Open Source Kickstarter Report Card

Kevin Miller kevin at livecode.com
Thu Aug 20 13:29:01 EDT 2015


I think this is a really important principal. Always use the highest level
language you can for any given project. Offering that very high level
language option is a big part of LiveCode's reason for being.

Previously our primary choices were between LiveCode Script and a lower
level language such as C. Now we have a third choice, an intermediate
LiveCode Builder. Its much faster than C but slower than Script. It is
going to excel at certain tasks. However we should always choose to use it
only when it offers clear advantages above LiveCode Script for the project
that outweigh the extra level of effort needed to use it. I know its very
tempting having added a whole new language to build everything in that,
but we must carefully resist that temptation and use it judiciously, only
for what it is best at.

That pragmatic point out of the way, I haven¹t dug into the ins and outs
of the Script Editor since LCB originated to know what the arguments are
on either side. So I¹m not saying I know the right answer here. I know the
tech team have done some more work looking on that but I haven¹t seen any
definite conclusions from that effort as yet as we have other priorities
in getting the first version of 8.0 out the door just now.

Kind regards,

Kevin

Kevin Miller ~ kevin at livecode.com ~ http://www.livecode.com/
LiveCode: Everyone can create apps




On 20/08/2015 16:49, "Richard Gaskin" <ambassador at fourthworld.com> wrote:

>Ali Lloyd wrote:
>> I doubt we will be writing a whole new script editor from scratch in one
>> go.
>
>Wise, for all the reasons Joel talks about here (good link, Scott):
><http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html>
>
>
>> More likely we will replace individual elements with widgets (as has
>> been done with the variables pane) to make sure all the components work
>>as
>> expected.
>
>LiveCode 8's Builder language will be an exciting addition to the
>platform, at long last allowing the dev team to enjoy the same benefit
>the rest of us choose LiveCode for: not having to work in C++, able to
>use a high-level scripting language for much greater productivity.
>
>With the IDE things are even better:  it's already written in a
>high-level scripting language.  Why not use LiveCode Script?
>
>If we can't build a good text editor in LiveCode, what are any of us
>doing here?
>
>Fortunately we can.  Indeed LiveCode is an excellent tool to build such
>things with, as it is right now.
>
>LiveCode Builder is a great alternative to C++, but there's no true need
>to replace LiveCode Script elements with new LiveCode Builder
>implementations.
>
>Doing so merely overloads the already-laden v8 dev cycle, and worse it
>prevents backporting solutions to the product that is currently the
>company's sole source of revenue, v7.  Conversely, everything written
>for v7 goes along for the ride seamlessly to v8, the clearly winning
>option for things already in script.
>
>The ROI of writing things in LC Builder that might otherwise have
>required C++ is unquestionable.  And similarly unquestionable is the
>benefit of using the current scripting language for things already
>written in the current scripting language.
>
>Somewhere down the road there might be a reason to rewrite those, but
>right now the downsides seem so clearly outweighing the upsides on every
>level, from technical to revenue to marketing (do we really intend to
>convey the message that LiveCode can't be used to build a text editor?),
>it would seem optimal to just dive in an optimize what we have.
>
>This thread began with a sober realization of the difficulty of
>estimation vs. actual delivery times.  I'm a programmer too, so I
>appreciate the seductive attraction of greenfield projects; no one like
>working in other people's code.  But most programming is exactly that,
>and as Joel points out it's extremely rare that a working system can
>benefit from a complete rewrite, when all that's needed are some
>optimizations and a very small number of new and rather discrete features.
>
>-- 
>  Richard Gaskin
>  Fourth World Systems
>  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
>  ____________________________________________________________________
>  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com
>
>_______________________________________________
>use-livecode mailing list
>use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
>Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your
>subscription preferences:
>http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode






More information about the use-livecode mailing list