LiveCode - Where, How, and with Who ?

[Bob Sneidar]

This has been addressed on this list before. Different people have different views. I don’t think LC will ever be one of the major development platforms.  

I believe the general reasons that C++ and Java developers generally do not want to learn LC are first that LC does not give the developer that kind of fine control over the UI. LC is a constructor set of predefined pieces. You can modify the pieces to a large degree to fit you needs, but you essentially have to work with the pieces you are given. Developers are used to making their own pieces, so to speak. 

Secondly, developers imagine the learning curve to be as difficult as what they know now. It’s the same reason people don’t want to switch rom Mac to Windows of vis versa. Another reason is that there are a number of things it cannot do, such as accelerated 3D graphics for example. And I for one hope they never try. That would be wasted money and time IMHO. 

Other things that it can do, it cannot do as quickly as the other languages, if that matters. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. There is also the self propagating problem that there aren’t enough LC developers to make it an attractive development system to present to the purchasing agent. 

And in the number one spot…. <drum roll> Developers need to be able to produce apps that other developers are going to be able to work with and update, and for multiple people to be able to develop the same app at the same time. Okay that’s two things. But the point is, there are TONS of out of work C++ developers to be hired. Same with Java. LC? Not so much. 

Because of these reasons LC will not be able to woo these “professional” developers over any time soon. What is LC then? Simple really. It’s what Hypercard used to be. Software Development for  the Rest of Us. I can develop great robust apps in a very reasonable time frame, for the company internally, for education, and ever for specialized retail. I will not however be producing the next Microsoft Office or Adobe product. 

I can live with that. I think there is a HUGE market for this kind of software development, but the cost of getting the word out is very substantial. Anyone wanna crowd source that?? :-) Otherwise we all need to be more proactive in being ambassadors for  the product. It may be that at some point we will reach a critical mass and it will take off like wildfire, but for now, it is what it is. 

Bob S


> On Nov 7, 2014, at 07:20 , Francis Nugent Dixon <effendi at wanadoo.fr> wrote:
> 
> Hi from Beautiful Brittany,
> 
> As a fervent user of LiveCode for some years now, I keep on asking
> myself the question “Who uses LiveCode, and why ?”
> I don’t know whether Company Policy would prohibit divulging such
> delicate information, but I would love to know the impact of LiveCode
> on the computer community as a whole.
> I don’t expect precise and confidential data as an answer, but MAYBE
> LiveCode officials could give us some idea ……..
> 
> 1 - Paying Livecode Users for fun
> 2 - Paying LiveCode users for commercial purposes
> 3 - Breakdown of LiveCode users by Version
> 4 - The impact of “Free” liveCode upon the community
>      (great idea, but …. does it work, commercially ?)
> 
> Maybe percentages would be acceptable, rather than numbers ?
> 
> I personally talk about LiveCode to my buddies, but find that few
> are ever interested in “programming”, often because they think it is
> too complicated, or else they have no obvious reason to program.
> So we (I mean “US”) may be strange beasts that others would call
> “geeks”, when I personally do not think that we are.
> Perhaps we are all “ex” programmers, “ex” analysts, or at least “ex”
> (or current) computer personnel ?  “Un monde à part”, as the French
> would say ?
> 
> Are my questions too close to the bone ? Do they fall on stony ground ?
> Is there anybody out there who is interested, like me ?
> Is it such a closely guarded secret that we, as faithful users of LiveCode
> can not see where we stand ?After all, it’s only another computer app.
> Or is it ?     ……
> 
> With bated breath …….
> 
> -Francis
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