Extending VB6

Many of the dinosaurs have been crunching on JS and frameworks for a long time too. Rust is not really quite here nor quite as suitable as a general purpose nor beginner's language. Besides, we are here as we are productive and don't really need converting.

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Originally Posted by Niya

Yesterday someone brought a MAC to me to help them install something on it. I know next to nothing about MACs and after 15 minutes of trying, I wanted to pound nails into my eyes. I hope Apple burns to the ground with failure if it means that horrible OS could disappear from the world. OSX is the most unintuitive operating system I have ever seen. You have to be crazy if you think that pile of **** could touch Windows.

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hrhrhrhrhr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InPIGu-bdwM

:D:D

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Originally Posted by yereverluvinuncleber

That worries me. RADBasic takes a different approach, continue to use the VB6 IDE and then compile to 64 using a plug in.

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That's kinda what I was getting at though. It's FAR easier to make an IDE that connects to an existing compiler and debugger, than it is to add a new (backwards-compatible) compiler and debugger to an existing IDE.

A lot of the boilerplate for creating an IDE (front-end) already exist. If done in .Net, there are libraries (NuGets) for the LSP and DAP protocols. There are controls for the code editor pane (AvalonEdit natively, or even Monaco if you're happy to embed web resources). Perhaps the most difficult piece would be the form designer, but there are open source options there too, you could use code from the now-defunct SharpDevelop IDE.

And that's before you even consider Eclipse Theia, which is a framework for easily creating LSP/DAP based IDEs. It might be trickier to style it to look like VS6 though.

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Originally Posted by mansellan

That's kinda what I was getting at though. It's FAR easier to make an IDE that connects to an existing compiler and debugger, than it is to add a new (backwards-compatible) compiler and debugger to an existing IDE.

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Do you know, I think you may be wrong.

The complexity of the VB6 IDE and what it provides is one of the main stumbling blocks to creating a VB6 replacement. Do not underestimate what it would take to recreate the VB6 IDE. I am sure Olaf could tell you why this is so. It isn't just buttons in the right place with a theme.

If you have skills in code conversion and compilers then it would seem to be the easier route to attach a plugin to the existing IDE. Initially no new IDE needs to be built at all.

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Originally Posted by yereverluvinuncleber

Do you know, I think you may be wrong.

The complexity of the VB6 IDE and what it provides is one of the main stumbling blocks to creating a VB6 replacement. Do not underestimate what it would take to recreate the VB6 IDE. I am sure Olaf could tell you why this is so. It isn't just buttons in the right place with a theme.

If you have skills in code conversion and compilers then it would seem to be the easier route to attach a plugin to the existing IDE. Initially no new IDE needs to be built at all.

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If starting from a blank slate, I'd agree with you. But there are a lot of open source components that cut out huge swathes of the problem. Before Eclipse Theia was considered, i was very much contemplating having a stab at making an IDE. Really the only thing that put me off was the forms designer.

Producing a backwards-compatible compiler and debugger on the other hand, that's way above my pay grade.

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Originally Posted by mansellan

Producing a backwards-compatible compiler and debugger on the other hand, that's way above my pay grade.

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Well, that's well above many of us! Certainly above mine. The RADBasic chap believes he has the capability and I don't have the capability to say otherwise. We shall see!

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/pre...support-policy

VB6 joins Windows 11 support list.

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Originally Posted by Episcopal

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/pre...support-policy

VB6 joins Windows 11 support list.

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This shouldn't surprise anyone. Microsoft believes in backward compatibility religiously. It's one of the main reasons Windows was so successful. Raymond Chen I believe it was wrote an article about the insane lengths Microsoft would go to in order to support older software on Windows. It's mind blowing.

They are faltering with that commitment, though. I hope they don't abandon that commitment, I'm just not utterly convinced that they will stick with it. After all, they HAVE abandoned it in some areas. There are some games that stopped working a few versions back.

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Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker

They are faltering with that commitment, though. I hope they don't abandon that commitment, I'm just not utterly convinced that they will stick with it. After all, they HAVE abandoned it in some areas. There are some games that stopped working a few versions back.

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There are some areas where they have to make sacrifices. A good example would be 16 bit support in 64 bit Windows, and even then there are workarounds. Thing is, they will aim for backward compatibility if it is doable 100% of the time, no matter how difficult it is. They would only sacrifice it if supporting means it means they can't push Windows forward.

Right. That's what people are concerned about.

After all, .NET would have been backwards compatible with VB6, or at least with a working upgrade path, had that been doable. It wasn't....and here we are. That makes it entirely reasonable for people to be concerned with each new update to Windows.

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Originally Posted by Niya

HTML5 and Apple killed that off. HTML5 slowly got better and better over the years until it reached a point where it was good enough to draw the attention of a giant like Apple.

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Apple killed off HTML5? How? With what? Lots of training of website design is still teaching HTML5 and CSS. I'm curious.

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Originally Posted by Episcopal

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/pre...support-policy

VB6 joins Windows 11 support list.

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When they say "it just works", are they referring to the VB6 Development IDE or the applications we've written in VB6?

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Originally Posted by webbiz

When they say "it just works", are they referring to the VB6 Development IDE or the applications we've written in VB6?

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applications we've written in VB6

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Originally Posted by Episcopal

applications we've written in VB6

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I was hoping that was not the case. The thought that my apps having an expiration date possibly before I leave this planet is not a happy thought.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by webbiz

Apple killed off HTML5? How? With what? Lots of training of website design is still teaching HTML5 and CSS. I'm curious.

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Re-read what I wrote slowly ;)

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Originally Posted by Niya

Re-read what I wrote slowly ;)

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Well, if that ain't embarrassing.

:blush:

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Originally Posted by webbiz

Well, if that ain't embarrassing.

:blush:

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It's fine. I make mistakes like that all the time ;)

G'Day Niya

This is a gr8 list, I did a lot of coding for Artisoft so have some experience with what happened to them.

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Originally Posted by Niya

Lantastic

What was it?

It was networking software. You used it to create LANs in the 90s.

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They actually had a WAN ver. never released and one of the guys involved in this was years later paid approx. $300Mil for M$ trampling all over his IP for OS updates

Basically the Bosses at Art. had a meeting with Bill G. and he convinced them to work with M$ and it was all spin.

An internal Art. memo ( Not an email ) said Art. was going global with M$ and within a few years they were closing down offices like Sydney.

I would suggest that all the other products on this list ended up the same way, M$ standing on their throats.

If we deved a VB6 to C# processor then our codes bases could be set free. Because C# has more 'Default' events it is possible.

For my part my apps. are all about string manipulation and a API 'launcher', which is what VB is really good for.

I have seen this approach used twice in my career and both those companies ended up with offices all over the world.

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Originally Posted by jg.sa

G'Day Niya

This is a gr8 list, I did a lot of coding for Artisoft so have some experience with what happened to them.

They actually had a WAN ver. never released and one of the guys involved in this was years later paid approx. $300Mil for M$ trampling all over his IP for OS updates

Basically the Bosses at Art. had a meeting with Bill G. and he convinced them to work with M$ and it was all spin.

An internal Art. memo ( Not an email ) said Art. was going global with M$ and within a few years they were closing down offices like Sydney.

I would suggest that all the other products on this list ended up the same way, M$ standing on their throats.

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That is some great info! I have so many fond memories of using Lantastic for multiplayer LAN gaming as a child in the DOS era! It really was a great piece of software. Made networking extremely easy.

As for what Microsoft did, I can't say I'm the least bit surprised. The general public tends to paint Bill Gates as this nerdy wimpy guy but when you really look into him and the things he has done, this guy was a ruthless business man. You don't become the richest man in the world by being a push over. You do it by being a conniving and ruthless conqueror.