitigate the issue to some extent, if every VB dev is super aware of it?)
- rsynnott 7y agoI don’t think I’ve ever seen any vb code which actually checks that, though,or dry little, certainly. In C and Go you get something returned, which is a hint that you should maybe do something with it. In VB a magic global variable is set, and then generally ignored.
- iforgotpassword 7y agoThat's how I've done it. Enable it before the line(s) in question, then check err.number, and add "On Error Goto 0" after that so you get the default handler again. Usually much cleaner than jumping to somewhere else, but that had its uses too.
- rsynnott 7y agoAh. I was never actually a VB programmer, but I did have a few side-jobs porting VB apps (mostly CRUD webapps) to something more modern in the mid-noughties. My experience from that was that real world use of on error resume next was to turn it on and leave it on.
- wolco 7y agoCleaner? Prettier? That's a preference. Having the catch below allows you to see everything at once. Complexity can be encapsulation in readable functions/class method names, etc if your catch does too much.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Mrat 7y agoDijkstra would hate you
- smacktoward 7y agoOf course, you can’t copy your Visual Basic projects into Microsoft’s own Visual Basic.NET and expect them to compile there either.
- drenginian 7y agoSourceforge? Is this an old post?
- chalst 7y agoThe last release is January this year.
- pjmlp 7y agoNot everyone is jumping into Github.
- MagnumPIG 7y agoNo but everyone should jump away from SourceForge after the shady crap they pulled. Gitlab is also a thing.
- StavrosK 7y agoThe new management has been much better, AFAIK.
- savolai 7y agoThe download link actually appears to open a gitlab URL.
- tssva 7y agoSourceForge has now long been under a different ownership then when the shaddy crap happened. Since ownership changed there has been no shaddy behavior.
- lostgame 7y agoI wasn’t aware of this - and it’s a testament to the fact that sometimes there are no second chances after image and trust is destroyed.
- laxd 7y agoConsidering the malware years of sourceforge, this is no opportunity to take a stab at github. The surprise is that sourceforge is still a thing. https://www.howtogeek.com/218764/warning-don%E2%80%99t-download-software-from-sourceforge-if-you-can-help-it/ https://www.howtogeek.com/218764/warning-don%E2%80%99t-downl...
- kwhitefoot 7y agoWould be good to have a cross platform version of this. I wonder how difficult it would be?
- protomyth 7y agoXojo does it, but they are a long time commercial effort (RealBasic).
- pcdoodle 7y agoXojo is a solid paid solution. I use it all the time.
- sigzero 7y agoI've followed them since they were "RealBasic". I think I might just start using it. I keep bouncing between Lazarus/Pascal and Xojo/Basic. lol
- saturday14 7y agoCould you please talk about what kind of projects you are using it for? Do you use it for serious projects or just toy ones? Web or mobile? I looked at the site, this sounds interesting. Just interested in hearing it from someone who uses it
- pcdoodle 7y agoWell let's say you need an app to program IP addy info into a IOT device on the LAN. Multi-platform done in 1 hour. You can also write web apps, drag and drop, we're really excited for the web 2.0 coming this year.
- TurboHaskal 7y agoA friend that runs a one man shop developing websites and native apps swears by it. He actually moved his new developments from Lazarus to Xojo and is always talking about the upcoming Xojo web 2.0. I gave it a try a few times but it never clicked. I felt constrained by the language (Lisp, Smalltalk and Forth ruined me for life) and the runtime is nothing to write home about. For most people I guess it doesn't matter. My friend doesn't even know what reference counting is and wants something simple to get stuff done.
- StavrosK 7y agoThis is fantastic. I've lamented the lack of a good GUI and environment for making desktop apps since VB 4, but it looks like they never went away. Gambas looks fantastic, and exactly as easy to develop with as I remember VB 4 being. I can't say I can stomach the language it uses, but something like this for Python would be a godsend.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- oodlealistair 7y agoCheck out Anvil: https://anvil.works/ https://anvil.works/
- StavrosK 7y agoThis looks nice, thank you. It's only web apps though, right? Ie no native components.
- ghenne 7y agoFor Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android: check out AppStudio. It lets you code in VB like BASIC. A VB like Design Screen lets you drag and drop visual controls. Output is JavaScript/HTML so it runs everywhere. (Disclosure - I'm on the team) https://www.appstudio.dev/ https://www.appstudio.dev/
- haolez 7y agoIn the same vein, we have Lazarus vs Delphi: https://www.lazarus-ide.org/ https://www.lazarus-ide.org/
- memsom 7y agoLazarus is a lot closer to Delphi though.
- sigzero 7y agoThat's a solid choice is this arena.
- TurboHaskal 7y agoFor open source, I don't think there's a better one. (Multiplatform) GUI is one of those things you really have to throw money at if you value your time.
- 7thaccount 7y agoYeah. I'm waiting on Red, but have been waiting a long time. On another note, one commercial option that is very cheap (like $250 for a professional license that is perpetual for that version and collects $0 royalties), but can build GUIs for (Windows, Linux, OSx, Raspberry Pi, Android, and iOS) and has very good built-in database support, encryption, audio, assembly...etc is the forth based 8th language. You can get source with an NDA and $2500 if you really need it. I've only played with it so far, but it is crazy fun and has a lot of built-in goodies. The author fixes many bugs in like hours and will push a new version same day for zero cost.
- JNRowe 7y agoLinks for 8th: * Home: https://8th-dev.com/ https://8th-dev.com/ * About: https://8th-dev.com/about8th.html https://8th-dev.com/about8th.html * Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15672361 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15672361 First I've heard of 8th, but my immediate reaction is similar to the comments in the HN discussion :/
- fortran77 7y agoIt's not "Visual Basic". At best, it's a basic done in the same "spirit" as Visual Basic.
- canada_dry 7y agoSpeaking of Visual Basic... this tool (Windows based) that let's you quickly/easily develop an simple Android app using a flavour of Basic: https://www.b4x.com/b4a.html https://www.b4x.com/b4a.html The developer recently released the tool's source and made it free. It's a mature tool with lots of community support. It also has a pretty slick GUI Android screen designer (Win only - but works in WINE). It might even be feasible to get the Gambas tool to work with the B4A Android Bridge and Designer.
- gramie 7y agoIt's worth noting that the same developer has free tools for desktop (Java) and Raspberry Pi applications, and a paid tool for iOS. All of these use the same dialect of BASIC, and I believe they can use (but don't have to) a cross-platform GUI.
- jmnicolas 7y agoLinux fans sometimes reminds me of vegans : they always have to transpose what they had before their new "religion". So we have zucchini noodles and GAMBAS an "almost basic" for Linux. Usually the original is much better (can't say for GAMBAS, but zucchini noodles certainly aren't noodles !). To me it means you're not comfortable with your new environment, you came here for ideological reasons, not because the new one is better and you miss the old system.
- rbanffy 7y agoSometimes it's because someone wants to leverage the colossal investment already made in VB code and being able to run and maintain it on Linux is better than being locked to Windows anyway.
- pjmlp 7y agoOn the other hand, I have seen companies locked to specific Linux distributions, so....
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- some-username 7y agoDon't you think that "ideological reasons" can be quite a good reason to do things? Besides, following ideological reasons only means to value certain (other) aspects higher for evaluating the question how good something is. Usually the term ideological implies (in my book) that a person is considering the greater good, and willing to take a step back in own convenience. That sounds like a nice person to me. Maybe you could spare some curiosity for their reasons?
- some-username 7y agoAbout the same time that "Microsoft plots the end of Visual Basic" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22570684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22570684).
- jxub 7y ago"Gambas" means prawns in Spanish
- znhll 7y agofunny, cuz that's what I call VB programmers... lol jk This is an interesting project, but in my experience with companies that still use VB6 or VB.net (they have no idea about linux nor a desire to learn anything new... hence why they are still on VB6)
- eternauta3k 7y agoAlso slang for legs in Argentina.
- Mrat 7y agoAnd for AR$100
- rovr138 7y agoCurious, where are you?
- tenant 7y agoThe phenomenal quantity of bugs and inconsistencies that makes Visual Basic so delightful persuaded me to start this project It seems that Microsoft was aware of the poor quality of its language, as VB .Net is not backward compatible with older versions of Visual Basic. I dislike the bad level of common Visual Basic programmers, often due to bad pratices imposed by the bugs and strangeness of this language. Pity he couldn't resist taknng a swipe at vb and vb programmers in his introduction. Also he's inaccurate wrt to his comments about why Microsoft didn't make a vb7.