It is no secret that I’m a huge fan of B4X and the accessibility to its creator. Here is a small illustration why:
While announcing a new feature yesterday (inline casting) to the B4X language, not everyone was happy with its implementation. We were all excited with this new functionality, but some of us proposed some alternative syntax’s to improve readability.
Instead of Xojos reaction: ‘We know best, you do not know what you are talking about’, Erel did listen to his users and went back to the drawing board, taking all the users inputs into consideration. Already the next day, he proposed the new more readable and better comprehensible syntax, which was welcomed with open arms.
So without being all secret and by not throwing something (that has a profound impact) at your users, you can prevent a shitstorm of angry users/posts on your forum AFTER you release it, just by consulting them BEFORE. And you get a happy community instead.
You just have to love that kind of ‘using the feedback from your users’! Something Xojo should’ve learned a very long, long time ago…
Most of the time, Erel does show (intermediate) progress when he adds something new (like he did in my post) which allows plenty of time to give feedback. In my 10+ years I worked with B4X, there never was a Old Framework - New Framework - API 2 or a Web 1.0 - Web 2.0 surprise moment. The features added are extensions, not replacements.
Reason: He is ‘a man with a plan’ and is always miles ahead in thinking about the future. Probably one of the reasons an investor jumped in which allowed him to open source the core libraries and make B4A free for everyone too.
