I have a client who’s a self-taught programmer that had several apps in VB6 that I have been rewriting from scratch in Xojo. He wants to stick with Xojo because he (mostly) understands it, as VB is all he ever knew. He’s a neuropsychologist, so he’s not interested in learning a completely different programming language/system, as his main business is neuropsychology consulting, research and custom applications that he markets to other neuropsychologists.
Anyway, the current project I’m working on is his biggest and I have a lot of work to do still. He doesn’t want to take me away from that, but he needs to get another “conversion” started, plus at this point another developer is needed anyway, as I can’t handle much more. There’s one app that he acquired from a partner that was created by someone else in Visual C#. The developer is no longer available, there are several issues with it, and the overall design is not satisfactory, plus he wants it built in Xojo for the above reasons.
So, any Xojo developers on here that may be interested in taking on this project? This would be Windows/Mac only, and a complete redesign, so knowing C# isn’t really necessary. You would be the sole developer and probably the maintainer for as long as you wish. My client would be the owner of the source code with all rights that implies. Of course, I would be involved as needed, hopefully minimally.
PM me and we can talk more thoroughly over the phone.
Not sure how many sympathetic developers you are going to find on this forum, you might have better luck on Xojos own forum instead, although personally at this point you might also be hard pressed to find the proper level of skill set remaining , but that is just my person opinion
I would not have the passion to do that in Xojo and also not the courage. Not at all. The reason why? Too many Bugs and too less chances to get outa them. And also too less ecosystem around not comparable with C# and Java. So: I guess it will be hard to find a Dev for this at all eben on the Cojo Site. Try it.
Look, it’s not our job to discourage or poo on Jay’s client. They want Xojo and he gave the reasons why.
'Nuff said.
There are some good Xojo consultants on this forum. Frankly, I’d trust them more than posting on the TOF and getting who knows what level of competency.
That may be, but I’m certain there are more C# developers out there making x-plat apps, than there are Xojo developers.
With SwiftUI (which is only 4 years old), I can toss a question to any of the social media platforms I’m on, and typically I’ll get more than one response, sometimes in mere minutes. It is not always the answer I specifically want… but you know…
Updated: Added a missing “not” to the last sentence!
I have a client thats in a similar position where they are former VB6 developers and have moved to Xojo
Its “comfortable” and “familiar”
And I understand that a move to something more mainstream would probably serve them better but thats not their choice
I understand that
Your customer is going to invest a good amount of money in the app.
He will not be involved in coding work.
What tangible benefit is he expecting from being able to understand source code?
As a project manager I’d suggest
using a language that offers modern paradigms
using a language with a solid user (developer) base
customer spending time on testing (or defining tests) rather than on reading code
Yup. There are plenty of people doing cross-platform with .NET – I would probably go with Avalon for that at present but there is also Maui, Uno, and other alternatives. It isn’t strictly C# either, VB.NET is a choice they could also make, especially if they use Ryder and/or frameworks that are committed to supporting it like WiseJ.
This particular user doesn’t care about cross platform so much as desktop (reading between the lines, probably Windows only), though.
Customer is the boss here, except that the developer may choose not to support Xojo – a choice that more & more devs are making. I would not care that much probably but I’m old and by the time I die, it will be 100% “Xojo what??” when they look for a replacement. They’ll be high and dry.
My current client uses VB.NET on their customer-facing stuff. They did not require me to use it on the back end systems I’m developing so I went with C#, partly so I didn’t leave them with an old fogey stack no one would want to maintain (rightly or not) and partly because the bleeding edge improvements and support are with C# (and I suppose F#). The guy who maintains the front end didn’t fight me on it either. I was careful not to make him look bad or lacking in foresight for going / sticking with Basic, though. It was probably a good decision 10 years ago, or at least not a bad one.
It’s a little nebulous with some mixed messaging but I think where it has landed is no compiler improvements or even the effort at parity with C#. WinForms and WPF seem to be community “supported” now, which probably strikes at a big use case for VB.NET.
Ryder has stepped into this void and said they will invest in VB support within their own toolchain, but I am not sure how serious that commitment actually is. Some other smaller vendors have made similar noises. The WiseJ toolchain claims to fully support VB as well as C#, for example.
While VB is not really for me anymore and I wouldn’t advise anyone to do a greenfield project with it, I think VB.NET is still a pretty safe choice for anything with a 10 year or shorter lifespan, particularly if the maintainers aren’t comfortable with C# and you value their deep domain knowledge, for instance. After that it starts looking dicey to me, especially for anything outside of traditional line of business apps.
While I have spent the last 2-3 years programming mainly in Java I also do Xojo-project for clients. If no developer has been found yet, I would be interested in learning more about the project.
< Given MS lack of commitment to VB.Net I’m surprise they still using it
I suppose it wont just die but will just not get improved>
Odd - I was under the impression that VB.net would track the linguistic changes of C# - at least for the most part - except maybe “non-safe” aspects… albeit in VB.net syntax.
Is this not the case? Doesn’t VB.net - being .net have access to all the tools and frameworks MS offers for .net? Doesn’t it share most of the same IDE too?
Do 3rd Pty .net controls and libraries not have means to be accessed by VB.net code?
This used to be true but MSFT has sent the VB.NET compiler wherever MSFT technologies go to die. You can never, NEVER rely on MSFT assurances about any of their technologies. They will choke any infant in the cradle, or any revered grandfather in his rocking chair, in service to the Bottom Line. I learned this back in the 90’s when they bought Fox Software, assured me that the Mac and Xenix versions of FoxPro were safe and not to worry, and a year later, they were gone (and a few more years later, the whole product was gone). Any such pronouncements are, at best, a moment-in-time thinking of one faction in the company, and at worst, pandering to milk as much out of a doomed technology as they can.
