FB has finally hit version 1. http://www.freebasic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22858
Congratulations! Very good compiler that is being updated and maintained daily.
Great news. FreeBasic now supports 64 bit development. FreeBasic is much more palatable than PureBasic to my tastes. Maybe Basic is not a dead end after all. Is the FreeBasic Firefly version (32 bit) able to work with the 64 bit Freebasic compiler?
edit
From reading on the FB forum, it does not look like the 64 bit version comes with Windows headers. Still work to do.
Just reading about the new version and the discussions about new features and building upon compiler's features really starts to get my blood pumping again for programming. I'm at least going to download the new version and play around with it. It is not strong in the COM area but it has many strengths elsewhere.
If I were you I wouldn't invest too much time into the FireFly version for FreeBasic. It has a lot of shortcomings, one of which is that it is not high dpi aware.
Hi Paul,
Any chance to see a new version (or an update version) of FireFly for FreeBasic.
FireFly is fantastic; I use it almost every day with PowerBASIC.
Regards,
Jean-Pierre
Just thinking out loud:
If I were to muster enough motivation, I would first develop an object based GUI framework that was fully unicode compliant and Win32 api based (similar to a MFC or WTL, but obviously not to that level of scope and complexity). I would then use that framework to write an open source JellyFish programmer editor, and finally an open source version of FireFly for FreeBasic. My needs are not Linux/Mac based so I would only concentrate on Windows. If I ever needed it, I would go back to C++ and wxWidgets for Linux/Windows apps. I would even go as far as to write a tcp/ip SQLite client/server to replace SQLitening that would be easier to understand (something I had already started in PowerBasic because I find the SQLitening code base very confusing and the coding style is not object based).
I am so doubtful that we will ever see a new PowerBasic compiler. I hope that I am proven wrong.
I, for one, would immediately donate for (or purchase) a Firefly for Freebasic (open source or commercial).
Dennis
QuoteI am so doubtful that we will ever see a new PowerBasic compiler
I am curious if you don't know about these two Jim Bailey posts, or if you don't believe Jim Bailey? Please don't take this as anything other than a request for clarification. :)
http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums/showthread.php?p=459509#post459509 (http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums/showthread.php?p=459509#post459509)
http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums/showthread.php?p=459508#post459508 (http://www.powerbasic.com/support/pbforums/showthread.php?p=459508#post459508)
Best regards,
David
Hi David,
Reading that post from Jim regarding his belief that 64 bit is unneeded leaves me shaking my head. Seems like he thinks it is simply a money grab by Microsoft and big business? From my standpoint, this is not the "vision" of a leader of a compiler product that wants to be a leading contender in the market. This is another example of PB mentality of always playing catchup. COM support came 10 years too late and we have yet to get any official support for containers for visual ActiveX controls. Reminds me of the "640K ought to be enough for anyone" mentality.
I assume that Tom Hanlin is still working on the compiler. Haven't heard anything there in a long time and after IBasic, I do not have a warm fuzzy feeling.
In my opinion, if it wasn't for the tireless work of Gary Beene, PB would be pretty much a ghost town.
(I hate sounding so pessimistic!!!! Sorry about that. The decline of PB makes me very upset.)
:)
Paul,
I was excited by the latest announcement until I found out the 64 bit version is FAR from a 1.0 release. No include files except the basic crt's.
Don't get me wrong I do like FreeBasic. It got me back into coding when it first arrived on the scene. I just don't think the 64 bit version should be a 1.0 release.
James
I agree. The 64 bit needs work around the include files. However, it is good to see that at least the guts of the compiler is producing 64 bit code. That's a hell of a start.
Thats what I have been saying all along. Something is cooking over at Freebasic which we shouldnt overlook.
And ONE BIG THING about FREEBASIC, is that the guys are WAY MORE OPEN to suggestions and ideas than Powerbasic.
I am almost 100% positive, if a strong group like this smart bunch at this forum have an open heart to heart with the FB guys over their needs, they will probably be willing to make REAL CHANGES when they discover they have been "discovered".
Producing a kick-@ss free compiler at first that attract the smartest bunch of the powerbasic users (AKA the Firefly forum), will also put them on a guaranteed path for a successful retail version of such a compiler.
A win-win situation if we can be involved somewhow in what they produce, unlike some other compiler programmers we know. ::)
I've spent a couple of days designing a gui library for FB. It is an object based thin wrapper over the WinAPI. Doing so is helping me (re)learn the FB syntax. Here is a simple example that produces a simple working form on the screen.
The size of the EXE is only 23K.
There is lots of potential when I get this library finished.
''
'' TEST PROGRAM TO CREATE SIMPLE FORM
''
' Start the GUI
Dim MyApp As clsWinApp
' Create a Form
Dim Form1 As clsForm
With Form1
.Caption = "This is my Application"
.Name = "FORM1"
.BackColor = COLOR_BTNFACE
.WndProc = @Form1_WndProc
.Left = 100 ' override CW_USEDEFAULT
.Top = 100
.Width = 800
.Height = 500
.Create
End With
MyApp.Run
Paul,
I'm losing a bit of enthusiasm after my initial foray.
Don't you think treating Integer as 8 bytes in the 64 bit version will be a problem?
See my comment here:
http://www.freebasic.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22862
Another roadblock as I see it there is not a good easy to use cross platform gui library available.
gtk on Windows is a pain and Iup is still using gtk2 on Linux.
qt and wxWidgets are the best but they are c++
Now a FreeBasic FireFly targeting gtk+3 might work :)
James
Hi James, yes I read your post earlier today. I am not worried about the Integer issue yet. As long as there is consistency within the Windows platform, and within the Linux platform itself. I am not doing cross platform so qt or wxWidgets is not going to be a concern for me.
I do like FB's object model. It is easy to use and very similar to C++ paradigm. I do find that it is taking me some time to get used to the stronger typing in FB. In PB you could use a Long or DWord for just about everything but in FB you need to use specific types such as HWND, HANDLE, HBITMAP, LPARAM, WPARAM, etc otherwise you will get compiler warnings.
At least FB is going in the right direction. Not bad for a free, open source BASIC compiler.
But there isn't consistency withing the Windows platform.
Fb64 treats Integers as 8bytes where ALL other 64 bit compilers treat it as 4.
I see a problem using 64bit third party libraries.
James
Ahhhh, I see what you mean now :)
I love this vibe that is suddenly back in the forum.
Any posts on new things happening makes me very happy and positive.
Eventually all the bits and bytes will fall in place.
Down here in the South, its SPRING and what nicer way to see a positive future can one want?
Thanks for that!
I have been very happy with the recent progress of FB. It seems like there is a new fire burning on the development side of things and the forums are more alive than they have been in a long time.
QuoteReading that post from Jim regarding his belief that 64 bit is unneeded leaves me shaking my head.
I debunked his nonsense about 64-bit quite some time ago on Jose's forum. Many developers have outgrown the 32-bit memory limitations. Server-based applications come to mind, along with video games (which is why many new games that have come out are 64-bit only) and multi-media applications.
QuoteI assume that Tom Hanlin is still working on the compiler. Haven't heard anything there in a long time and after IBasic, I do not have a warm fuzzy feeling.
If Tom is working on the compiler, then there is no hope for a new version. His wonderful legacy with IBasic aside, what Tom has done to PB is even more disastrous. His greatest contribution to PB has been the buggy and crash prone IDE that does not properly handle large source files and looks like something out of the 16-bit era. His "includes" are equally as buggy and are often improperly calling an API in a way it shouldn't be called. Luckily, decent virus software will flag a lot of software written with PB to protect the end user from these shoddy programs. Using Jose's includes usually alleviates these issues. I still can't figure out Tom's late-nigh drunken rant against Jose and Jose's includes.
QuoteIn my opinion, if it wasn't for the tireless work of Gary Beene, PB would be pretty much a ghost town.
Indeed. But, he is a Texan and they are definitely a special breed. ;)
Quote(I hate sounding so pessimistic!!!! Sorry about that. The decline of PB makes me very upset.)
It does me too. Like last year, Jim disappeared when school started. If this is a repeat of last year, we won't see him until the spring of 2015.
Even though the owner/developer of HotBasic makes Chris Boss look sane, I have considered purchasing HotBasic. But, I have been unable to afford it at this time. I am not sure it has seen any development in recent years, anyway.
Luckily, FB seems to have caught it's second wind.
Please, alert me if they ever add native support for Ole strings. For Windows programming this is paramount.
Paul,
I just did an investigation on what it would take to convert the win 32 headers to 64.
I doubt I will see it in my lifetime (I am an old fart) :)
dkl made the wrong decision in my opinion.
Enough FreeBasic; back to my UbxWx project.
James
I have been using the new FB for the past week and I'm loving it :)
I am working through creating a gui framework that I can use as the base for future projects. It is looking pretty good at the moment. Once I flush it out a bit more then I'll post it for comments.
I am not too concerned about the 64 bit version yet because I am not currently interested in any cross-platform library work. The WinAPI header files will be converted eventually and that will be sufficient for me. For now, I am content getting back into the FB swing of things using the 32 bit version.
Meanwhile...
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32/README
...already including 128-bit floats.
Quote from: TechSupport on September 22, 2014, 06:11:13 PM
I have been using the new FB for the past week and I'm loving it :)
I am working through creating a gui framework that I can use as the base for future projects. It is looking pretty good at the moment. Once I flush it out a bit more then I'll post it for comments.
I am not too concerned about the 64 bit version yet because I am not currently interested in any cross-platform library work. The WinAPI header files will be converted eventually and that will be sufficient for me. For now, I am content getting back into the FB swing of things using the 32 bit version.
Glad to see you getting your mojo back ;)