B4X - Multi Application Output

[Jmu5667]

Hello

I was pondering the future of Java and other such technologies the other night. As we all invest time and money into producing applications, some for fun, others for the full time business and it occurred to me that the B4X ecosystem is truly amazing and has huge potential.

In particular B4J. It would be an awesome achievement if B4J was able to produce C++ exe's rather then JAR files. It would probably mean a B4C IDE. I am thinking if this was possibly on the development roadmap, the initial version for be for console/server apps only.

Currently B4J is free, and I think it is very generous of Erel to do this. I would pay for B4J without question. B4J has allowed my company develop truly amazing server apps that would have been a daunting task in VS, or having to learn JAVA.

So, in summary, what do others think of this ?

Regards

John.

 

[Star-Dust]

The Jar format allows applications to run well beyond windows even on Mac and Linux. My applications are now multi-platform and I have satisfied a larger customer base.

The Exe file is limiting and you can still get it from Jar.

 

[Jmu5667]

I think my point was to produce a binary that does not rely on JAVA to be installed, all though I am aware of the benefits of producing a JAR file

 

[Star-Dust]

There are several tools that produce EXE files.
Is your request to have an integrated tool if you want to produce a binary file exclusively for Windows?

 

[Jmu5667]

There are several tools that produce EXE files.
Is your request to have an integrated tool if you want to produce a binary file exclusively for Windows?

That seems like a good idea. The new licensing from Oracle is going to cause an issue with customers. I had a look a OpenJDK 11 with one of our apps and it crashed. So, if we can produce an executable that does not reply on JRE that would overcome the license issue, or am I missing something ?

 

[Star-Dust]

I imagine your customers only use Windows. Solved only for those who use windows.

In any case, the code is based on the Java runtime even if compiled with any compilation tools. So nothing would be solved.

Your request, which you should propose in the forum section of WISH, probably requires a complete redesign that does not make everything depend on java

 

[XbNnX_507]

This utility could be of great help http://www.jar2exe.com. i dont't know if it is fully compatible with b4j' .jar generated executables.

 

[Jmu5667]

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/corretto/latest/corretto-8-ug/downloads-list.html

 

[Jmu5667]

https://www.tomaszezula.com/2018/11/19/openjdk-providers-comparison/

 

[OliverA]

The Jar format allows applications to run well beyond windows even on Mac and Linux. My applications are now multi-platform and I have satisfied a larger customer base.

The Exe file is limiting and you can still get it from Jar.

I think we are getting hung up on the usage of EXE by the @Jmu5667. C++ pretty much compiles to any platform imaginable. The grander issue here would be cross platform library support that would match that of Java. For windowing, one may opt to go with wxWidgets (it's just the first one that popped into my head). For other things, who knows.

robably requires a complete redesign that does not make everything depend on java

Yes, but we know that the transpiling portion can be done (See the various outputs of the B4X platform: Java, Objective-C and C). The issue, as mentioned above, would be cross platform libraries.

Please note that this all seems to come from the change of Oracle's licensing of Java. It's throwing a lot of people for a loop and the underlying thought may be that it may be time to look for another underlying platform that may be more resistant to change when it comes to licensing issues. Part of the problem (in regards to Java licensing) is solvable by using other providers of the Java JDK/JRE (see the two posts above this).

On a coolness factor, I still think it would be cool if one could create cross-platform C++ with B4X (being super selfish here: especially in the non-gui server environment). Hey, one may dream...

 

[Erel]

I think my point was to produce a binary that does not rely on JAVA to be installed, all though I am aware of the benefits of producing a JAR file

Java is not required. Search for B4J Packager 11.

Please note that this all seems to come from the change of Oracle's licensing of Java.

OpenJDK license is more permissive than the old Java license.

n a coolness factor, I still think it would be cool if one could create cross-platform C++ with B4X (being super selfish here: especially in the non-gui server environment).

C++ is not better suited than Java for servers.

 

[Jmu5667]

I was not aware java was better for servers then c++