[Gambas-user] Gambas 2 - digg and slashdot

[Benoit Minisini]

On samedi 5 janvier 2008, johnf wrote:
>
> From a Lurker (who has written Gambas code):
>
> Stop worrying about how you are writing announcements of the latest
> version. From my perspective you guys are doing very thing possible on the
> marketing front (without spending money).  I realize you want Gambas to be
> the next hot language but I doubt that's going to happen.  Here is what I
> think will hold Gambas back.
>
> 1.Not a Cross platform solution.
> 2.No web
>
> Oh I know that QT is now cross platform.  So Gambas can solve the problem
> in the future.  But what about the web?
>
> First let me say desktop applications are not going away soon (if ever). 
> But that's not what has been hot in the industry.  Languages like Ruby are
> hot right now because of Ruby on Rails – web apps.  Personally I don't
> think much of Ruby.  But it's hard to deny that there are lots of
> developers
> participating in “Ruby on Rails” if the list and forum traffic means
> anything.  I receive a hundred messages daily from the Ruby list and forum.
> Of course there is the Ajax thing and Flex along with Air that claim to
> provide a rich web interface as good as a desktop.
>
> So how does Gambas fit in when it comes to web apps?  It doesn't really.
>
> So capitalize on your strengths.  In the windows world VB6 is very strong.
> And still has a very large following world wide.  So instead of saying you
> are not VB6 say you are better than VB6 with added features.  Yes I know
> that you can't move a VB6 project to Gambas with a push of a button.   So
> what. The coding is very close.  Go and evangelize the strengths of Gambas
> to the VB6 guys.
>
> Next stop calling other languages “nerdie”.  Python is no more nerdie than
> Basic.  All that does is cause others to look at the Gambas list with
> suspicion.
>
> Last keep your expectation within reason.  Basic is 30-40 years old.  So
> the idea of basic is not new but what can be done with the new basic
> (Gambas). That is a strength BTW.  So write that app that all distro's want
> to include and show the world that Basic is not basic.

Making Gambas become a "web language" is one of my goal for a long time. 

At the moment, you can already do that with the gb.web component, even if you 
need a lot of elbow grease. I'm currently be paid for a web application 
written in Gambas (I have already talked about in previous mails).

I want to be able to put controls on web page with Gambas, and to get events 
from them, and all that should be transparent, without having to write any 
JavaScript. But the way of doing that is not well defined at the moment, and 
a lot of work is needed inside the IDE first, so that it can manage different 
kinds of forms. And think about the differences and bugs between all 
browsers!

You can already doing that with Ruby on Rails, Java and in many other 
platforms, but it is so complex for the average developer. I hope Gambas will 
be able to write web interface the easiest possible.

Regards,

-- 
Benoit Minisini