Other The impossible is now possible...

[Erel]

• Deploying your app to the device in one second? impossible.
• Modifying the code while the app runs? impossible.

These would have been my answers to the two questions above a few months ago. However things have changed since:


I've described it a bit here: Something new...

Note that it is not clear in the video but it doesn't run the same app (like the "run last deployment" option). I could have changed the code between the deployments.

This feature, named Rapid Debugger will be available in the next version of Basic4android.

The rapid debugger is an extremely sophisticated solution that breaks the app into two apps. One runs on the device (shell app) and the other runs on the PC and controls the device app. This process is transparent for you, the developer.

In most cases there is no need to update the shell app so the installation can be very quick. This also allows all kinds of interesting features such as hot code swapping and other advanced debugging options (watches for example).

The rapid debugger does have its limits. The performance of the running app will be slower (only in this mode!). It will not be useful for real-time games for example. The current debugger will also be kept for now.

 

[wl]

Great ... as always ...

 

[susu]

AGAIN!!!

Just kidding! Great work!

 

[cuellar]

Awesome...a clap

 

[ferdztech]

ang galing! so excited..

 

[alwaysbusy]

Very, very impressive Erel!

 

[bsnqt]

You know what, for me the time when I wait for the codes go thru from PC to my test device and then start debugging the app seems very long and "endless"... Sometimes it may take only few seconds but I feel it lasts as long as few minutes ... especially when you are eager to wait to see how your new codes work (after changing some non-working or error-causing codes)... So this new features definitely will help us a lot and surely will reduce so called the "dead" time (I call it dead time as during it you cannot do anything, just waiting or drinking coffee...). Moreover, during the debug session, when it just starts, sometimes you just discover that you forget to change some small issues or variables. But you have to wait until the debug finish as you cannot do anything... you even cannot cancel it... so this, again, will save a lot of "wasting" time and also will make us more convenient, especially for those "impatient" developers like my case

 

[walterf25]

Wow, B4A keeps getting better and better, this will save be a ton of time, thanks Erel!

 

[KRITGuy]

As you can see in the video the rapid deployment option is especially useful with B4A-Bridge as at last we can deploy automatically and do not need to approve the installation.

Will Apps you create with this tool, also work on a standard Windows PC with Internet Explorer?

 

[vampirbcn]

Congratulations, an excellent job!!!!!

 

[sirjo66]

Fantastic !!!!

 

[Erel]

Will Apps you create with this tool, also work on a standard Windows PC with Internet Explorer?

Apps creates with Basic4android run on an Android device (like any other native Android app). It can be an Android emulator or Android virtual machine.

 

[imbault]

Very interesting Erel and very usefull.

How that idea of rapid debug and "hot source code changing" came to you ???
Have you seen that feature on others IDE/platforms ???


Patrick

 

[Erel]

Hot code swapping feature or "edit and continue" feature (which is similar) are available in other IDEs such as Visual Studio or Eclipse. However these features are not available when developing Android apps with Eclipse as the Dalvik machine doesn't support hot code swapping.

 

[desof]

Felicitaciones !!! Muy bueno!

 

[tuhatinhvn]

please release beta ver to us

 

[Peter Simpson]

Awesome work as usual Erel

 

[Jim Brown]

This is jaw-dropping. One of the slight frustrations of coding is the slow cycle of 'change something, re-compile, wait for install'
Having such a rapid debugger will be utterly super!

 

[hayderOICO]

when can we have this??

 

[Erel]

I believe that a beta version will be available in a few weeks.

Note that the rapid debugger does have some limits and will not fit all apps (specifically real time games or computing intensive apps).

 

[Jmu5667]

Fantastic feature Erel, will speed up development.