Messages

201

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Goalscape - Expensive but the best to-do list software I've seen (Adobe Air)

« on: January 04, 2011, 03:48 PM »

Oh. They put a freekin' countdown timer widget on the offer page?

That just lost me. I do not respond well to sales pressure tactics. Even if it will net me a discount.

And yes, I know that's what the de jour part of BdJ is all about. But that whole "cable television" shill approach to selling something is an absolute turn off for me.

Sorry Vince! Better luck next time.  

-40hz (January 04, 2011, 03:21 PM)

FYI - Policy

Product may be used indefinitely after purchase. Licensed per user for concurrent use, allowing transfer of a license to another owned computer. Online license activation is required with a hardware footprint, and 2 installations per footprint. Free upgrades for life. Support for life. 14 days return policy.

Hi 40hz,

[timidly]
I won't say I'm not trying to influence you or wouldn't have posted, but the only influence I intend is to include the 14-day return policy in your evaluation.  I've never been burned by BDJ in my purchases, but others mileage may vary, or I would never make the "Hey here's a deal" post.  Which reminds me I posted in the wrong topic!  Arrrrgh!!  It's been moved here.
[/timidly]

FWIW, I'm buying it! I bought it. 

Calvin

202

The Getting Organized Experiment of 2009 / Re: Goalscape - Expensive but the best to-do list software I've seen (Adobe Air)

« on: January 04, 2011, 02:19 PM »

Oops! wrong topic.

203

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 04, 2011, 11:54 AM »

Yeah it pretty much locks up my computer with the high cpu use, whether minimized to taskbar or not.

-mouser (January 04, 2011, 11:30 AM)

@mouser - Did you have a skrommel, etc. utility to tell you it was "27%" or did you just use the "Processes" window and do the math?

204

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 04, 2011, 11:42 AM »

Sometimes it's not an easy decision about whether to release something in a state where it's not finished.  Sometimes we release too early and the result is frustration for users.  Sometimes we release too late and lose out on early feedback.  One thing you might want to consider is if this might be a case where you aren't quite ready for a public release.. Just something to think about.

-mouser (January 04, 2011, 11:34 AM)

 I have no problem with waiting except for two things:
<> I was hoping to use the publicity of the annual DC NANY event to get the app in "front" of people.
<> I didn't want to lose my coveted participation award... the Cody Mug! 

Regardless, I'll be the first to admit VeggieSquares is not ready for prime time in its present state.  I gave it my best shot. Go ahead and pull it for now.

Thanks for the encouragement.  I really mean that.

205

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 04, 2011, 11:37 AM »

Yeah it pretty much locks up my computer with the high cpu use, whether minimized to taskbar or not.

-mouser (January 04, 2011, 11:30 AM)

Ok, thanks for the feedback.  I'll see if something isn't deleting/releasing when it should.

FMI - Given that I am "shopping" do you have any knowledge if certain languages keep an eye on things like that?

206

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 04, 2011, 11:14 AM »

Running veggie squares, i could drag around the things but:

• The program was running 27% cpu usage the whole time, making the rest of my computer pretty unresponsive
• The radio boxes for grid size didn't do anything
• I couldn't get anything else to happen

Is there something i'm missing or is this just the current state of the program?

-mouser (January 04, 2011, 10:45 AM)

Hi mouser,

No, sadly you are not missing anything.  You are experiencing the program correctly. 

FYI - unfortunately, due to my unfamiliarity with the IDE (or my advancing semi-senility) on Dec. 27th I inadvertently destroyed my source code by overwriting it.  Fortunately and due to help of others I was able to recover about half of the code and had to slap together in three days what took me three weeks to accomplish.  The bottom line was I had to take what I could get and offer the same at present which is a very immature app.

Concerning the CPU usage, am I to understand that even in the task bar it continued to hold the stranglehold?  Hmmm... I never noticed that, but I only had the IDE up when coding most of the time.  I will check it out, but any comments about what I could do would be appreciated.

FYI(2) - I will be working on VeggieSquares consistently until I get it to ver. 1.00, hopefully in a couple of weeks.  The only caveat is I am in the throes of making a decision about continuing in the same BASIC IDE or move to another language (Java, VB.NET, etc.) as a permanent home.  Once I make that decision I will be full-speed ahead!

Thanks for the input,
Calvin   

207

Developer's Corner / Re: How to choose programming language?

« on: January 03, 2011, 10:04 PM »

Thread revival... just for fun!

I found this neat little tool:

http://www.awaretek.com/atesterea.html
...
The result is

1. C/C++
2. Java
3. Python

-Ketracel (August 24, 2008, 07:59 PM)

Fun find!

"power and expressiveness" would be a measure of how powerful and flexible the language is and how easy it is to represent different data structures and concepts.

-mouser (August 24, 2008, 08:00 PM)

Real fun!  Take a look at the score I was given...



I couldn't stop laughing !  I can hardly spell, "C."

208

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 03, 2011, 09:42 PM »

Ah, my mistake then... it's because your Title still says "Pledge": it should say "Release" 

-Perry Mowbray (January 03, 2011, 09:24 PM)

Nope, *my* mistake.  I must have missed the memo.    FYI - I have corrected this on all my posts here that were applicable.
 

...
True: the screenshots and evaluations included in the Final Wrap up all point back to you Entry Thread, so what ever is there is what visitors will get.

So any updates to your app are definitely beneficial -- The Wrap up gets spread to all sorts of different places so new visitors can come quite a deal later.

Great!  Thanks for the comments. 

209

General Software Discussion / Re: Is it possible to have a future without a .NET-style takeover?

« on: January 03, 2011, 08:56 PM »

@IainB

Given your comments and experience, the *safest* pathway would be to stay away from the "locker-inners" and try to get connected with a solid community-supported language/IDE. 

Ok.... that might sound like a good argument, except aren't all "community"-supported initiatives maintained (read: controlled) by a single individual or small group?  Sounds like it might be trading one "locker-inner" for another, right?

I do like the concept of regardless of which locker-inner we willingly incarcerate ourselves by we can use the experience to grow!  That is always good.

210

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 03, 2011, 06:10 PM »

@kyrathaba -
I may have found an answer in Real Studio (quasi-visual basic), I think?.  It is expensive (past the 30-day trial), but it might be just what I am looking for?  A couple of DC heavy-hitters are giving it a pretty good look and one has spent some cash on it.  It has a 90-day refund too.

211

Developer's Corner / Re: How to program for all 3 platforms at once

« on: January 03, 2011, 05:48 PM »

^ Just DL'ed the 30-day trial.

I'd be interested in hearing from anybody who uses it too.  

-40hz (December 06, 2010, 07:20 PM)

I downloaded too.  Looks pretty interesting, since I have a soft spot in my head, er, heart for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.  

I am glad they have a 90-day money back policy.    

It is also fairly expensive, , but one of the customers by the name of Jeff Ayling said, ""Love you guys - what a product! Your hard work now feeds my family!"

@Carol, please keep me in your loop.  I would be specifically interested in how it compares to VB, if you can comment. - Thanks.

212

General Software Discussion / Re: What in the world is "Refactoring?"

« on: January 03, 2011, 05:09 PM »

it really depends on what kind of coder you are and how well you take to these new fangled IDE fancy tools.

if you're anything like me, it's too late for your brain to really make good use of them.  when my code needs to be improved i do it by hand or with dead simple search and replace stuff.  i've just never really learned to make use of refactoring tools and don't see myself doing so.

-mouser (January 03, 2011, 05:00 PM)

Oops... missed this!

Unfortunately, I have forgotten more than I will ever learn from here on out.  I wish I could be refactored. 

213

General Software Discussion / Re: What in the world is "Refactoring?"

« on: January 03, 2011, 05:05 PM »

...
It's those individual tasks that a good IDE with refactoring support can do; it still needs your "architect" brain to direct the bigger picture.

-f0dder (January 03, 2011, 05:00 PM)

Thanks to you,worstje and mouser for the simple definitions.  I did kind of figure it wasn't a "check your brain at the door" kind of thing.  The variables for those variables would be far too variable.

214

General Software Discussion / Re: What in the world is "Refactoring?"

« on: January 03, 2011, 04:55 PM »

when an IDE says it has "Refactoring" tools, it means it has a bunch of separate small little ways it can help you refactor/modify your code, like worstje said.  these may range from simple things like renaming functions, adding arguements to functions, splitting up functions, etc.

-mouser (January 03, 2011, 04:49 PM)

@mouser and worstje
In y'alls (I'm from Texas) collective experience, are these "refactoring tools" a real valid and usable bonus or just marketing hype, smoke and mirrors, etc.?

215

General Software Discussion / Re: What in the world is "Refactoring?"

« on: January 03, 2011, 04:43 PM »

Ok, so when an language/IDE advertises it has "excellent refactoring" it is saying that it will rewrite the code I input to make a more concise programming verbiage?

216

General Software Discussion / What in the world is "Refactoring?"

« on: January 03, 2011, 04:35 PM »

What is Refactoring?

Refactoring is a disciplined technique for restructuring an existing body of code, altering its internal structure without changing its external behavior. Its heart is a series of small behavior preserving transformations. Each transformation (called a 'refactoring') does little, but a sequence of transformations can produce a significant restructuring. Since each refactoring is small, it's less likely to go wrong. The system is also kept fully working after each small refactoring, reducing the chances that a system can get seriously broken during the restructuring.

FYI - the whole paragraph abve is a link to "www.refactoring.com".

Ok, I read this.  Can someone please translate it into something I can tell my children (and I can understand)?

217

General Software Discussion / Is it possible to have a future without a .NET-style takeover?

« on: January 03, 2011, 03:27 PM »

I have to admit that returning to my VB skills via VB/C#.NET is intriguing, but when you have been burned, or more accurately, when you know someone who has been burned by the lack of commitment from Microsoft, it makes you not want to play with those matches, eh?

Specifically, I followed a developer for several years as he moved form one VB iteration after another until climaxing with VB6 which he and (millions of others which I am not personally acquainted) had their world shaken badly by the proprietary and unexpected act of dropping VB6 and going to .NET.  Know any other war stories about this?

I guess what I am really after is a tool that is as good as the pre-dot-Net Visual Studio environment that might insulate me from the whims of the Boyz in the (Redmond) Hood?

... or am I am I living in la-la land?  

218

Coding Snacks / Re: What language is the best for a new programmer to start with?

« on: January 03, 2011, 03:08 PM »

Oops... posted in the wrong thread.   

219

Coding Snacks / Re: What language is the best for a new programmer to start with?

« on: January 03, 2011, 02:58 PM »

Thread revival...

I would like to know about licences as it would be galling to learn a language, write a cool app (as if) and attempt to make some money only to find out the licence of your choice of language was unsuitable (maybe even a court case threatened). At which point do you have to buy a compiler/ suite. Any salient experiences, good or bad, folks?

-SleepingWolf (April 17, 2010, 08:43 AM)

As a candidate myself, I would appreciate any heads-up concerning licensing restrictions.

TIA 

220

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 03, 2011, 11:28 AM »

CodeTrucker, if you have a background in this variant of BASIC, probably the easiest language upgrade (in terms of learning/re-learning) would be Visual Basic for .NET.

-kyrathaba (January 03, 2011, 07:43 AM)

Hmmm... Is VB.NET cross-platform?  Maybe you missed what I was requesting?  

A little background to frame the discussion...

Most of my coding has been in VB, but when I saw personally what happened to some coder acquaintances of mine when Microsoft canned VB6 and did the .NET thing, I decided I didn't want Redmond dictating my future, which remains a giant question mark, at best.  As a result, I have sought to find and use other BASIC flavors that were not MS products.  After working for a couple of years and given what I just endured in working with IWBASIC (weak help files and a not-so-robust debugger) I am seriously looking at cutting my losses and moving to a more mainstream language that would have a traction and a wide user base I could draw on when necessary.  

Now, as I said above, I have had some interest expressed in me making my app cross-platform (Win, Mac, Linux).  So I am looking for feedback about how realistic porting my app to Java would be, since I understand Java to be cross-platform.  I am not only interested in if Java, etc. can be useful, but how realistic is actually getting up to speed with it?  For instance, I do not believe it would be wise to try and become a C++ programmer at this stage in my life, but I think I still can learn.  

A lot of my apps I intend require dragging-n-dropping of objects and sprites in a window.

I'm looking for options.

PS - I am in the process of scouring the "what's the best language" threads on DC.

221

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 03, 2011, 11:27 AM »

beside NANY finalization (end of Jan.?).

-CodeTRUCKER (January 03, 2011, 01:51 AM)

I know that we're being a little less strict this year, but I think that the end of Jan is going way too far!  

-Perry Mowbray (January 03, 2011, 03:14 AM)

Whoa!  Now hold on thar, Pardner... Ima thinkin' you dun got th' horse a'fore th' cart!?

All kidding aside, Please note my NANY is already complete (as far as submission is concerned).  See "Last Edit" footer on my NANY page...

« Last Edit: January 01, 2011, 12:34:40 AM by CodeTRUCKER »

Now given....

You can of course keep developing your application unrestricted at any time after NANY completes (which it has) -- In fact we'd love it if you did! But for NANY we have to draw the line under the Event at some stage. All the screencasts and evaluations will be done on the version present on New Years Day:

I believe I have the ability to replace the existing *.rar with the new improved version as required; in fact, I believe that is encouraged.

FYI - My comment, "... beside end of Jan.?" was based on the following...

I suppose we should say that while tonight is the deadline to get your NANY submission(s) posted and public, because it will take us a week or two to prepare the final page...
...

Knowing how these things can go, the " end of Jan.?" is not far fetched as a possible time frame to upgrade "VeggieSquares" for public prime time.  You and I both know if things don't go so well as planned the, "...week or two to prepare the final page..." could easily turn into "two or three" or even "three or four," hence my supposition I *might* have until the, "... end of Jan.?" as a possible time opportunity.  I do realize my app will be judged by DC on what was uploaded at the deadline.  No problem here.  Actually, given what I achieved after 40% - 60% of my work was blown away only three days from the deadline, I'm quite happy with what I did submit, even as a beta.

Frankly, I never had any delusions I would win anything, save the coveted Cody Mug!  My interest has always been using the DC publicity as a great platform to get the word out on how important gardening really is and to provide a simple tool that would eliminate the complication and drudgery normally associated with gardening by the masses.  I wanted to make gardening simple and fun!  I think I have achieved that goal.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have get out my trusty "Acme¹ Code Polisher" and get to work!

¹ - For our non-U.S.A. readers... the "Acme" label was a fictitious company used in the animated cartoons of "Bugs Bunny," "Wile E. Coyote" and others.

222

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 03, 2011, 01:51 AM »

I have heard some interest in making VeggieSquares platform-independent.  Since the app is now in BASIC and 32bit at that, would Java (Netbeans?/Eclipse?/Komodo?) be a good candidate language to recode my app?  Please understand, I am speaking from a deep well of ignorance, but I have no time constraints, beside NANY finalization (end of Jan.?).

 

223

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Release: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: January 01, 2011, 05:10 PM »

Were you ever able to save the code that you accidentally overwrote, CodeTRUCKER? I'd love to see this game come into being, even if it won't be possible for NANY 2011 anymore.

-worstje (January 01, 2011, 04:39 PM)

Hi worstje!

Actually, no.  No worries as your suggestion did provoke a recall of the app somewhere else, so I was able to regain about half.  I did submit my "beta" for NANY 2011.  Did it not work?

As far as the app... it *will* live even if it takes a rewrite.  I had been intending on coding again and this was the app I was thinking of when the NANY 2011 just happened to show up!  

Calvin

224

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: "VeggieSquares" - Children's Game

« on: December 31, 2010, 11:51 PM »

Good suggestions, kyrathaba.  Unfortunately, I am using a language that only one other DC'er uses that I am aware of, but I am seriously thinking of remaking the app in something with better debugging.

PS - Note the new name in the subject line above!

  

225

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: "VeggieWorld" - Children's Game

« on: December 29, 2010, 11:11 AM »

CodeTrucker, it might not be too late yet!

On recent Windows versions when you are using a disk with NTFS, Windows has built in 'past versions' support. Rightclick the file in Explorer, and choose Restore previous versions, or alternatively go to Properties and look at the Previous versions tab.

It might not have your newest changes, but it should have some version of your code at least.

-worstje (December 29, 2010, 12:05 AM)

Thank you for this tip.  I was not aware this was possible.  I'll look into it and see what I can do.  Do you know anyone who has mastered time travel or at least can suspend it?