Which is the best tool for RAD?

[thanos]

Hello.
I want to choose a rad tool for building commercial applications. The ideal tool must be cross platform.
I was developing commercial applications with VB 6 before i switched to PureBasic.
Of course i will continue to develop applications in PureBasic (PureBasic will remain my first choice) but i want to use a second tool for RAD.
My possible options are:
1]. VB.Net . It is not classic VB but i can go with this language with some effort. At the other side i do not like the framework approach. And this product is not multi platform (I do not know if the Mono Project working well).
2]. Delphi. The best rad tool ever but with no transparent future.
3]. Lazarus Project. This project tries to be compatible with Delphi and it is multi platform.
Every opinion, comment or suggestion is welcome.
Regards

Thanos

[idle]

What isn't PB rad enough for you?

Maybe look into python though I don't know about it's deployment and considering it's only a scripting language it may not be right.

[PB]

> What isn't PB rad enough for you?

For one thing it doesn't come with a reliable GUI designer, so that slows
down app development right there. The Visual Designer needs a lot of
work. A real lot.

[Kale]

The Visual Designer needs a lot of
work. A real lot.

Agreed, a good solid IDE with an integrated form designer would move PB forward leaps and bounds.

[thanos]

@idle
Thank you for the response.

What isn't PB rad enough for you?

Because it is not a tool for RAD. Please check this link for more information: RAD.
A tool for rad beyond the VB.Net, Delphi and Lazarus is the WinDEV, but its price it is not affordable.

@PB and @Kale
You are right!
The designer must have also database connection and database integration with controls capabilities.

And due to my oldest background in Clipper, another possible tool for RAD is the xHarbour. Is there anybody that used it?
Regards

Thanos

[USCode]

IMHO there are drawback to "RAD" development environments.
Sure they get you up and running quickly but at the expense of flexibility in the long term.

[thanos]

IMHO there are drawback to "RAD" development environments.
Sure they get you up and running quickly but at the expense of flexibility in the long term.

Thanks for the response.
Surely.
But the the critical point, at least for me, is:

...get you up and running quickly

as you described!
Regards.

Thanos

[PB]

> they get you up and running quickly but at the expense of flexibility

In what way? I used to code in VB5 Pro and never felt held back in any way.

[thanos]

> they get you up and running quickly but at the expense of flexibility

In what way? I used to code in VB5 Pro and never felt held back in any way.

Ι suppose that the USCode means some code generators as a part of the rad. Not the rad tool itself.
Regards

Thanos

[the.weavster]

I really like REALbasic but don't expect the tiny executables you get with PureBasic. The pro version is pretty expensive at EUR 400 but you could start off buying the Personal version for EUR 75 and using PureBasic to make shared libraries to fill any gaps.

Another option is kBasic which uses the Qt toolkit from trolltech. I understand trolltech has been bought out by Nokia and it's rumoured the licensing for Qt is going to be relaxed. kBasic is only EUR 25 but unless and until the Qt license is relaxed you're stuck with the GPL or stumping up a fortune to trolltech.

[thanos]

I really like REALbasic but don't expect the tiny executables you get with PureBasic. The pro version is pretty expensive at EUR 400 but you could start off buying the Personal version for EUR 75 and using PureBasic to make shared libraries to fill any gaps.

Another option is kBasic which uses the Qt toolkit from trolltech. I understand trolltech has been bought out by Nokia and it's rumoured the licensing for Qt is going to be relaxed. kBasic is only EUR 25 but unless and until the Qt license is relaxed you're stuck with the GPL or stumping up a fortune to trolltech.

I have used the REALbasic (version 2006 R something, if i remember well) and i found it slow and bloatware. Plus, i believe it is an overpriced product. For this price you can buy the MS Visual Studio.
Regarding to KBasic, i used this product before one year and i was dissapointed from it. The ide hault so often and i took crashes even from the examples of the product. Does the author improved the package?
Regards.

Thanos

[cxAlex]

If you only want to do things like CD Menus, GUIs, try this:

http://www.instantexe.com/

(German Version: http://www.clickexe.de/)

[the.weavster]

I have used the REALbasic (version 2006 R something, if i remember well) and i found it slow and bloatware.

Yes, I understand it's not good for games because it's just too slow but I've created database front-ends and a betting bot with RB with no problems. Well that isn't quite true, I use the Einhugur DataGrid or StyleGrid because the standard RB ListBox is too slow to populate to be useful for displaying rows from a database.

Plus, i believe it is an overpriced product. For this price you can buy the MS Visual Studio.

Visual Studio Pro is around EUR 565- which is a fair bit more than RB Pro at EUR 400- plus of course RB is cross-platform. Having said that I do think you're right RB Pro is overpriced. When I bought it they were doing a special promo for people with a VB licence and iirc I paid USD 250- which I think is probably a more realistic price point for it.

Regarding to KBasic, i used this product before one year and i was dissapointed from it. The ide hault so often and i took crashes even from the examples of the product. Does the author improved the package?

Well, you've just saved me the bother of trying it! I thought it looked good so I downloaded the demo to see what it's like but hadn't found time to try it yet.

[utopiomania]

Vb.net is the best RAD tool. Forget about cross-platform, there's no money in it.

[Kiffi]

Vb.net is the best RAD tool.

+1

Forget about cross-platform, there's no money in it.

+1

Greetings ... Kiffi