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> I am a biologist by training and inclination.
> I program .. to produce programs .. in recording animal behaviour.
> I do not earn my living as a programmer so you are free to ignore my
comments.
Les, perhaps half of this community consists of scientists like yourself
-- although you are probably the first biologist.
Welcome to the club!
> FreePascal ...
> FreeBasic ...
> FreePascal even merited a mention in Dr Dobbs Journal.
Oberon merited several mentions by a renowned columnist Jerry Pournelle
from the BYTE magazine,
and BlackBox merited a feature article in BYTE back in 1994.
I daresay, BYTE was a more serious, higher-level publication than the more
trickstery-oriented Dr.Dobbs.
> I have never seen a query about 'Freestanding applications' on either
website.
It is precisely the scientists etc. ("non-professional programmers") who
need 'freestanding applications' less than anyone else.
The BlackBox (Oberons) environement has an interactive feel while
providing an efficient compiled language -- and a remarkably fast and
efficient development cycle -- better than anything for smaller projects.
(And, Les, PLEASE dont assume we've never seen anything but BB...)
> IDEs (at least on Win machines) which enable users to make use of their
already available skills.
> BB does so to a very limited degree.
If the humanity would stick to already available skills, we'd still be in
the stone age, working stone axes...
The compile-link-make-whatever cycle is a remnant of the batch processing.
We are in a different world since more than 20 years.
> Why does BB generate such enthusiasm from its converts?
1)
A language which is:
-- efficiently compiled;
-- garbage collected (the true reason for increased productivity in Java,
and the main reason of popularity of "dynamic languages");
-- carefully designed to minimize inadvertent bugs;
-- carefully designed to provide a set of easily combinable, largely
orthogonal constuctive features;
-- carefully designed NOT to contain fancy garbage of questionable value
that serves mostly to bog down programmers.
2)
BlackBox GUI construction features allow designing GUI applications with
custom interactive graphics fine-tuned to the particular application
(Wojtek Skulski designed one for experimental physics uses -- see his Gr;
Robert Campbell designed one for his warplane engineers; I am designing
one for tritium decay studies [note for a biologist: tritium is the stuff
used in H-bombs]).
In terms of GUI power, BlackBox, being 13 years old, is ahead of .NET!!!!!
For more, please take a look at this:
http://www.inr.ac.ru/~info21/texts/2003-08-JMLC/en.htm
> Is the future of BB already with us and called Zonnon?
No. Zonnon does not exist yet as viable option.
And the main reason? It's too complex (with upper/lower-case switches and
all the fancy features).
Appreciate the simplicity of Oberon/Component Pascal.
cheers
fyodor
--- BlackBox
--- send subject HELP or UNSUBSCRIBE to blackbox{([at]})nowhere.xy
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Received on Mon May 22 2006 - 15:04:17 UTC