I preffer the later. It has the user interface toolbox which makes it much easier to creat desktop apps compared with using templates from !wined, !templed, etc.

I don't know how much Acorn C/C++ costs now, when I bought it in 1995 it was £250, compare with £60 for Easy C!

I've never been able to get GCC to work so I can't comment on it.

Basically, I'm at the stage where I can write (simple) desktop programs with (the excellent) Dr.Wimp, and I can write very simple programs in C. But in a few weeks, when I've got the basics of C down, I'd like to start experimenting with WIMP stuff.

Thanks for the recommendation - I may well get Acorn C/C++ soon.

In my opinion basic's name is misleading, and I would not recommend it to anyone!

Nah, BASIC is perfectly named, it's a basic programming language that's easy(ish) to learn.

However what people forget is that there are far better languages for writing large applications because they offer ways of structuring data that BASIC doesn't.

Hasn't somebody done a Python front end thing for RISC OS now?

Yes.

http://www.david.boddie.net/Software/Python/GUI/

or

http://www-solar.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~davidb/Software/Python/GUI/

David

If the problem is to start with computer programming the best way for have some little products done and functioning good, is to use BASIC.
BBC BASIC offer many good features and it was made for learning computer programming.

C make a faster code, more system controll but as any power structure it is harder to bedug than BASIC language.

The only problem is that "the wonderfull" BBC BASIC is not object oriented, but for start desktop programming it can be a good friend.

C make a faster code, more system controll but as any power structure it is harder to bedug than BASIC language.

Oh I wouldn't say that. It can take longer to debug because you have to go through the compile-link stage after making changes but I wouldn't say it was harder to debug. Admittedly C does encourage the use of more advanced techniques than BASIC which may themselves be harder to debug but that's not really the same as saying C is intrinsically harder to debug.

Any comments appreciated.

- incubus

Anyone ever taken a sneaky peek into Photodesk for example?

Or Vantage...

I'm kind of vaguely competent at writing desktop programs in BASIC using Dr Wimp, but it does tend to get a bit convoluted, buggy, and messy. But that's just my bad programing

I thought it might be useful for me to try coding one in C, if only so I get more practice at the language.

My experience of basic is that it is very messy, and much harder to write desktop apps than in C.

<blockquote>My experience of basic is that it is very messy, and much harder to write desktop apps than in C.</blockquote>
No, it's very quick and easy to set up a program in BASIC; even suprisingly complex programs have desktop front-ends in BASIC and just call assembler/C to do the trickier, non-desktop stuff. Anyone ever taken a sneaky peek into Photodesk for example?

Our experiences and opinions obviously differ. I've tried learning basic, but I found it much harder to learn than C.

Having said that, I haven't been able to produce anything worthwhile in C, I'm at a dead end with it! I started writing a vector graphics program a few years ago, but I can't get it to print, use "rubber banding" properly, or export drawfiles.

I would be pleased if someon could offer some help inthese areas.

Our experiences and opinions obviously differ. I've tried learning basic, but I found it much harder to learn than C.

I guess it really depends on your mindset. Mind you once you've done BASIC, Pascal, Ada, C/C++ (on various platforms), Prolog, ML, Java and several varieties of assembler you tend to see any language as "just another syntax to learn".

Having said that, I haven't been able to produce anything worthwhile in C, I'm at a dead end with it! I started writing a vector graphics program a few years ago, but I can't get it to print, use "rubber banding" properly, or export drawfiles.

I would be pleased if someon could offer some help inthese areas.

All hail the easy to use RISC OS API

Seriously these kinds of problems aren't C related, I'd say you were struggling more with the RISC OS API. I don't have an awful lot of experience in those areas (actually I've practically none under the desktop) but feel free to drop me a mail.

BASIC's pretty easy for desktop development too

Is it?!

My experience of basic is that it is very messy, and much harder to write desktop apps than in C.

In my opinion basic's name is misleading, and I would not recommend it to anyone!

BASIC's pretty easy for desktop development too

I'm in my C programming tutorial now! Don't mention BASIC!

My answer evaluate also this:
a) He already have BBC basic in his computer.
b) he have the bbc basic manuals
c) he have internet for download any kind of basic wimp library...

so...

He could start desktop programs developments and learning with that configuration (less costs and fast applications makeing).
When the user will undestand all desktop programming stuffs and if he will still be interessed in desktop programming he can buy a C/C++ suite and learn it... (but this is only an opinion)

anyway Lee, nice to hear you again

[Edited by Paolo Zaino at 14:19, 25/11/2001]

Good to have you back on the scene Paolo