What is an *easy* language to code a graphical windows application in?

[TheFLY]

I want to get into some windows programming -- does anyone have recommendations? I used to like coding in Pascal, so I'll probably take a look at Delphi first...

I'd like to keep it relatively "high level" -- I don't want to get into a lot of OOP crap --

Thanks

[kmanrox]

i heard english was the best

[FuqALot]

Yeh, Delphi would be a good choice. Put a little time into learning Delphi and you'll be cooking advanced windows programs in no time.

[Tipsy]

I you want easy take a look at VB too. It can do most stuff unless you're looking to write a quake engine.

[Ketadream]

VB and Delphi are more than likely your best choices when it comes to Rapid Application Development programming.

Easy to get into, very expandable...

[Libertine]

If you want very easy, VB would be good. Delphi seems like a better choice though.

[TheFLY]

OK thanks guys... I'll look at VB too -- just basic has that stigma...

10 print "hello world"
20 goto 10

run

HAHAHA

[flashfreak]

begin with Delphi but take care it's about $2000 or so

[har har]

vb.net / c sharp - vb.net has good speed for what im doing (direct3d) and is definatly quick enough for desktop shit, its not like old shitty vb 6......

delphi - is unsupported, borland are basicly locked out of the market so if you use a lot of components in coding then yer fucked with it.

ms sux but its made a realy good set of fully supported tools, and its free if you steal it off kazaa

[Juicy D. Links]

FLY if you need books hit me up

[flashfreak]

Originally posted by har har

delphi - is unsupported, borland are basicly locked out of the market so if you use a lot of components in coding then yer fucked with it.

totally wrong!
VB is easier to use and has a more intuitive interface but for professional API applications Delphi is the way to go.
not convinced? then explain me why Delphi programmers get a double sallary than a VB programmer?

[har har]

Originally posted by flashfreak

totally wrong!
VB is easier to use and has a more intuitive interface but for professional API applications Delphi is the way to go.
not convinced? then explain me why Delphi programmers get a double sallary than a VB programmer?

because vb (6) programmers are a dime a dozen and most are from pakistan / india

vb(6) is very slow and unprofessional for any decent sized application. but the newest dot net tools are a realy good package for professional applications. c sharp would be the equivelent of delphi, its shit hot give it a go, sorry but borlands fucked, ms has taken over..

give vb.net a try and then tell me it doesnt have the speed of delphi

[TheFLY]

Hmm what about Borland's C#Builder ?

[Tipsy]

Originally posted by TheFLY
Hmm what about Borland's C#Builder ?

You said 'easy' ;)

It's been basically summed up above though. Delphi is nice BUT it doesn't have even close to the support that you get with the MS products and that gap continues to grow. Like 'em or hate 'em MS does make it easy to develop for their system especially using their own tools.

Oh and the wage thing - the answer has nothing to do with which is 'better' although that has been more than explained.

[LuSiD]

Originally posted by har har
vb.net / c sharp - vb.net has good speed for what im doing (direct3d) and is definatly quick enough for desktop shit, its not like old shitty vb 6......

delphi - is unsupported, borland are basicly locked out of the market so if you use a lot of components in coding then yer fucked with it.

ms sux but its made a realy good set of fully supported tools, and its free if you steal it off kazaa

He said he didn't want OOP. All of the .NET stuff requires OOP experience or at least a granule of OOP understanding, just like Java's syntax. Although, yes, I would recommend any of the .NET languages, which would be just about any language you want to use, just with the .NET framework included. So yeah, any language you want, basically.

I personally like C#. Windows programming without OOP is just going to result in worthless programs that can't get too complex or they die constantly. So, just jump in and figure out OOP, Fly.

[CodeLock]

Borland C++ Builder 6.0 is better then delphi/vb/c# put together

[Tipsy]

Originally posted by CodeLock
Borland C++ Builder 6.0 is better then delphi/vb/c# put together

A better interface to use than MS C (whatever version) but it doesn't have the support of the MS products and isn't easier to use than either delphi or VB especially VB. I like Borland but there's a lot of projects I would never use it for because of the above.

You have to love people in blinkers with blind faith in a product that refuse to see or acknowledge any other options. Always brings a smile to my face.

[LuSiD]

Originally posted by CodeLock
Borland C++ Builder 6.0 is better then delphi/vb/c# put together

When will people take a hint? I say it everytime... how can you tell someone what language is best for them? What if I told you I could do whatever you could do in C++ in Python and make it even better? Does that mean Python is better or the person coding?

It's very simple. What language you use means nothing... as advanced as most compilers and interpreters and blah blah blah that you can get today are, it really makes no difference. Just find a language that you like that supports Windows and run with it.

I prefer C#. Sometimes, I code in Managed C++, and sometimes even in VB.net... and sometimes, I mess with Java (although I hate it) and I'm working on a Flash site now... I code websites in PHP and sometimes Perl. I've used Ruby and Python and Shell script for certain tasks in Linux, and even used an old Python script I had lying around for something useful I needed on my Windows machine, easily ported. The point I'm trying to make is that every language has it's special abilities... telling someone C++ is what they need to use is just a sign of a closed minded coder, and there's nothing I hate more than seeing someone who is supposed to think logically (the ideal method of thinking if you are a programmer, I'd hope!) answer a question with such an illogical answer.

K, I'm done.

[LuSiD]

Originally posted by Tipsy
You have to love people in blinkers with blind faith in a product that refuse to see or acknowledge any other options. Always brings a smile to my face.

Word.

[lEricPl]

Originally posted by Tipsy

You have to love people in blinkers with blind faith in a product that refuse to see or acknowledge any other options. Always brings a smile to my face.

I was going to stay away from this thread but wanted to give props to Tipsy for stating the above.





I'm a .NET man myself but I try not to put down any other language.

[pudcat]

Originally posted by Tipsy
You have to love people in blinkers with blind faith in a product that refuse to see or acknowledge any other options. Always brings a smile to my face.

u mean like all those people that bag anything that isn't M$ without having actually used it?

while some of you mention the great support that M$ products have, I actually think of them as faults...

With Borland products you can develop for multiple platforms (I haven't looked deeply into this since all my time is spent with web dev), so the applications you create can actually be used for whatever you need them to be used for in the future.

[CodeLock]

When will people take a hint? I say it everytime... how can you tell someone what language is best for them? What if I told you I could do whatever you could do in C++ in Python and make it even better? Does that mean Python is better or the person coding? It's very simple. What language you use means nothing... as advanced as most compilers and interpreters and blah blah blah that you can get today are, it really makes no difference. Just find a language that you like that supports Windows and run with it. I prefer C#. Sometimes, I code in Managed C++, and sometimes even in VB.net... and sometimes, I mess with Java (although I hate it) and I'm working on a Flash site now... I code websites in PHP and sometimes Perl. I've used Ruby and Python and Shell script for certain tasks in Linux, and even used an old Python script I had lying around for something useful I needed on my Windows machine, easily ported. The point I'm trying to make is that every language has it's special abilities... telling someone C++ is what they need to use is just a sign of a closed minded coder, and there's nothing I hate more than seeing someone who is supposed to think logically (the ideal method of thinking if you are a programmer, I'd hope!) answer a question with such an illogical answer. K, I'm done.

Take a hint? I've developed in delphi/mvs/c#.... you ever use Borland C++ Builder? If not just shut up. BCB++ is easier then VB, DELPHI, C# yet its as fast as any C++ compiled application.

[TheFLY]

Hehehe "C++", three characters that scare me

I'll look at C++ Builder though... I used all the borland turbo pascal products and loved them in highschool...

[Tipsy]

Originally posted by CodeLock


Take a hint? I've developed in delphi/mvs/c#.... you ever use Borland C++ Builder? If not just shut up. BCB++ is easier then VB, DELPHI, C# yet its as fast as any C++ compiled application.

I have and you're talking out of your ass. You obviously never really bothered to learn any of the other languages properly. Borland is good for some things, other progs are better for others. To say otherwise just shows you complete ignorance. Do carry on though. Your pathetic little rants are funny.

[lEricPl]

Originally posted by Tipsy


I have and you're talking out of your ass. You obviously never really bothered to learn any of the other languages properly. Borland is good for some things, other progs are better for others. To say otherwise just shows you complete ignorance. Do carry on though. Your pathetic little rants are funny.

I agree.

Anyone who gets that upset over languages has other issues they are dealing with.

Grow up man.

[sarettah]

For quick development I go with FoxPro most of the time.... You can use the OOPs or ignore it as you want.... Gives great speed, easy to use database tables (can use inside a db wrapper or stand alone)...but has a big footprint because of the runtime libs that have to be distributed with it....

For distributed apps I usually go with Powerbasic (used to be Borland turbobasic) makes a nice small footprint and you dont have to distribute runtime libraries with it... But most of the development tools are 3rd party so it can start to get pricey....

sometimes use C when I really need fast and compact...

[TheFLY]

Originally posted by Tipsy


I have and you're talking out of your ass. You obviously never really bothered to learn any of the other languages properly. Borland is good for some things, other progs are better for others. To say otherwise just shows you complete ignorance. Do carry on though. Your pathetic little rants are funny.

You might be reading too deep into what he said...

<b>
"Borland C++ Builder 6.0 is better then delphi/vb/c# put together"</b>

Chill out Tipsy...

[jas1552]

I'm no programmer but I've been learning some python. Am I wasting my time?

[slackologist]

VB. doesn't get much easier.

[TheSaint]

I hate to even post into this thread because most people are language bigots, but for me multi-platform is key. At 48 I am still maintaining some stuff I wrote 27 years ago. Some of that has been ported to different platforms twice each time costing more than it was to write the whole thing the first time.

So I write just about everything in java or PHP. I want to know that 10 years from now it will still run on whatever the #1 platform is.

90% of the time browser based gui is good enough so that is JSP or PHP.

For windows GUI I really like java applets (swing). They really aren't a good fit though if you are distributing an application, because its a real PIA to also distribute the Sun java plug in.

But for in-house development I use them... Netbeans is a cool free IDE available from Sun and lets you build gui visually in java almost like VB, nowhere near as hard as people think.

Delphi is great for something quick and dirty...

[Sassyass]

I have the.net visual studio development package. It have everything you need to develop in the window environment. If you want a copy I'll hook you up.

I taught my 12 year old how to program in VB. It's VERY simple to get the concepts.

[sarettah]

in reply to the python q....

coding is coding is coding......

Once you become proficient in any coding language it is failry easy to pick up on any others...

The key is knowing logic and what you want to do, so you can look in a language ref and see how to do it in that language....

I started with fortran, then basic, than dbase, Foxpro, cobol, rpg, C, C++, VB....

But the key is undertanding basic logic to begin with and you get that from any language....

I personally think Fox is a much easier syntax to learn than VB.. Much more plain language... But the fact is that once you somewhat master one language you can move over to others fairly rapidly....

doesnt matter if you start with python, delphi, fox, vb or even gwbasic for that matter....

[Nathan]

TheFLY:

I gotta disagree with a lot of people here saying delphi is not so supported...

The type of language you should choose, especially when not having experience with Windows Programming yet, is VERY important, although some people here seem to think otherwise.

It depends on what you plan to program. But in general, for a beginner, especially one that has knowledge of Pascal, Delphi is the way to go. You know the syntax, so its easy for you to use. There are also VERY big resources for Delphi and Borland C++ Builder: http://community.borland.com/homepages/dsp/

I would not suggest MSVC++ to anyone starting out with windows programming. Get the hang of the basics first and then go deap into the API stuff, because IF you start using MSVC++ you should really do ATL/WTL stuff and NOT MFC.

If you WANT to use C++ though, go with Borland C++ Builder. It combines the easy drag and drop of Delphi with the power of C++.

[Doctor Dre]

Visual basic lol

[SMG]

I'm pretty sure theres a reason visual basic is called visual basic O_o its easy as hell to code in

[sumphatpimp]

three bind men describe an elephant

the trunk
the ears
the tail

are they really describing the elelphant?


what language you use is
what you are comfortable with
what gets the job done
at the speed and efficiency that is acceptable

damn that was tough

I have to go lay down now, thinking is so tiring.

[MarcoTC]

TheFLY said he used to like coding in pascal. Therefore Delphi is the best choice. period.

[Lane]

VB is a lot of drag and drop, and not much source coding, so its pretty easy

[Tipsy]

Originally posted by sumphatpimp
three bind men describe an elephant

the trunk
the ears
the tail

are they really describing the elelphant?


what language you use is
what you are comfortable with
what gets the job done
at the speed and efficiency that is acceptable

damn that was tough

I have to go lay down now, thinking is so tiring.

Far too simple a point to get across. It can't be right because xyz is obviously such a superior language

[Theo]

is it really BCB++ easier than VB and delphi?

[TheFLY]

What's your feeling on open-source languages vs. other languages... do you give more preference to open-source languages?