forgive my ignorance but I was just wondering what the advantages of OPL are as opposed to writing applications in Java or Native? I have been reading that it was used by a large community of Psion developers but why is it a big deal on phones where we already have native Symbian OS and decentish Java implementations?
Figive my ignorance I'm just curious.
c++ is to hard for most people.
java is way slower and bigger then OPL
OPL is a bit easier to learn then Java.
Most hobby programmers don't like OO
I take your point - but isn't this exactly what we don't need?, yet another standard for phone programming to add to PJava, MIDP, Symbian and all the stuff which is currently coming from the games folks like Mophun, In-fusion and TTPCom which people will probably start to write more than just games in?
Every single one of those 'standards' is aimed at big time programming projects, for professionals, or those dedicated to learning a language such as C++ or Java.
OPL's been around since the Psion Organiser One (circa 1984) and the majority of code written for machiens like the Psion Series 3 (1991) can be dumped directly onto a 9210 runinng OPL (such as Steve Litchfield's Fairway). Now that's what I call a standard.
And all these new C++ and Java toys are for top end programmer. Someone who wants to have a bit of fun, try out a few things, or do a little program to suit their specific needs, really should use a simple, BASIC like high-level, non object orientated language. That's why OPL is important, it brings more programmers to the platform, and these new programmers would likely never look at Java or C++.
[quote="theloniusflash"]I take your point - but isn't this exactly what we don't need?, yet another standard for phone programming to add to PJava, MIDP, Symbian and all the stuff which is currently coming from the games folks like Mophun, In-fusion and TTPCom which people will probably start to write more than just games in?[/quote]
I think it enriches the development options. Their are loads of programming languages for Windows and UNIX and nobody complains about that. At the end of the day Symbian is just another OS. Its up to the developer to decide which language is most appropriate for their project.
[quote="theloniusflash"]...and all the stuff which is currently coming from the games folks like Mophun, In-fusion and TTPCom which people will probably start to write more than just games in?[/quote]
OPL on previous machinesn has odne more than games. Some examples of what can be done include RC4 File encryption, FTP Backup of machines, Synchronisation of data over two machines, double entry bank account management, DOC EBook Readers... okay and amillion versions of Tetris, and one version of Vexed.
It's simple, but flexible. As opposed to complicated and flexible like C++ and Java.
Oh I forgot this one...
The End user doesn't care what his favouite app is written in!
So if the language you choose, be it OPL or C++, delivers what the end user wants, then everyone wins. OPL doesn't take away programmers from existing well supported langauges, it allows NEW programmers to mnake a simple first step into the world of programming.
The most important reason why I use OPL is the one file coding.
I haven't looked at the c++ for symbian that well but it looks like a thousand header files for a simple helloworld.
I like the simple one file one line(if needed) philosophy of OPL.
OPL is real nice for all those simple things.
I use OPL like VisualBasic, if I need something, need it quick, like for instance if I need to list all my files in a map or rename them all.
This is something which can be done with opl and visualbasic with about 10 lines and no hassle.
BTW I'm no fan of High level languages, I just happen to find myself programming in them 😃