SymbianWare have launched SBasic, letting you develop simple applications and games using standard BASIC commands. You can find details, screenshots and program examples here.
On-device programming, but not OPL for once...
My first take: most of it seems inferior to OPL except for graphical commands which seem wonderfully powerful...if OPL could have even a slice of that...
martinharnevie wrote:My first take: most of it seems inferior to OPL except for graphical commands which seem wonderfully powerful...if OPL could have even a slice of that...
I don't suppose you'd have time to test and review this, Martin?
Steve
slitchfield wrote:I don't suppose you'd have time to test and review this, Martin?
Steve
Sure, as stated, first take only, by going through the command list alone. If given a sample, yeah why not testing it thoroughly.
slitchfield wrote:SymbianWare have launched SBasic, letting you develop simple applications and games using standard BASIC commands. You can find details, screenshots and program examples here.
I could only quote an OPL experienced friend of mine:
"I've read it this morning, too!!!
Was VERY surprised...
Did not understand the aim of this project at all..."
Rgds,
Edo
www.mypsion.ru/viewplus.php
Edo wrote:I could only quote an OPL experienced friend of mine:"I've read it this morning, too!!!
Was VERY surprised...
Did not understand the aim of this project at all..."Rgds,
Edo
www.mypsion.ru/viewplus.php
AAArrgh! ANOTHER Symbian programming language for Series 80 devices! Why can't we have a version of either OPL or SBasic for Series 60 on device programming - there's plenty of keyboards out there so data and text entry isn't a problem....But no, we're stuck with C++ on a desktop which is an absolute nightmare for beginners to get into....
Masamune wrote:AAArrgh! ANOTHER Symbian programming language for Series 80 devices! Why can't we have a version of either OPL or SBasic for Series 60 on device programming - there's plenty of keyboards out there so data and text entry isn't a problem....But no, we're stuck with C++ on a desktop which is an absolute nightmare for beginners to get into....
Why not email Symbianware and ask them to port it to Series 60?
Steve
Email sent.
I was hoping for a BASIC type language to appear on either Palm or Symbian - its the same one I grew up with on my old Amstrad CPC. Has there been any word on the Series 60 port of OPL yet?
I must contend with Edo et al. Over and above the qualities of SBasic per se I'm really struggling to understand its raison d'etre. We already have two Basics in Symbian, OPL for those who wish to develop fast and not be sand-boxed, and AppForge MobileVB for those who wish to develop for mixed Symbian-Microsoft environments.
If SymbianWare had invested their time and energy in a new OPX for OPL including all those powerful graphical commands (e.g. direct TIF, GIF, JPG import, GetPixel&, semi-transparent masking, vertical text etc) and perhaps even a new OPL editor with code optimisation, I would, and I'm sure many others would, be prepared to pay Euro 40 for it, since really would build on an existing powerful infrastructure and add to my productivity and bandwidth as a developer.
This is what RMR did once upon a time and they deservedly earned something from it.
OPL has been ported to series60, a loooong time ago. Check the link for the files http://www.allaboutopl.com/download.php
Having really tried not to sound too negative about SBasic, I think the very existence of SBasic and the repeated inquiries about OPL for Series 60 tells a story in themselves. Perhaps the message is not there, despite all the marvellous efforts by Ewan, Arjen, Rick et al.
Perhaps people like SymbianWare are still not convinced. Or, perhaps all the attention on open source have made such teams assume that they cannot make money on OPL.
I think SBasic might be a wake-up call for the OPL strategy. If good programmers like SymbianWare prefer to go astray and develop their own Basic instead of providing tools and extensions to OPL, and charge a reasonable amount of money for those tools and extensions, something must be fundamentally wrong in how OPL is positioned.
This is something we need to think seriously about.
I'm not really impressed by SBasic - and yes, of course I'm biassed 😊
In the area of graphics SBasic seems more superior (support for different Graphics formats, access to all fonts and the GetPixel command). But, these are all being addressed in OPL as we speak - it just takes time. For example, GetPixel will be possible in the next release of OPL for the Communicator (gPEEKLINE extension in version 1.55) and gLOADBIT and gSAVEBIT extensions for loading JPG, GIF and MBM are being implemented and tested by me at this very moment (just took a small break to type this message 😊.
In the area of everything else OPL is superior. And, if you can't do it with OPL, you can write an OPX for it (I plan to write a extended tutorial or maybe even a book on writing OPXs - to be finished before the end of this summer).
But, the problem with OPL is exactly the same as with a lot of other projects maintained by enthousiasts: it can only be done in your spare time of which there is usually very little. And, now that OPL is available for S60 (alpha), UIQ (beta) and Communicator (mature), there are also lots of bugs to squash for all these platforms. Of course, this even more limits the amount of time that can be spent on implementing new features.
Right now the OPL development team has 11 members of which only 3 actually have the time to do something. To keep OPL alive, we need more people who are willing to work on it (especially the Series 60 port still needs a lot of work). So, if you have experience in C++ (Symbian experience not necessary, I also started from scratch half a year ago and I'm now happily coding OPX's and fixing bugs in the OPL-runtime), and would like to work on a very powerful programming language, please drop me a line at arjenb at users dot sourceforge dot net or arjen at allaboutsymbian dot com.
OPL and SBasic can happily live side by side. Some people will prefer a commercial tool, because maybe they expect better support, but at the moment, I wouldn't understand anyone who shells out 15 euro for something that's new, partly still unimplemented that can basically do nothing more than you can already do with OPL.
Just my $0.02
martinharnevie wrote:
If SymbianWare had invested their time and energy in a new OPX for OPL including all those powerful graphical commands (e.g. direct TIF, GIF, JPG import, GetPixel&, semi-transparent masking, vertical text etc) and perhaps even a new OPL editor with code optimisation, I would, and I'm sure many others would, be prepared to pay Euro 40 for it, since really would build on an existing powerful infrastructure and add to my productivity and bandwidth as a developer.
it.
Sapienti sat!
Agree!!!
I got my reply from SymbianWare today - apparently there are plans for a Series 60 port. 😊