Where do we want LiveCode to go? (was "Re: Where LiveCode is Now")

[Alex Tweedly]

Thank you Richard for diverting us onto a more productive direction.

This won't be my only reply to this thread. This is mostly a discussion 
of  "what do I want", rather than "what can we do".

On 04/10/2019 18:47, Richard Gaskin via use-livecode wrote:
> "Where would we like LiveCode to be?"
>
Usually we think of a spectrum .... "good, better, best ...", or perhaps 
"easy, easier, easiest".

But in this context, the spectrum is backwards. We already have (IMO)

> LC is *the easiest* environment/language to develop cross-platform 
> apps for all major platforms
but I think we need to aim MUCH higher; I want to see

> LC is *an easy* environment/language to develop cross-platform apps 
> for all major platforms
>
That's right - it's already "easiest", but it's not "easy".

Currently you can't write even very simple apps using the 'built-in', 
cross-platform features and get something acceptable for the mobile 
platforms. You need to use some combination of "mobileXXX' and  
"iosXXX'" or "androidXXX" functions to get something that is even 
remotely acceptable as a 'finished' app.

We even have an entire (ok, short :-) lesson on how to create a 
scrolling text field !!

> In this lesson we will see how to set up a native mobile scroller to 
> allow you to scroll the contents of a field.
IMHO, LC's built-in scrolling text field should do this (or whatever 
variation of this is needed) so that any scrolling text field will work, 
and look, and behave, as a user of each major platform would expect.

And if that is not possible, then we should have instead some new 
control, say "portable field" which abstracts out as much functionality 
as we can achieve cross-all-platform into easy-to-use controls. (And can 
probably use some clever backwards-compatability trick to allow easy 
porting of existing apps).

It's not just fields - for example "mobilePickDate" should *not* exist - 
there should just be a "pickDate" handler that works on all platforms; 
there should be a "textInput" handler that does 'the best it can' to 
provide appropriate functionality on *all* platforms - even if that 
means there are limitations in some implementations. Et cetera.


Of course, we also have to look at the problems of build / deployment on 
iOS and Android. There's lots of info about PWAs (Progressive Web Apps) 
- so much of it covered in so much hype and marketing, that as a casual 
reader I can't figure out exactly what to believe :-)  And my interest 
in spending time digging into it is limited by the fact that if it 
doesn't involve using Livecode then I'm almost certainly not interested :-)

But if even 25% of the hype is true, then it *should* be possible to 
produce such a web app with/from Livecode; all we need is offline 
operation/database or storage, pre-downloaded/installed executables, 
etc.  Even if this (again) required that we forego some of the existing 
controls (e.g. removing the current field, in favour of a portable 
field'), it should be possible to get a large subset of functionality on 
a way that can be deployed to all platforms.


OK, enough for tonight; more semi-rants tomorrow, and hopefully some 
actual useful suggestions by Monday :-) :-)

Alex.