RAD Basic vs TwinBasic, Which do you prefer?

[Attilio]

I see there is this new project:

https://www.radbasic.dev/editions.php

https://twinbasic.com/preview.html

Which do you prefer? Why?
We are able to write code with this language?

Share down below your opinion

P.S.: If you know some other projects like this tell us here!

[wqweto]

We are able to write code with this language?

No, there is no preview download of RadBasic so hardly anyone tried it so far.

In this regard the comparison b/n these two is moot -- it's like comparing apples to nothing.

cheers,
</wqw>

[Zvoni]

RAD Basic vs TwinBasic, Which do you prefer?

Lazarus/FreePascal.......

[Attilio]

[/h]Lazarus/FreePascal.......

Thank you Zvoni for your reply but I'm referring to a vb6-like project

P.S. Your Bio is soo cool (I mean the Ring-verse)

[some1uk03]

Not sure if RAD Basic is still under development. Last update was: August 25, 2021:

I vote TwinBasic! It's coming along pretty nicely with constant updates.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

You can't vote for one in comparison until you've tried both.

RADBasic is definitely still under development. His experience here was enough to put him off announcing updates via this forum. Carles now gives out information via Patreon to all his patrons. He is providing test versions of RADBasic for patrons to trial/test as the code grows.

In all cases it might be wise to reserve judgement in comparison until we have something concrete in our hands from both parties.
It has to be said TwinBasic is going well with regard to its progress and its publicity.

[wqweto]

Here is v0.4 setup link: radbasic_0.4.0.0_setup.exe

Didn't try it yet.

cheers,
</wqw>

[Schmidt]

Here is v0.4 setup link: radbasic_0.4.0.0_setup.exe

Didn't try it yet.

Woah... looked into it via 7Zip -
and it'd unpack to nearly 2GB (mostly due to LLVM-dependencies).

Olaf

[vbrad]

[/h]Lazarus/FreePascal.......

I joined the RADbasic kickstarter but that didn't reach its goal.
Instead, I'm now paying a monthly fee to twinBasic in the hopes that it will reach full compatibility with vb6.
The huge plus of Lazarus is that it's open source, something twinBasic isn't (for fully understandable reasons).
Still twinBasic not being open source is a bit of a worry.
I'm not hung up on language and if there was a (even closed-source) project provide a converter from vb6 to Lazarus, I'd happily
pay €50 a month towards its development.
If we could get 150 people willing to commit a similar amount we might have a shot at it.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

I have paid an equal amount to both TwinBasic and RADBasic.

I am stuck on VB6 as I realise my head is probably incapable of another move. I tried Lazarus but I found it clunky and quite an alien IDE. Not the most intuitive at least for me, things may have changed though. I do dip into Delphi from time to time to familiarise myself with the language and I have to say it is not so alien.

Productivity though would take a significant dip and I am slow enough already.

[Episcopal]

Here is v0.4 setup link: radbasic_0.4.0.0_setup.exe

Didn't try it yet.

cheers,
</wqw>

This is not exclusive to patreon

[SearchingDataOnly]

Woah... looked into it via 7Zip -
and it'd unpack to nearly 2GB (mostly due to LLVM-dependencies).

Olaf

Yes, I tested the RADBasic setup program and after the installation, the LLVM-dependencies were over 1.5GB.

I have a few questions:
(1) Does twinBasic also use LLVM?
(2) If twinBasic also uses LLVM, does the twinBasic setup folder also have 2GB after unpacking?
(3) Could you infer from the installation files of RadBasic whether RadBasic is developed with .NET(C#)?
(4) If RadBasic is developed with .NET(C#), can we develop a new Basic compiler and IDE with VB6 + LLVM?

Thanks.

[VB6 Programming]

I see there is this new project:

https://www.radbasic.dev/editions.php

https://twinbasic.com/preview.html

Which do you prefer? Why?
We are able to write code with this language?

twinBASIC is available for download. You can download and try it for yourself. New releases are regularly available for download.
You can write code, and copy and paste VB6 code into twinBASIC, there are some controls (Label, TextBox, CommandButton, OptionButton, CheckBox, ComboBox, ListBox, Timer, HScrollBar, VScrollBar).
You can compile to 32bit or 64bit applications.

I understand with radbasic you can't get an updated release unless you subscribe via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/radbasic/posts
So it is difficult to compare the two.

Can anyone who does subscribe to radbasic post a summary review here? What is the current state of radbasic now?

See https://nolongerset.com/twinbasic-update-march-6-2022/ for a (very) brief comparison of the two.

[CreativeDreamer]

Paid money to the kickstarters but got nothing in return.

Now playing with FREEBASIC. As the name suggests it is totally free and both 32bit and 64 bit.

Syntax is slightly different to VB6 but it supports pointers, multi-threading and other features.

[vbrad]

Paid money to the kickstarters but got nothing in return.

Now playing with FREEBASIC. As the name suggests it is totally free and both 32bit and 64 bit.

Syntax is slightly different to VB6 but it supports pointers, multi-threading and other features.

I'm not sure what you're talking about.
Only Radbasic had a kickstarter and because it did not reach its target no money at all was taken from the people who pledged.

[IndicSoftware]

Now playing with FREEBASIC. As the name suggests it is totally free and both 32bit and 64 bit.

FB is open source but still it does not support MacOS. Currently it only works on Windows and Linux.

It is very VB6 like if you use the free and open source Visual FBEditor IDE.

[VB6 Programming]

Now playing with FREEBASIC. As the name suggests it is totally free and both 32bit and 64 bit.

Syntax is slightly different to VB6 but it supports pointers, multi-threading and other features.

FB is open source but still it does not support MacOS. Currently it only works on Windows and Linux.

It is very VB6 like if you use the free and open source Visual FBEditor IDE.

I don't see how you can describe FreeBasic as "VB6 like". It can't import VB6 source code, it doesn't support ActiveXs.

At best it can be described as 'almost QuickBasic like'

[wqweto]

Btw, April 2022 RAD Basic release: radbasic_0.5.0.0_setup.exe

cheers,
</wqw>

[Episcopal]

RAD Basic vs TwinBasic, Which do you prefer?

I'm not looking at RADBasic....can anyone here answer the question?

Simple things win me over...

[IndicSoftware]

Currently it seem that twinBasic is better more progressive then RAD Basic.

In tB there are updates almost twice a week. Of course currently the progress is a bit slow and the developer has mentioned the reasons for slow progress.

While in case of RAD Basic the updates are very far apart.

This is my take...

[SearchingDataOnly]

Btw, April 2022 RAD Basic release: radbasic_0.5.0.0_setup.exe

cheers,
</wqw>

As long as the project is still in progress, there will be more hope and even unexpected surprises at times.

twinBasic is developed in C++. If RadBasic was developed using .Net, then this is obviously another completely new path. Maybe we can also develop a new Basic compiler with VB6.

[Episcopal]

Maybe we can also develop a new Basic compiler with VB6.

Visia Compiler from what I remember, the IDE or compiler (I'm not sure) was developed in VB6.

Attachment 185036

[SearchingDataOnly]

Visia Compiler from what I remember, the IDE or compiler (I'm not sure) was developed in VB6.

Attachment 185036

I took a quick look at the source code of Visia Compiler. Visia Compiler is still in a very early stage, and I can't see valuable information from it. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the real basic language compiler.

[techgnome]

I took a quick look at the source code of Visia Compiler. Visia Compiler is still in a very early stage, and I can't see valuable information from it. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the real basic language compiler.

It doesn't appear to be a VB compiler... but it's own VBish language... and hte compiler was written in VB6 (according to the screen shots... haven't looked at the source code just yet).

-tg

[VB6 Programming]

twinBASIC now has support for using ActiveX controls in twinBASIC forms.

https://www.vbforums.com/showthread....=1#post5561881

Here is the beta download...
https://github.com/WaynePhillipsEA/twinbasic/releases

• Click on "Assets" for the latest release
• Download and Extract the ZIP file into a local folder
• Then run the twinBASIC.exe from that local folder.

If you haven't previously installed the twinBASIC IDE and you're NOT using Windows 11, you might need to install the WebView2 Runtime from Microsoft. Some products, like Office 365 now pre-install WebView2 for you, so you might not need this step. Here is a link for the official WebView2 runtime:
https://tinyurl.com/twinbasicwebview2runtime


Further details...
https://github.com/WaynePhillipsEA/t...ent-1152359335


To get started with ActiveXs see...
https://github.com/WaynePhillipsEA/t...ent-1152368905

[wqweto]

Pre-beta 2 Release: radbasic_setup_0.5.91.exe

(Have to copy/paste the link in a new tab as apparently vbforums.com referrer is blocked)

cheers,
</wqw>

[Niya]

Is that legit?

That link doesn't work for me by the way. It just opens a browser tab and immediately closes it.

[Niya]

Oh never mind it downloads when you copy the link as you've said.

Do you trust it? I mean I trust you but I don't know much about this RadBasic guy so I'm kinda hesitant to run a strange EXE on my PC and I don't have a VM handy right now. Needed to make space on my HD a while back.

[wqweto]

Is that legit?

No idea so better download it before they change their mind and put it behind a paywall :-))

Do you trust it?

Btw, I don't install these actually and I have plenty of VMs. . . Fiddlying w/ TB is enough "other BASIC" for me :-))

cheers,
</wqw>

[Niya]

Yea I downloaded it.....but I'm not running it until either I re-install another Windows VM instance or somebody I trust runs it and gives the green light.

[Niya]

Btw, I don't install these actually and I have plenty of VMs. . . Fiddlying w/ TB is enough "other BASIC" for me :-))

I'm really curious about it since there was so much fuss over it. However, I am terrified of ransomware. There are very few things in the world that frighten me more than the prospect of waking up one morning to find all the files on my HD encrypted so I avoid running EXEs from people or companies I know nothing about. That fear is far greater than my curiosity.

[Niya]

BTW you should state clearly that you haven't tested it. You're a well known person around here that has earned a lot of credibility. I almost ran it when I downloaded just because it was you that posted it.

[wqweto]

Putting a malware/ransomware would wipe out the whole project. It’s possible but probably they not doing it consciously.

If someone happen to install latest RAD Basic setup above in a VM please do share if there is something suspicious for the rest of us to know.

[vbrad]

Putting a malware/ransomware would wipe out the whole project. It’s possible but probably they not doing it consciously.

If someone happen to install latest RAD Basic setup above in a VM please do share if there is something suspicious for the rest of us to know.

That's just a 2.52 MB file that when you run it must download the rest of the software. Pretty common scenario nowadays, is there a special name for this arrangement?
Anyway that 2.52 MB file gets a clean bill of health from Virustotal.

[wqweto]

... is there a special name for this arrangement?

WebInstaller

cheers,
</wqw>

[vbrad]

WebInstaller

cheers,
</wqw>

OK, makes sense! Thank you.

[fafalone]

It's still installing gigabytes of LLVM stuff I see...

Seems this version doesn't run without a license. You'd think they'd at least let the IDE run and just block building and/or saving when unlicensed so the public could at least see if it's even made much progress. Oh well, somebody who has one want to give an overview of where it's at now?

They had a *huge* amount of ground to make up if they want to be taken seriously as a competitor to twinBASIC, since the previous version from a year ago couldn't do much of anything... seemed built around showing the bare minimum examples from the video; just about any modification didn't work.

[Niya]

It's still installing gigabytes of LLVM stuff I see...

Sounds like it's at least doing something that makes sense for an application development tool. This project may not be a bluff after all.

[yereverluvinuncleber]

Chat to Carles and he'll send you a licence.

[OptionBase1]

Sounds like it's at least doing something that makes sense for an application development tool. This project may not be a bluff after all.

Not sure why anyone would think it was a bluff. It's obviously been a legit real project from the beginning, but hasn't had much publicly available progress reported in ages. I'm not going to download and install this myself, but I would like to hear feedback from those who do what they think of this new release.