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Thread: [RESOLVED] Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

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    Resolved [RESOLVED] Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    I know this is a crazy idea. But you know, I always like to think crazy problems.

    Last month, several military-related universities in China were banned from using MATLAB because they have entered the sanctions list of the US government. This made me fully aware of the importance of open source software. I'm thinking about a question: Is it possible to develop an open source software similar to MATLAB with VB6?

    I know there are some MATLAB-like open source software developed in other programming languages, but the VB6 community has never had a heavyweight, well-known open source software. If we use VB6 to develop an open source software similar to MATLAB, will it attract more young developers to learn VB6? Will it make Microsoft re-think VB6?

    Note:
    The software developer/supplier of MATLAB is the American company MathWorks.

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    PowerPoster Elroy's Avatar
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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    dreammanor,

    VB6 isn't open source! So how is this going to get around that open source requirement?

    And, regarding MatLab, I've used it for several projects. And I've also translated several projects from MatLab to VB6. Here are the primary obstacles: For one, MatLab is a very loosely typed language. You need a new variable ... just make up a name and assign it, and off you go. Secondly, MatLab is heavily "matrix" based. Initially, that's not a problem, as it's just a two-dimension array. However, it just trivially allows you to place multiple matrices into another single variable, possibly a matrix of matrices. And again, it just trivially allows you to do this.

    It's somewhat maddening to get MatLab code where the initial coder(s) didn't use any variable prefix system. Without a declaration statement, and variables possibly coming from far away procedures, it can be frustrating trying to figure out what you've got in a MatLab variable.

    And third, MatLab rather trivially does all the matrix (i.e., linear) algebra in single statements. In other words: Matrix3 = Matrix1 * Matrix2 is trivial to do in MatLab. Whereas, VB6 would be clueless as to what to do with those as two-dimensional arrays. So, we'd have to write all those routines, and hope that the matrices weren't nested.

    There are also some quite interesting functions in MatLab that don't come close to existing in VB6. For instance, you can supply a "function expression" and a "function range" to one of them, and ask for the minimum. There are many functions like this in MatLab that have no equivalent (or even approximation) in VB6.

    And, to say it again, the VB6 IDE isn't open source, and probably never will be. So, it's got the same problem that MatLab has in that respect.

    Take Care,
    Elroy
    Any software I post in these forums written by me is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, and permission is hereby granted, free of charge and without restriction, to any person obtaining a copy. To all, peace and happiness.

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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    Hi Elroy, the information you provide is very useful. Much appreciated.

    I want to choose VB6 as the programming language of open source software for the following reasons:

    (1) Basic style language is very suitable for teaching language.

    (2) VB6 source code can be easily changed to other Basic-style languages.

    (3) When I develop with VB6, I can easily find the best solution and solve extremely complicated problems. However, when I develop in other languages, I cannot determine the best solution in a short time.

    (4) I expect Olaf to make a breakthrough in the "cross-platform VB7 compiler".

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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    Quote Originally Posted by dreammanor View Post
    Will it make Microsoft re-think VB6?
    Why do people still think that there's any possibility of that happening?

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    PowerPoster Elroy's Avatar
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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    Hi dreammanor,

    Yeah, I think you're on a better track to find an open-source IDE and Compiler for such a project. With VB6, the Chinese could always argue that the VB6 compiler is placing spy-code into compiled programs. I certainly don't believe that's true, but it's not an argument that's trivial to disprove.

    So, to completely satisfy the Chinese, you'd probably need to go with something that was Unix/Linux based (open-source) with an open-source language and compiler. And that really pushes it well out of the scope of anything VB6 related.

    Best Regards,
    Elroy
    Any software I post in these forums written by me is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, and permission is hereby granted, free of charge and without restriction, to any person obtaining a copy. To all, peace and happiness.

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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcilhinney View Post
    Why do people still think that there's any possibility of that happening?
    I also know that there is absolutely no possibility. What I want to express is that if someone develops a great open source software with VB6, maybe this can make Microsoft feel a little humiliated.

    Quote Originally Posted by Elroy View Post
    Hi dreammanor,

    Yeah, I think you're on a better track to find an open-source IDE and Compiler for such a project. With VB6, the Chinese could always argue that the VB6 compiler is placing spy-code into compiled programs. I certainly don't believe that's true, but it's not an argument that's trivial to disprove.

    So, to completely satisfy the Chinese, you'd probably need to go with something that was Unix/Linux based (open-source) with an open-source language and compiler. And that really pushes it well out of the scope of anything VB6 related.

    Best Regards,
    Elroy
    Yes, Golang or Rust may be a better choice.

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    Super Moderator jmcilhinney's Avatar
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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    Quote Originally Posted by dreammanor View Post
    What I want to express is that if someone develops a great open source software with VB6, maybe this can make Microsoft feel a little humiliated.
    It's been over 20 years and you're still clinging to petty hopes of revenge? You really think that someone is going to do something with VB6 now to "humiliate" Microsoft that no one has thought of doing in the last 20 years in which VB6 hasn't changed at all? How about you create this awesome open-source application, it gets Microsoft's attention, they consider it a threat to .NET and so they drop support for VB6 from the next version of Windows? I really think that it's time to get over it, but what you do is up to you.

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    Re: Is it possible to develop a MATLAB-like software with vb6?

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcilhinney View Post
    It's been over 20 years and you're still clinging to petty hopes of revenge? You really think that someone is going to do something with VB6 now to "humiliate" Microsoft that no one has thought of doing in the last 20 years in which VB6 hasn't changed at all? How about you create this awesome open-source application, it gets Microsoft's attention, they consider it a threat to .NET and so they drop support for VB6 from the next version of Windows? I really think that it's time to get over it, but what you do is up to you.
    Yes, it's time to leave it.

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