Dear All
It's been interesting to read about perceptions that BASIC is a "toy"
programming language, not to be used for serious projects. I have to reject
this notion. There are some very low level system programming tasks for which
BASIC may not be the best choice but, in principle, like any other programming
language, BASIC is as good as the programmer using it.
I started my programming in the 1980s using FORTRAN 77. I wrote some dreadful
"spaghetti" code in those days but, as my experience grew, so did the structure
and quality of my programs. After a brief period using CORAL 66 I moved onto
using COBOL. If ever there were a language which looks like a "toy" then it is
COBOL, using words instead of operator symbols e.g "ADD X TO Y GIVING Z"
instead of x + y = z. Deeper reflection shows that this makes the language far
more self-documenting than any other. I don't know about now, but for a long
time most of the world's banking system was built using COBOL so it must have
had something going for it.
Since those days I've used C, C++, Pascal and flavours of BASIC, such as VB and
Gambas. In all of those languages it's possible, in fact easy, to write clear,
well-structured, easily-maintainable code. It's a failure of the programmer
when the logic of a program jumps about all over the place; not a weakness in
the programming language. Even C supports "goto" commands and labels.
One thing I have observed over the years is that a lot of programmers like to
create the impression to non-developers that coding is intrinsically difficult.
The syntax of C and C++ in particular helps to perpetuate this myth. Even
fairly experienced developers can be a little awe-struck by uncommented code
which embeds several levels of nested functions in a single line. It would
probably be quite comprehensible if divided over multiple lines with consistent
indentation and a few comments.
I think that the simpler the code is to write and understand, the better the
overall quality is likely to be. The BASIC syntax has many advantages in this
respect, especially for anybody with a knowledge of English.
It is noteworthy that Gambas and VB have been dismissed as if they are not
"proper" development tools. Surely their efficiency for developing applications
sets them apart from every other tool. Using either Gambas or VB, it would take
less than 60 seconds for anybody with a little experience to start a new
project and create a form containing a button which, when clicked, displays a
message. I would challenge anybody to do that using any other tools or
programming languages.
When all programs ran in text mode, managing the user interface constituted a
far smaller proportion of the code. When Windows and the Mac introduced the GUI
to everyday applications that all changed and managing the user interface
became by far the largest part of most programs. Tools which simplified that
aspect of application development were desperately needed and VB satisfied that
requirement, taking the market by storm. As time has gone by I have detected a
growing opinion amongst developers that tools such as VB make programming too
easy, and there been a trend back towards complexity. I accept that changing
fashions in user interface design can require greater control of what appears
on the screen, such as rounded corners, circular windows and so on. That's fair
enough, but there is no reason why those additional functions can't be
delivered by building on the relative simplicity of user-friendly tools and
easy-to-understand code syntax.
Maybe some programmers see simple development tools as a threat. They are not.
A chisel is a simple tool to use but you need a skilled craftsman to get the
best out of it. In much the same way there will always be a need for skilled
programmers to develop applications of any real importance.
I have experimented with Lazarus. This is another excellent development tool
which has the advantage over Gambas of generating native executables and
working cross-platform. Lazarus has a good form builder but it is hampered by
being based on Pascal and exposing far more of its underlying complexity to the
programmer. This provides greater scope for structural and coding errors and
makes for more difficult debugging.
I still have a need to develop database applications on Windows from time to
time. I use Access/VBA as my tool of choice, but I have noted how Microsoft has
made the user interface more complex in recent versions, for no real functional
gain. I suspect this is a move to make it look like a more serious tool. When I
get back to developing on Linux using Gambas it is like a load being lifted
from my shoulders.
Gambas is a tool which every serious developer should examine closely. Its
biggest challenge is the mistaken notion which equates professionalism and
functionality with complexity.
Nige
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