PureBASIC to the next level?

[Steve Elliott]

PureBASIC is known as a very powerful language when it comes to writing applications, that produces very small executables and even has in-line assembler capabilities as standard.

It also has good games production capabilities - take a look at the excellent Lethal Judgement 3. My own chess program is looking pretty good as well using version 4's alpha transparency facilities.

My point is, why is the games production side not being pursued or promoted? As far as I'm concerned, having full Windows GUI (and other systems) support easily available AND games production functions makes PureBASIC a complete development language.

Ofcourse the website doesn't help matters at all - it's all grey with no colourful and appealing programs written in this impressive language.

What do you think? Fred?

[Trond]

I like the look of the website, although some of the content must be updated.

[Character]

I think you are right.
PureBasic has a huge potential.
Probably it is a matter of time.
Kale's book is already a step into the right direction of getting more publicity,
getting it more known by a bigger public.
(and it is a good book aswell )
I hope the future will bring good things to this great language.
(my thought is, is the term Basic not holding back the success?
I mean [and it has been said before by others]: should it be called
something like PureBase or Pure++ or .. I don't know.)
Why is Delphi so widespread? Because of the TurboPascal legacy?

Well, just a thought..

[jroad]

I also think that PB needs some work done in the marketing dept. to keep pace with competition and increase the userbase.

I had purchased PB earlier this year but never really got around to really doing much with it. I needed the "big picture" to be clarified and this was provided by Kale's new book, which also provided some focus and motivation to get going with PB.

After reading the book (minus the 2d & 3d chapters --no need atm) I understand the structure of PB and most things now make sense. So, here is a pretty good introduction to PB and the only way one could find it is by finding the right non-stickied thread in the announcement forum? I think something this helpful for such a small community should be out on the main page.

And speaking of the main pages, I just saw yesterday the preview of the redesign of Ruby's main page. They took it down due to excess traffic from Digg, but you can see the cache version here:
http://www.duggmirror.com/design/New_Ru ... _Redesign/

I really like the look of the redesign. It's eye catching, has the latest news and clear links to related docs, projects, and other content.

Anyway, there is more to a programming product than a website (quality, support, community, etc) but it is a central hub and start point especially since it is a commercial product. As such, I do feel more can be done in this regard.

I like what I see in PB and have now gotten productive quickly on a project. Measures taken to increase the userbase, foster communications & support are good things in my opinion.

[Steve Elliott]

Exactly right - PureBASIC has huge potential. I can't believe how easy it is to produce a Windows program that can play a mpeg video in so few lines for example - yet full screen games in addition would appeal to a wider audience and would give PureBASIC a complete package.

As far as books are concerned they are a great reference in addition to the excellent standard documentation - especially when away from the computer. I bought Programming 2D Scrolling Games which uses PureBASIC - I've also ordered Kale's book.

I quite like the PureBASIC name and grew up with languages like Fast BASIC, GFA BASIC and Hisoft BASIC - all of which punched above their weight as far as their power and sophistication was concerned. So the BASIC tag doesn't bother me - not showing what Pure can achieve does.

I also owned STOS - didn't Fred write that?!

[Kale]

Ta for the kind words about the book guys.

This was really my ultimate reason for writing the book. To help market Purebasic as a language and to provide a vehicle for new users to help to understand it fully from a single text.

I agree the official website is woefully inadequate IMO and needs a drastic overhaul. Not only in content but in style too. The new Ruby site is fantastic, i love it. Clean and simple, a reflection of Ruby itself. Purebasic needs this attention, not only for it to compete but for it to get noticed!!!

Purebasic IMO is the best language bar none for fast app development. This needs to be marketed or else Purebasic will be set aside as another hobbiest/niche language.

My point is, why is the games production side not being pursued or promoted?

My thoughts exactly! Other languages that promote their game making capabilities rake in the users! They clamber to get hold of a copy to help make game creation fast and easier. IMHO After the v4 update has been completed on all OS'es, Fred should polish up the 3D engine (get some help in if needed) and start to poach users from Blitz and DarkBasic. If he doesn't, Aurora is just around the corner, and although not a basic dialect, i can foresee it's going to be huge for game devs. Even in alpha, Aurora is very powerful and Paul is making sure he's polishing up the game making side to it!

As an example of the game making angle that should be marketed: I'm advertising my book on google using some free ad credits i got from somewhere and i created a campain using 3 ads. One of the ads reads:

Programming For Beginners
Learn how to write games and
programs using Purebasic.
http://www.pb-beginners.co.uk

This one is the only one that even mentions games and yet it achieves the highest click-through rate of them all!

In brief, Purebasic needs to now (or at least by the end of this year) seriously think about marketing and start to bring in new users or it will die of death.

[PB]

> I also owned STOS - didn't Fred write that?!

No, that was François Lionet.

As for PureBasic's marketing, I can only assume that Fred doesn't want a big
profile for it just yet, otherwise he would've gone for it. I'm sure he'll get into
that side of things when he's ready.

[Steve Elliott]

Ah STOS was by someone else then.

But what is Fred waiting for? Perhaps if he dropped Amiga support (and it's about time) he'd have a bit more time to at least organize a website update.

[Psychophanta]

Mmhh! time ago i have asked myself about this question:
"Does Fred really want PB to be spreaded and comercially exploted?"
Then i answered myself:
"Well, maybe no, maybe yes, but anyway that is not a prioritaire matter for Fantaisie software".

And i am glad with the answer

PD. When saying "spreaded and comercially exploted" i refer to the compiler not to PB (the user). lol

[Steve Elliott]

Even if he doesn't want to be too commercial, why has a donate button now appeared? Even if it was requested by the PB Community it shows a sense of unease.

But lets not turn these positive requests turn into what's wrong with PureBASIC and the site - just some things for Fred and co to think about.

[Character]

In brief, Purebasic needs to now (or at least by the end of this year) seriously think about marketing and start to bring in new users or it will die of death.

That's the only thing I,m afraid of.
Doesn't matter if it gets commercial or not, at least it needs a little bit more supporters in the programmers world.
Visual Basic is in my point of view absolutely not superieur to PureBasic but everybody knows it. (I even had it on school).
I know, I know ,maybe a bad example but I stick to my opninion that PureBasic deserves more.
At least a place in the top 10 list of higher program languages.
Even if Fred wants to stay UnCommercial!

[PB]

This topic comes up time and time again and goes nowhere. People think
PureBasic will die off and so on but let's not forget the facts: it's been alive
since the year 2000 -- six years now -- with minimal advertising. Doesn't
that say a lot for its future? It's stable. Fred lives off it full-time, so it's
obviously making money for him. Relax. It's not going anywhere.

[Character]

Thanks for calming us down PB.
We are just worried to loose it I guess..

[Trond]

http://home.no.net/tsg1zzn/pure/pure.html ?

[Steve Elliott]

Hey that's better Trond! Is that going to become official - or just a mock-up for the future?

And I see my quote was added - good user feedback gives confidence in the product to newcomers.

btw it's Steve Elliott - not Steve Elliot