.:: a few thoughts on the subject by rob wright ::.

The news is everywhere now, but there was a sneak-peek by Tor Norbye on the Java Posse about the annoucement at JavaOne. HerbertC’s Blog has the most details. Joe reveals in a later podcast that Herbert is the “compiler guy” in the project and a former Borland compiler guru.

I think it is a great idea to support VB as long as…

1. the development tool is on par with VB 6. I agree that there are many people that know the BASIC language, but it wasn’t the language that won the followers, it was the “visual” development environment. As long as the NetBeans/Creator tool works well and doesn’t require 1 GB of RAM, then I think it will be well accepted.
2. components are widely available. Sun and it’s partners should provide a similar catalog of components.
3. I can rapid prototype. I haven’t tried Matisse but I’ve always thought there should be an easy way to build a Java base UI. That’s why I liked JBuilder. Between 2001-2003, it was the best tool around…may still be.
4. Sun actively engages the VB developers. This is a whole new group of people that for a variety of reasons have never made the move to Java. My experience has been that these guys see Java as incredibly heavy. A lot of courting is due.
5. I really can use the Java APIs in VB code. This is huge as along as it works.
6. the code runs on Linux, Windows, and OS X. If true, then another way to win developers to the platform.
7. the install base of JREs continues to grow. Gotta have that JVM on every target machine.
8. deployment is simple. A huge painpoint for VB developers is DLL hell. i.e. the dependency on DLLs and the amazing inconsistency in versions and features of common DLLs. That was one advantage that Delphi had/has over VB, the ability to deliver a complete application in a single exe. So, I hope the team is working on the “Install Shield wizard.”