Xojo Pricing Changes

I’ve tried it a few times, and also looked at how you could use the underlying LCL with other languages (in theory, Lazarus – the IDE – supports additional languages, as well). Generally worked, but I couldn’t love Object Pascal. Recently saw a Julia user create a UI for an app and work through how to distribute it via Lazarus.

Welcome to the club. Xojo as a development ecosystem is outdated and damaged far beyond repair, without any hope for change.
Some people stick to it because they have a code base that would be costly to recreate in a new language. Some stick to it because they are afraid of the unknown.
The earth keeps turning and today’s IDE and language landscape offers plenty of choices.
Moving away from Xojo to a modern dev environment is a sound decision, given the risk that sticking with Xojo imposes. Xojo is - was - a thing for hobbyists.
In this forum you’ll meet many ex-Xojo devs who switched to other IDEs and languages, like Java, Rust, Swift etc. and who are willing to share their experience.

P.S. Xojo’s latest commercial move, stalinist communication habits and bug report ditching are ominous signs that it is about time to leave.

I second to this.

Have been using Frappe Framework which is powered by Python and building robust business app for enterprises.

This combination is allowing us to build (and user) any kind of app right from CRMs to ERPs to Cloud File Storage and Managers (like google drive) to Slack clones.

Recently we have starting using Frappe Framework for server side and on client side (front end) using Vue 3.0 without any issue.

In short we have a full stack development solution with a poweful template based PDF generator for creating downloadable invoices, etc.

That is unusual. In that case try out Pilot Logic’s Code Typhon. This is a fork of Laz and has alwasy worked for me. As I am on Windows, I just have to download the zip, unzip it and use it.

The correct tense is “have been disappeared” (via eg 1,000 year bans - I kid you not, and it isn’t a typo either)

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Yes Sir! But the ban is from now only 996 years. So I will come back definitely! :slight_smile:

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this you already said last time (2-3 years ago?)

Install clean Debian 12/13 with Gnome

apt install lazarus* lcl* fpc*

ready to go

it will also work on KDE without any problem. Just tested it. Lazarus is a nice IDE for Pascal. Reminds me on old days of TurboPascal. I guess before a hundret years :slight_smile:

How do you know so accurately?

I’m allergic to those non-native looking apps anyway, so, since I make my apps for me and friends, I’ll keep using native looking apps.

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I always thought you guys just left voluntarily — I didn’t realize you’d been forcefully removed! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
What does one have to do to earn that kind of special attention? Is there an application form with coffee and a waiting area?

Also… a 1000-year ban? The boss seriously believes the forum will still be around in a thousand years? Honestly, I’m not even sure it could properly enforce a 2-year ban anymore… :face_with_peeking_eye::skull:

No, wait — I just hope he invests the money in keeping the activation servers alive first, and only secondarily in keeping the forum running.

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For me, it’s the reason I just can’t find a real alternative to Xojo.

The visual designer in, say, PureBasic is so ugly, I literally get in a bad mood trying to use it.
And don’t even get me started on my PHP/HTML/CSS/JS days…
I honestly, from the bottom of my heart, don’t understand how anyone voluntarily designs UIs in code. :exploding_head:

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I also coming from Xojo. In the past before Xojo, I designed UI’s in code, so doing it in PureBasic was just resetting my mind.

You can have an easier way to do it. Just create prototypes of the dialog you wish to create in the free version of Xojo. Then make a screenshot of the dialog and upload it to ChatGPT.

As prompt, give a detailed subscription of what cannot be seen in the layout. Then ask ChatGPT to create the dialog for you. In that prompt, tell exactly how you want to code to be written and the structure of your application.

When you click 'enter", ChatGPT will write the PureBasic code for you. From that point, you have to compile/run and correct the errors. From the moment the dialog shows up, then modify it until it meets your wishes.

This is really a very good method to create your layouts. If you do not know something, just ask ChatGPT with an example.

I admit it is a complete change from Xojo; however, in the end, you have a lot more control over your application. Also, PureBasic executes faster than Xojo. Another good advice I want to give you is to always explicitly declare your variables. This will result in better bug tracking your applications.

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Resposive layout is a lot easier to do in code than using editor.

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I recall it was really easy in Delphi. Controls and containers automatically resized to fit spaces as designed.
I’d still be using that if Embarcadero hadn’t hiked up the prices beyond recognition…

This is how I design almost 100% of my GUI code these days , in “in code”. When I have to create a GUI that needs to be fluid across various ecosystems, and device sizes, using a drag-n-drop with or without auto-layout is 1000x more work (in my opinion)

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Frappe Framework sound interesting.. will take a look at this in detail once I have time

If you’re on Windows you can buy a lifetime licence for IceDesign for EUR 18.00 which I think is more aesthetically pleasing than PB’s included designer.

I really only do web UIs these days and I invariably use cards and css grids so elements shift position according to device.

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But at the end the UI capabilities of PB are really limited. And I guess that is also a bit of a showstopper.

hehe same like xojo now?

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I think PB’s gadgets are its weak spot but it does have a webview now and it’s quite easy to connect html element events to PB functions so certainly not a showstopper.