Why to choose PureBasic?

[mau_rizio]

Hi all,
this is my first post on this forum and i hope this is the right place to post.

I've a good knowledge of ms Access (from 2 to 10) which is my primary development platform, an average knowledge of vb6 and a very little one of vb.net.
I'm searching for an altenative to Access for some projects that it cannot handle in a good way, for example a form with a lot of subforms.
After some searching i'm looking at PureBasic, PowerBasic and Xojo/RealBasic.
So i'm asking if PureBasic is a good choice to work with databases and why it's better than other basics.

Thank you
maurizio

PS: i'm sorry for the "stupid question" and for the poor english
PPS: is there anyone speaking italian?

[Tenaja]

PureBasic is the language everybody else comes to after trying the others you mentioned, if they did not start here.

I chose PB over Power because of the cross-platform capability. Now, irrespective of that, the PowerBasic author has passed away and its support has declined (ceased?).

I chose PB over RB because RB had a big reputation for its Win implementation being a frustrating bug-ridden after-thought.

I chose PB over C because I prefer Endif and Wend to } and }. (I especially like be able to tell them apart.) Also, because of its native string functions: I'd prefer to type :
s=s+"more text"
...rather than:
if (strlen(s) + strlen("more text") <= s_maxlen) {strcat(s, "more text")};

[IdeasVacuum]

Well, mau_rizio, though there are pros and cons with any language, it's a fact that PureBasic (PB) can be used to deliver just about any app. It is thriving, well supported and in my opinion has one of the best User Forums out there.

PB is easy to learn. You can become productive on day 1. There are several experts on this forum that can help with problems.
PB's help on database interaction: http://www.purebasic.com/documentation/ ... index.html

I use PB with SQLite databases. It's fast and remarkably easy to use. You can design a very User-friendly GUI, far better than you can with Access and in a fraction of the time too.

So, sounds all good right? It is, especially for the Windows OS. PB also targets Linux and Apple OSX. You can create 32bit and 64bit executables. You can even create your own 'widgets' (buttons, lists, instrument panels etc) if the OS doesn't deliver something you need.

I have used PB for some time now and it is my language of choice, when I have a choice.

Over to the Italian Speakers - they can send you private messages in Italian, this forum is English only.

[spikey]

A lot is going to depend on your budget. If you can afford something like Sybase PowerBuilder or a professional or enterprise version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 or later, then these environments have specific tools to make programming database applications much easier - but they have a high price tag to go with them. If you want to develop multi-tier database applications (client-intermediary component(s)-server) applications then you'll be much better off with one of those - I personally wouldn't choose to tackle that particular type of job in PureBasic at the moment.

If you haven't got the big budget then PureBasic does have some nice features:-
* direct support for PostgresSQL and SQLite databases.
* indirect support for other databases using ODBC.
* HeX0R / infratec have contributed library code for partial MySQL support.
* Automated Unit testing via PureUnit.
* No requirement for an enormous support library (.NET framework)
* A number of people on this forum interested in database programs who will be willing to offer support and advice.

It does have some downsides though
* no LINQ type database programming integration - you will have to roll up your sleeves a bit.
* no direct support for enterprise databases like SQLServer or Oracle.
* no direct OOP support - if you rely heavily on OOP programming techniques currently then there will be a learning curve to figure out how to do things the procedural way.
* no editable or data-bound grid controls built in - there are a number of solutions given in this forum though, but they all have drawbacks somewhere along the line.

[Foz]

PowerBasic: I would have tried if they have a trial version. No trial, no go. I wasn't shelling out $199 to find out whether I liked it or not.
RealBasic: Trial version would not work no matter what I tried, and for what I required, I would have had to buy the "Pro" version, which IIRC was about $800-$1000.
PureBasic worked out of the box, was/is cheap, and things just worked. No hanging on dll's or installs (C, C++, Pascal, .net framework, QT... the list goes on...)

Just small, faster executables with the ability to dip into the metal.

What's not to like?

***** edit *****

Just to note - if form design is going to be your biggest criteria, then I would *highly* advise that you try out the form designer, and get to grips with that first. In it's current state, it is not as easy as Access or VB to just get up and running (draw button, double click and start coding does not exist here. Yet.) there is some ground work to do first.

If form design is your biggest bug bear, and PB methods are too alien, I would recommend you using the express edition of .net, and get used to either C# or vb.net.

[captain_skank]

Like you I had to convert a number of large access programs to something else and chose Purebasic when it was at the 3.9 revision.

It wasn't an easy start, as others have said there are no built in databound controls or report builder.

That said, once I'd gotten my head around how forms were generated I was quickly able to code the controls i needed and now my entire ERP program is fully coded in PB.

It's not as quick/easy as using something like access and creating forms needs a little planning but the end result is smaller and faster and won't corrupt like access always did.

My only real gripe is that their are no native commands for using MySQL, which i had to use ( so I use ODBC ), but postgres is supported out of the box.

I can heartily recommend SROD's Arctic Reports reporting system for generating printed reports, it's well worth the price.

Finally - The PB development team really do try hard to help and fix/improve things and this forum is a goldmine of information and you will not find a more helpfull bunch of contributors ( as long as you RTFM first )

[blueb]

Plenty of reasons to choose PureBasic...
- lifetime upgrades are free.
- possibly the best user forum in all of programming
- a few free Visual Designers if you don't like the included version.
- a ton of source code available (forum and other PB sites) for pillaging

In truth I find PowerBASIC / Real Basic extremely 'wordy' compared to compared to
PureBasic... even for the simplest things.

By the way... another PureBasic Visual Designer is available called "PureVision".
It has a demo and is only $27 US and I believe it will work with PureBasic's demo version.. but not sure.

see: http://purevision.reelmedia.org/screenshots.php

While PureBasic can be used with many database systems, personally I use:

Apollo DBMS - a dBase/FoxPro variant (single user and Client-Server versions)
I use the DLL's directly.. although they have other tools

see: http://www.apollodb.com/apollo_engine.asp

I also tinker with SQLite and PostgreSQL. Both are very easy to use with PureBasic.

The only thing I miss is VB6's data-aware controls. Any Visual Designer that would
add this to their ability would have my money NOW!

[blueb]

Possibly the most important thing that I forgot to mention is:
the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is far superior
to the very basic notepad IDE in PowerBASIC.

I haven't tried RealBasic in years so I can't comment on it.

A lot of time and effort was spent on the IDE over the years and I love it.

[ts-soft]

to the very basic notepad IDE in PowerBASIC.

[spacebuddy]

The rest is a joke compared to PureBasic. I have tried VB, Xojo and PowerBasic, they are like toys in my hands, PureBasic
crush these products.

This is just my opinion

Plus, you get lots of answers when you need help from very nice and knowledgable users on the forum.

Also, you only pay once, it is free for life. Till your brain squishes and not working anymore

[oreopa]

I chose PB mainly because it produces small fast exes with no need for dependencies.

I tried many dev env./languages before settling on PB; I tried VB, Delphi, Blitz Basic 2d/plus/max, DarkBasic, etc... I come from an old home computer heritage... the most fun I've ever had programming in BASIC was with BlitzBasic 2.1 on the Amiga. Unfortunately the PC versions of Blitz didnt seem that much fun. PB is the only thing I found to give that old fun feeling back.

Seemless support for API and inline assembly is also very important to me.

Put simply, PB just works. It's not a hassle. Write code, press F5. Done. The other stuff I tried required a lot of faffing around.

And not to mention the PB syntax is just great. It makes sense. Unlike some other languages...

PB is simply a very good product. The price is more than fair, and license terms (updates) are almost a gift. The forums are great - they do not seem to suffer from the snobbery of other dev forums. Ppl are only too happy to help, and gently correct you.

Im glad I found PB. It brought the fun into programming for Windows for me.

[PB]

> Write code, press F5. Done.

This is what made me buy PureBasic too. I came from VB5 Professional,
and needing to rely on a Setup app to share my exes with others was so
much hassle.

There's just something truly awesome about typing a few lines of code
and hitting F5 to run it. Then creating a small exe that just runs on any
PC without runtimes or .NET frameworks and such.

And not needing to declare everything first, too! That's a biggie.

PureBasic is awesome. Try the free demo first, and then you'll buy it.

[infratec]

Hi,

if you look for a PB expert which speaks italian, luis is your choice.
I can only order parts for my italian motor cycle

Bernd

[MegaTron]

I chose PB over Power because of the cross-platform capability. Now, irrespective of that, the PowerBasic author has passed away and its support has declined (ceased?).

There is a number of weak points and disadvantages on PowerBasic:

• technical support and sales department are not working any longer,
• development has already been set two years ago,
• the user community is quite overaged, restrictive and intolerant,
• the software only runs on 32 bit (Windows) operating systems,
• the company is, despite all efforts to get the problem under control, totally disorganized,
• their products are expensive,
• the upgrades are chargeable and also expensive,
• the ability to create graphical applications is severely limited without external function libraries,
• the application-specific use of the compilers depends heavily on third party products.

For me enough reason to use PureBasic!

[IdeasVacuum]

See also these posts about why Pure Basic is a good choice, strengths/weaknesses:
Thinking about Pure Basic
Commercial Grade Applications
Should I buy Purebasic !!!
I like PB's 'buy once and use with anything' license =)
PB over PowerBASIC any day of the week
PB vs VB