Reinstalling Windows

[eFestivals]

They are all largely the same really... I think once you can program in one language then swapping over to another these days is very easy.

In which case I challenge you with Java.

Nearly all in the list you give I've got my own head around pretty easily (tho I've not done C#), but Java drives me absolutely insane.

A lot of people think JavaScript and HTML5 are going to be the main languages going forward in the web and mobile world.

I was considering that (particularly JS) this very morning, and I'm not sure it's really true.

It's powerful, but it's a right pain in the arse to work with in the real world.

[eFestivals]

Whatever you think of Microsoft's development tools in the past... Today they are second to none really...

and that's because...?

They recruited the guys who'd written my preferred tools to write their own tools - but inferior tools at that time, because of the idiot stuff that MS insisted was part of it.

For the stuff I want to achieve I've never had to revisit anything of MS's, tho I am aware it started to get a better rep with .NET.

But as it happens I'm revisiting VB today, which is scaring me. It's not something I've bothered with for over 20 years, and there's very good reasons why.

Another view on what's being used out there...

http://readwrite.com/2012/06/05/5-ways-to-tell-which-programming-lanugages-are-most-popular

Glad to see that Delphi is still managing to hang in there as one of the more-major ones - i'd have thought it would have dipped lower than that, cos it never really took off big in the first place; even back then most folk were a sucker for anything Microsoft.

[eFestivals]

I hate Javascript...

what till you've tried using Java for developing Android apps.

I hate it so much I'm seeing what VB might do for me instead, that's how annoying it is.

[eFestivals]

I use Xamarin and C# for mobile apps... Fantastic but expensive....

does that create native code for the apps? And more importantly, do they actually load as fast as something coded specifically for that platform (as an android app done in Eclipse/Android ADT would be)?

Delphi is able to build apps, tho what's created has a load of native libraries, which means it's a huge .apk file, and it loads slowly because of the amount of stuff it needs to load in. When the price is factored in too it's a poor choice for me.

I keep returning to Eclipse/Android ADT, tho I hate it.

I've just bought a copy of Basic4Android, cos it's cheap enough to have a play around with, and for what I'm wanting to do it should be more than adequate ... tho my VB knowledge is almost non-existent.

[eFestivals]

PS: tho I've just found Oxygene (http://www.remobjects.com/elements/oxygene/), which I guess should be worth a closer look as it claims good to be good for those ho know Delphi.

[eFestivals]

I use Xamarin and C# for mobile apps... Fantastic but expensive....

"RemObjects C#" might be worth you checking out, Barry. It's a fair bit cheaper than Xamarin, and uses the Visual Studio IDE.

http://www.remobjects.com/elements/hydrogene

[eFestivals]

Yeah it creates native code and actual speed depends...

Something very high end and very resource hungry and you will probably notice a difference. For almost everything else you probably wouldn't...

But they claim all is good. I have never written anything high end enough to push it so I couldn't say personally.

oh, you'd notice the speed difference if it wasn't 'native' - i've had a play with most of the app builders around (tho the ones I've mentioned above are new to me), and with both Delphi and Intel's one (I forget the name) that don't run 'native', the overheads make them load much too slowly for anything that I'd want to present to the public (tho they'd be useful for 'in-house' stuff, i guess).

I've just installed Oxygene which should be much better (it works the same way as you've just described Xamarin), tho I need to reboot before I can try it.

[windy_miller]

Well this thread has derailed somewhat, but nevermind!

Isn't deploying natively compiled apps a pain? Don't you have to compile a different version for all the different processors (ARM6, ARM7, intel etc)?

I'm not a mobile developer so may be wrong.

Also, if you've used the QT framework for doing GUIs in C++, you can now also deploy to Android and iPhone with the same code base (in theory). I've only used it to create Windows desktop applications, so don't know if the mobile stuff works well or not.

http://qt-project.org/

[eFestivals]

Nah, as native for andriod they're Java apps, so they presumably run within a Java vm.

If QT is one set of code for all platforms, I'm guessing it'll have the same issues as the many other tools that do the same - a big overhead of extra code to make it all work, resulting in slow loading time.

[Uncle Liam]

Well,

I haven't reinstalled Windows yet. My mate accessed my computer remotely and did something which I think (temporarily at least) resolved the problem.

Basically, the laptop is a pile of shit and I'm never buying anything HP again. The other night, the cursor on the screen just vanished for no reason and wouldn't come back, which meant I had to restart the damn thing. When I restarted, it was as slow a stoned snail wading through treacle. System restore fixed it, but this a recurring problem of the damn thing slowing down, and needing a system restore.

It doesn't like any of the updates it gets, which is annoying because when I shut down last night, updates were installed which I imagine are going to slow the thing right down again...

[Uncle Liam]

I'm going to reboot from a memory stick in a week. We have a school inspection next week so slow or fast i need a PC and cannot risk being without one.