PureBasic Forums - English

PureBasic is extremely powerful... I think it would deserve the name of "PowerBasic" much more than PowerBasic does

I tried out PowerBasic this year and discovered it to be anything but 'Basic'... The syntax was horribly confusing to me, the example files did nothing to help me understand things better, but rather they just put me off even further... I couldn't even get my head around it in order to be able to do the tiniest of things... I was so pleased when I discovered the existence of PureBasic - and tried out the demo and loved it

I think that that didn't used to be the case. I think they invented "DDT" with a new syntax and then after that a lot of new things started using that same annoying syntax. People who were with the compiler from way back (since it was built from Turbo Basic) didn't really notice the changes so much as they happened slowely over time.

To someone new to the language now I think it would look like there were huge inconsistancies in the syntax since it mutated that way. If they keep going and get all the syntax like that then it will be consistant again BUT have that really sucky statement syntax everywhere

I liked what they were trying to do with DDT but the syntax was annoying. PureB does it more cleanly with Gadgets which has syntax in line with the rest of the language

Other than DDT which appears to be just extended wrappers for the Windows API, PowerBASIC relies heavily on the windows API since it has very little native window and control support unlike PureBasic's Gadget functions, so if you're unfamiliar with the Windows API, that can be a major put off as well.

At least it was for me.

It does however sound like they are trying to address that problem with v9, but since they make very little information available until you buy it, it's hard to tell if they really have added native window and control support or just added more to the DDT non-sense.

I just joined the PureBASIC community after upgrading to PowerBASIC 9. I started using PowerBASIC back in the 1980s when it was TurboBASIC and followed it ever since.

I switched over to PureBASIC for three important reasons: Bob Zale and his folks called me some pretty nasty things after I tried to get some information from them. I don't believe a "customer" should ever be treated like that, especially after having been a loyal user for over 25 years.

Second, I tried Paul Turley's EBASIC and liked it a lot. However, I develop enterprise-wide solutions for my customers and need lots of robust backup documentation and manuals.

I also looked at Jim Keene's HotBASIC and really liked it. But, it has very little documentation and what little it has, is very confusing. When I found an online manual for PureBASIC 4.x, I got serious about trying out the trial version for Windows. Quite simply, I liked it.

Finally, I spotted the PureBASIC book by Gary Willoughby online at LuLu.com and downloaded the ebook version. That sold me on PureBASIC. Then I found out PureBASIC is being built in a 64-bit version. Well, that does it. PureBASIC is the way to go.

Logman

Welcome to the support group for ex-powerbasic users

2Logman: Welcome!

2pdwyer:

Regards, Little John

Logman wrote:Bob Zale and his folks called me some pretty nasty things after I tried to get some information from them. I don't believe a "customer" should ever be treated like that, especially after having been a loyal user for over 25 years.

I had the same experience several years ago, asking a simple support question and getting an unbelievably nasty response from Zale. He sees "victims" instead of "customers".

<Support Councelor>
Lets all thank Logman and dhouston for opening themselves up and sharing that with us
</Support Councelor>



Actually I had the same experienced. I wear my "Banned" status with pride

pdwyer wrote:Welcome to the support group for ex-powerbasic users

pdwyer wrote:Actually I had the same experienced. I wear my "Banned" status with pride

+1

Though my experience was from expressing an opinion rather than a support request, but still... it was no way to treat a paying customer.

Thanks Paul and dhouston. I look forward to many years of programming with PureBASIC.

Logman

Well, well, well... I just found yet another reason to avoid PowerBASIC.

Today I needed to update a program I wrote several years ago and hadn't yet converted to PureBasic, so I needed to reinstall PowerBASIC.

Since PBWin 9 and PBCC 5 had been released, I decided to see what the last version of PBWin 8 and PBCC 4 were and found that they had released x.04 updates for both.

Since the last version I had for both was the x.03 releases I decided to decided to download the full install for both the new releases. When I tried I got a message that they couldn't process my request and that I had to call them for assistance.

I know you are only allowed a limited number of downloads of the full installer but I also know that I had not used my limit.

Since you can download the updates any number of times because they are not full installers, I decided to get the x.04 versions that way. But when I tried I got the same message.

So it appears that not only did Bob Zale delete or ban me from the forums, he also shut off download access to legally purchased products.

What a f***ing turd he is!

And no I'm not going to call them because I'm quite sure all I'll get is a sales pitch to upgrade to new versions.

.04 is the 32bit version so I went and got it when it came out and bob made me jump through some hoops to get it.

If you have a normal PB8 serial number then I have the install binary that you need.

Actually I don't think I've installed it myself, I just went and got it last year because a 16bit version wouldn't work on future os's.

PM me

Tipperton wrote:And no I'm not going to call them because I'm quite sure all I'll get is a sales pitch to upgrade to new versions.

But your protest is meaningless

pdwyer wrote:If you have a normal PB8 serial number then I have the install binary that you need.
...
PM me

Thanks, but it turned out I only needed to add two lines of code to two files to fix it so I just used the x.03 version that I had.

Now that I know it may come up again, I'll get busy and convert the whole thing to PureBasic.

pdwyer wrote:But your protest is meaningless

Ouch!

I came to PureBasic from DarkBasic Professional. Can you tell?

I still think the DBP engine is great but the language is outdated and not suitable for application development. I shopped around for different Basics and PureBasic turned out to be the most attractive product.