B4X: One installation, one IDE, could it be real?

LucaMs

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It is almost certain that it is possible, but equally certain, indeed more, for Anywhere Software it would be a huge job.

Furthermore, the SW would "weigh" a lot and perhaps would also take a long time to load.

Finally, it would be better to have a single one with B4A and B4I (mobile) and B4J separately (desktop).

In my opinion it's not worth it.
 

aeric

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B4i is not free and it's compilation is very different.

B4A and B4J are free and both also can load jar libraries.
 

hatzisn

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I was thinking the exact same thing. There are two major problems for each IDE: Code editor handling (different colors, intendation, autocomplete, errors appearing in the editor and the logs) and code generation. When I had proposed to shift the code generation to a .net core or .net 5 and above cli application (obfuscated and cross platforf) in order to be able to make B4X development cross platform and also web based utilizing codemirror (https://codemirror.net/) and tailscale for the bridges, I had a similar notion in mind. I thought of it in order to be able to program wherever we are, from drinking cofee by the beach and travelling in a mass transportation vehicle, to relaxing laying down in the noon on a mountain. It is a great idea, yet it remains a minor problem how to handle the code editor stuff. Finally B4i IDE is also a paid IDE and it might not be a good idea to predistribute it with a B4X IDE even if it is is enabled remotely after paying.
 
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Cableguy

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We are discussing very different things here....
A commom IDE: Yes, it is possible, and it wouldn't be that much heavier than the ones we already have.... The parser would have to be upgraded for sure, but then again, even in a Multi-Platform IDE, you only work on one code base at a time...
So the parser could still be platform specific, and called upon by the active platform IDE....
The same for the Compilation.... You can only compile 1 platform at a time....
Still, it would open the possibility to have a "Compile All" mechanism, that would compile all platforms, One at a time!
Yes, B4i is a paid IDE, but that is "just" an enable/disable option....

In my opinion, The thing that poses the most problem, is the visual designer and Custom Views (specially platform specific CVs)
 

hatzisn

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Cableguy said:
Yes, B4i is a paid IDE, but that is "just" an enable/disable option....
Click to expand...

It is not that easy, because there are some black hat hackers, that would take advatage of it and have it for free. A great thing is with a B4X IDE the way I propose it the B4i code generation could be bought and the IDE would download the B4i code generation cli app and use it (it would also take care of the communication with the on-line builder or the local builder using configuration files created by the IDE). Also updating the IDE it would only require downloading configuration files for the code editor and also the new cli applications... Also things like the new macros could also be added with configuration files or downloading specific cli code editor applications with which the B4X IDE would communicate with tcp. It would be something like the tools in RAG of AI.

Cableguy said:
In my opinion, The thing that poses the most problem, is the visual designer and Custom Views (specially platform specific CVs)
Click to expand...

That is another problem I have thought of but only for the web based IDE. For desktop based IDE it would just be a code/logic migration. But for the web, taking into account the most common base views and groupings of them there would be also the possibility to design it with javascript canvas (it requires though more work).
 

aeric

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I think the problem is B4X is still a niche tool. Not many people know and use.
We can have the best tool on earth which Anywhere Software have heavily invested in but too little user base.
 

Cableguy

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Instead of asking Why B4X is so little known, ask why the big names are son well known from the start....
If instead of "EREL Uziel" was written M****soft, or M**tosh, O***cle or some other of the same "playground", it would have an instant massive userbase.
Or if B4X got bought by one of those, the userbase would drastically increase...
SO, me for one, am grateful B4X is not for sale, and that we can continue creating our software as we see fit, creating our own solutions.
 

aeric

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Actually I am happy to have separate IDEs for each platform.
I have all 4 IDEs installed but not all I use often especially B4R.
I don't see any obvious benefit combining any of the platforms.
Different IDEs having different color theme window header helps me differentiate them.
I work on client server apps where I can make 1 B4J project running in Release as server and for the clients running in Debug mode in each of the 3 platforms.
Having 4 projects using the same IDE will confuse me more than what I am doing now.
 
P

PaulMeuris

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Another example:

2 IDE's side by side... they use the same folder structure... its a B4Xpages implementation... a change in the B4XMainPage will update in both IDE's (after saving)...
most of the menu items are the same in each IDE... they use the same editor code with auto completion... the side panels are used in the same way...
So, why not merge the 2 IDE's into one? @Erel what are your thoughts on this?
 

aeric

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I think it is very likely to combine B4A and B4J.
Both of them share a lot of things in common.
One question, what should we call the IDE then? Just "B4X" ?
 

aeric

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Let say it is also possible to make B4A+B4J+B4i, then the IDE will be called "B4X pro" ?
 

Theera

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aeric said:
I think the problem is B4X is still a niche tool. Not many people know and use.
We can have the best tool on earth which Anywhere Software have heavily invested in but too little user base.
Click to expand...
Don't be discouraged. We have to try to promote. It is recommended that B4X is a practical language. It has enough extensive libraries to be used in the business world.
every day I try to promote an app written in B4X that it is easy to use. We have to be sure that we are on the right track.
 

Erel

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> @Erel what are your thoughts on this?

stevel05 said:
I agree, if you're working on two or more platforms, you'll want multiple windows open. I don't really see much of a difference either.

But if it would be easier for Erel to maintain, that's a different story.
Click to expand...
More or less as @stevel05 wrote.

Under the hood the four IDEs share 90%+ of the code, and it is easier for me to maintain the four IDEs in the current architecture.
 
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