Web vs Native (was Re: HTML5 limitations?)

[Mark Waddingham]

On 2017-07-26 23:06, hh via use-livecode wrote:
> There are, sadly, still very basic things missing, which make the
> HTML5 standalone
> builder, TMHO, not yet ready for "beta"-state.

Well - yes - the 'beta' state as I mentioned was a slip (mainly in that 
we don't do 'beta' in our dev process as I explained).

However, there is one VERY important point I do need to make. It is easy 
to get hang up on saying 'oh the HTML5 engine doesn't do this, and oh it 
doesn't do that' - and this might well be true. *However* the only 
important metric in this regard is - does it allow a suitable percentage 
of LiveCode stacks which exist *right now* to run in the browser 
unchanged.

The problem here is that this is quite subjective - it largely depends 
on HOW you code and use LiveCode (remember my analogy of LiveCode and 
the elephant and the blind men). One thing you have pointed out is that 
'the mouse' function does not work. It does not, this is true - however, 
for every person who ever uses 'the mouse' function I can be absolutely 
sure there are probably AT LEAST 2 who do not. This is true of all 
LiveCode features to a greater or lesser degree.

Jacque (for example), clearly has an app that she would really like to 
work in the HTML5 engine. I'd really like this too. Now, I know Jacque 
quite well, I also know her coding style quite well and the way she uses 
LiveCode to solve problems. The app she is talking about should be the 
bread-and-butter of the HTML5 engine however I'm sure it does use a 
number of features which are not the easiest to get working on that 
platform (because I know a bit of Jacque's thought process). Overall, 
without looking at the code in more detail I can't really say how far we 
are from being able to allow it to run well on that platform without 
significant changes. (It might be it is almost there, it might be a very 
long way - but just FOR THAT SPECIFIC app).

In contrast, I've spent a fair bit of time with David Simpson here at 
FileMaker DevCon. Whilst chatting about HTML5 engine, David happened to 
mention that his largest product works perfectly in the current HTML5 
engine - WITH NO CODE CHANGES. This product has (if memory serves me 
correctly) in excess of 100,000 lines of code.

So PLEASE remember, we all have a different view of the elephant. Just 
because something might not yet have reached the point of intersection 
with our OWN view, it does not mean that it has not completely covered 
the view of others. Utility is in the eye of the beholder, and whilst 
our goal is to have the ability to take any LiveCode stack and have it 
run in the browser with no code changes let us not think that just 
because that is not true, it is not actually REALLY useful for many 
cases RIGHT NOW.

Warmest Regards,

Mark.

-- 
Mark Waddingham ~ mark at livecode.com ~ http://www.livecode.com/
LiveCode: Everyone can create apps