Why should I buy PureBasic?

Noble Bell · Post by **Noble Bell** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:13 pm

Hi All,

Alright I have been programming for about 25 years now. Basic is my favorite language. More than likely because that is what I started with way back when.

I have been using Visual Basic 6 for several years now and I have a very successful shareware and consulting business. I know that VB6 is no longer supported but gosh darn it, it is simple to use and all my source is in VB6.

I am looking to replace VB6 with something more modern and something that is not going to just disappear and leave people stranded.

So, PureBasic, here is your chance. Tell me why I need to choose PureBasic over PowerBasic, REALbasic, and IBasic. (Vb.Net is not an option. I already use it.)

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing your comments.

utopiomania · Post by **utopiomania** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:24 pm

Wellcome!

http://www.noblebell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35

http://libertybasic.conforums.com/index ... 1149442629

yoxola · Post by **yoxola** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:30 pm

Well I bought it for game coding...

I don't know the application programming capability PB can do, but it did most of my task without requiring external libraries/dlls(actually by using some libs PB does more jobs, way out of my imagination).

PB is kept developing for a long time, and being very stable now, even if you don't choose PB, it's still worhy a try.

I can't compare between these basic languages from tech part... in most case I don't need very deep knowledge, however with PB I can concentrate on what I really need instead of mucking around docs or articles.

If you're searching for VB replacement, I think you can just try what's the most comfortable for you, and you can find some free languages like FreeBASIC or BCX(not joking, they're pretty powerful).

Just few cents that might not help.

Noble Bell · Post by **Noble Bell** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:36 pm

Yes, I am aware of those free ones. I have even looked at XBLite. Those are really not for me but they are pretty powerful.

As one user pointed out, I also use and love LibertyBasic. I use it for all my free stuff that I develop on my personal website.

I will mostly be developing applications for businesses and the like. I will not be going into the game area. I cannot even draw a stick figure straight.

Database support, print/print preview support, eye-candy, and Internet support are very important to me.

nb

Inf0Byt3 · Post by **Inf0Byt3** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:59 pm

Hi, here's a quick read:
http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?t=5266

yoxola · Post by **yoxola** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:06 pm

I did use FreeBASIC for a while it pretty powerful, as following reasons:
It generates real machine code, make the final program pretty fast/small, no vm or intepreter required, if you need to distribute 3rd party files, they're actually libraries(like freetype), such make it ideal for extensibility and flexibility, the only weakness is FB has no ideal IDE yet(tried many, none work very well). FB is open sourced, although there's nearly no need to use it, but that ensures it'll keep living, and if you don't like it, you can modify it, make it your personailzed tool.

As to PB, the IDE is very productive if you tried it, the non-bloat design is pretty suit of the concept of "Pure".

srod · Post by **srod** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:34 pm

So, PureBasic, here is your chance. Tell me why I need to choose PureBasic over PowerBasic, REALbasic, and IBasic. (Vb.Net is not an option. I already use it.)

Why not buy them all?

Why would anyone on this forum presume to tell someone to buy Purebasic over any other variant? Those that use Purebasic do so for their own personal reasons; some for the lack of bloat, some for the syntax, others for the 2d support, yet others because of the update model (they're all free!) etc. Personally, I love the language and the support of the developers and these forums; it all adds up!

Of the basic's you mention, Realbasic is closest in concept to VB 6, but it's not my cup of tea; not stable enough and way too expensive for my tastes. I could go on, but unless you try the languages for yourself, then you'll never really know for sure.

For shareware apps, Purebasic is absolutely ideal imho. It's syntax makes for some very rapid app. development (in a different way perhaps than VB) and it's clean!

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:49 pm

I would say a combination of a .net language, like VB.net, C#.net or so (these are great for SOME apps.) and PureBasic would be a nice thing.

Purebasic, also supporting inline assembly, will let the always existant need-for-speed go away. I have been using purebasic for a commercial app too, (for a specific company) and it worked just great. It was quick to do it, and it just worked!

They are made for different environments (Talking APP dev), and think of your power supporting BOTH! For games, purebasic will work too

coming with a quite well featured sprite/2d part, and an easy way of using the Ogre 3d engine, not only can you start here but you will also be able to go further. If you need more, you can also use the commercial engines (the 2d part is quite good. But perhaps you need some special 3d stuff?) easily with purebasic.

The only impossible thing is COM objects, but then again; purebasic constantly prooves the impossible possible so you can ALSO use them. Freak just made something to help you doing that!

OOP? Well; while not exactly built for it, purebasic allows you to control YOUR code by hand; thus allowing you to do oop by going low level and calling procedures having their addresses stored in structures and so on.

going too low level on what you thought of? No need to worry

You can still use purebasic. With no problems. But i think you will automatically learn more about how things work and so on simply by using purebasic. And THATS a good thing!

I write too much

rsts · Post by **rsts** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:51 pm

A year ago I was in a somewhat similar position - wanting to return to "basic" programming.

I looked at Liberty Basic (even bought it), IBasic, and PureBasic. I would probably have evaluated more, but I had made up my mind that rather than spending a lot of time learning all the various syntaxes, I'd evaluate until I found one that satisfied my requirements.

PureBasic did satisfy my requirements, primarily on the strength of these forums. While I found it somewhat difficult to learn from the documentation, which is adequate but not strong, the wealth of information in the form of examples plus the seemingly limitless help from the knowledgeable people in the forums made the decision for me.

If i were a professional developer looking to develop high powered applications for sale to a commercial audience and wanted to spend a great deal more time "learning" a tool set, I MIGHT (not necessarily would) have selected something different (Delphi for example). But PureBasic meets my needs adequately and the forums are a goldmine of help and information.

cheers

netmaestro · Post by **netmaestro** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:00 pm

You've got a free demo and hundreds of example programs in the code archive as well as thousands of snippets on the forum. Look through it and if you like what you see, get yourself registered. It's a modest price and updates are free for life. It wouldn't be my place to sell you on PureBasic or anything else really.

Noble Bell · Post by **Noble Bell** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:06 pm

You folks are making this very interesting for me. I am sure that Ibasic is out of the question because they seem to have lost the developer or something like that.

Liberty BASIC is pretty awesome to use and I like it because I can turn out some pretty amazing stuff at a fast rate. But, I more than likely, will not use Liberty for heavy duty commercial apps and consulting that I do. I will use Liberty to further my free personal website.

PowerBasic is alright. I have used PowerBasic for DOS for years and love it. But, they don't have a demo of their product. They do have a money-back guarantee though.

REALbasic, forget it! As one poster pointed out, it is buggy and not stable. I have to agree. I have and do use it for a consulting job in converting a Windows VB6 application to Mac OS X. We have had nothing but problems with it. Mainly (Printing, data importing, and bugs in RB)

I am really leaning toward PureBasic.

I assume, without looking, PureBasic supports the WinXP look-feel? Also, I assume, that PureBasic will allow me to use third-party Windows DLL files?

nb

srod · Post by **srod** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:09 pm

assume, without looking, PureBasic supports the WinXP look-feel? Also, I assume, that PureBasic will allow me to use third-party Windows DLL files?

Yes on both counts.

I never really got on with Liberty, being an interpreter and all. Simple to use, yes, but just not powerful enough.

rsts · Post by **rsts** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:42 pm

srod wrote:
I never really got on with Liberty, being an interpreter and all. Simple to use, yes, but just not powerful enough.

I agree with srod. I used Liberty when I just started back but find Purebasic to be much more powerful and just as easy to use. It also allows much easier distribution of the finished program than Liberty did when I used it.

cheers

dracflamloc · Post by **dracflamloc** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:06 am

Noble Bell wrote:But, I more than likely, will not use Liberty for heavy duty commercial apps and consulting that I do. I will use Liberty to further my free personal website.

No offense meant in the following but:

If you do heavy duty commercial apps and you do consulting then you should have the knowledge and ability to choose and not need to create a thread like this.

Noble Bell · Post by **Noble Bell** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:14 am

No offense taken. But, in doing those heavy-duty applications and consulting it has taught me to spend my hard-earned money wisely too.

If you would notice in my original post I stated that I use VB.Net as well.