kcorey writes:
Arguing passionately for a single language means either 1) you make your money from that language or 2) you haven't explored enough.
Sorry. I jumped into this thread late. I thought it was a C programmer who suggested that the only programming language with which one should develop PalmOS applications is C.
There are over a dozen different languages in which one can write programs for the PalmOS. However the best language to quickly develop a simple application is often the language which one knows best. And for various historical reasons, a large portion of the population knows how to program in some variant of Basic (probably due to the historical successes of Acorn, Apple, Tandy, Commodore, IBM and Microsoft Office.); and nowadays, maybe Perl, Tcl, JavaScript, et.al. My web site lists 37 different ways to develop PalmOS applications; and the list there probably isn't even complete: http://www.hotpaw.com/rhn/palm HotPaw Basic is written in C, using some internal constructs from Lisp and stack language methodology; with old versions even including a little in-line 68k assembly language. Some of its extension syntax was lifted from JavaScript, and it has an armlet interface. And it allows ordinary non-CS types to program simple applications in Basic. [rhn wrote:]
Small handheld devices are also personal devices; and Basic was designed as a language for people to use (as opposed to programmers :^)
Please note the smiley for the humor impaired...
All languages were developed for people.
No computer language was developed for all people. Have you ever taught a computer programming class to regular people? (not just college students who've passed their entrance exams). There is a noticeable difference in the time required and the success percentage depending on the suitability of the computer language for the task at hand. IMHO, C is a great language for compiler and hand optimization, but a mediocre language for teaching. In any case, if an experience Visual Basic programmer asks how they might quickly develop a PalmOS application using their area specific knowledge, I would not call telling them to go back to school to take a C course an optimal answer. Especially given all the choices available for PalmOS development. Ron Nicholson HotPaw <http://www.hotpaw.com/rhn/hotpaw> -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
