1. What's really holding Euphoria back...
There's been a lot of discussion lately about why Euphoria isn't as =
popular as other languages, despite its many advantages over C, Visual =
Basic, Java, etc. Most of these discussions return to the viability of =
structures (i.e., fixed length, fixed type sequences) and namespaces. =
While both of these features would greatly enhance the flexibility and =
usefulness of Euphoria, neither of these are really serious flaws. =
Simple but flexible IO can easily be handled with EDOM. I believe =
several of the preprocessors take care of namespaces, and David Cuny has =
address structures in his libraries. There are also several packages =
available on the contributions page that allow object oriented =
programming. So if you want it, it's out there. =20
The real problem is that RDS doesn't have the name power of Sun, =
Borland, or Microsoft. Should any of these large companies offer a =
Euphoria package, it would become the new staple of programming! The =
other problem that prevents Euphoria from competing with the likes of =
Perl is its lack of a Unix version. The web is run by Unix, not DOS. =
While the EuServer and ANN packages are quite good, they require DOS to =
run. If we wrote a web page (i.e., CGI) that asked the browser to run =
Euphoria rather than Perl or Java, the 90+% of Web Servers that use Unix =
wouldn't know what to do. As a note, they *all* have Perl.
As far as large packages are concerned, my Store Manager program has the =
potential to become a large commercial package. The only reason it =
isn't is because I don't have time to complete the project quickly, and =
I'm not making any effort to market it. Version 0.5 is now available on =
my homepage, and includes several bug fixes and the printing of sales =
orders. Anyone who wants to steal code fragments to use in their own =
applications (including I/O routines) are more than welcome.
Michael J. Sabal
mjs at osa.att.ne.jp
http://home.att.ne.jp/gold/mjs/index.html
2. Re: What's really holding Euphoria back...
- Posted by MindVentur at AOL.COM
Feb 01, 1999
-
Last edited Feb 02, 1999
I am still just playing with euphoria and have yet to write anything "serious"
but I doubt that issues like structures etc. are holding the language back
that much. I think look and feel has more to do with it than anything else.
Programming in euphoria is a great, simple idea that is very easy for the
newest of newbies to pick up on quickly. Right? Why then does the program
install from a very bland dos screen with lots of "dos-speak" in the
instructions?
IMHO, this is what it needs...
An attractive, user-friendly IDE would help tremendously -- maybe one
for DOS32 and one for Windows
An easy, "dos-free" or nearly free installation
More built-in functions like fast sprites, fonts, SVGA, sound, etc.
A nicely formatted PDF manual make a lot better impression
than the text and now HTML (which is better than the text
though).
Include some "flashy" demo programs -- maybe some games with
nice sprites, music etc. show that you can make professional
quality software with it and people will take it more seriously.
If you want people to use it, it's got to be attractive. There are some nice
tools out there to use with euphoria and lots of great include files. Most
people would be turned off to it before they ever got far enough to find these
things out.
Just my $.02
Charles
3. Re: What's really holding Euphoria back...
I am new to Euphoria too. And to the list. And like everybody, I'm *very*
impressed with the language. I agree with Michael Sabal about why it is'nt
more popular. Let it be standard on all Linux, it will be a good step.
Above all, for whom is it so interesting? customers don't matter if their
soft was written in C++, Pascal, Java or Euphoria...as long as it works.
But we, the programmers (halleluyah) , we like it cause IT'S FUN!
so my suggestion: try to bring it into the schools and let euphoria take
the place of QuickBasic for the beginners (just after Logo 
. (And those
beginners don't need structures.)
A tip for those who own an Ati Xpert@Work and use Dos32 euphoria:
You must add "use_vesa(1)" in your program, and load the tsr:
"m64vbe s vga" in your autoexec.bat .
A question: I bought some time ago an old TIGA graphic card. I tried to
find the drivers on the net, but didn't succeed. Could someone help me
find "tigacd.exe", or how can I program the card? thanx a lot.
Riwal Raude
rauder at thmulti.com
----------
From: MindVentur at AOL.COM
To: EUPHORIA at LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: What's really holding Euphoria back...
Date: Tuesday 2 February 1999 03:47
I am still just playing with euphoria and have yet to write anything
"serious"
but I doubt that issues like structures etc. are holding the language back
that much. I think look and feel has more to do with it than anything else.
Programming in euphoria is a great, simple idea that is very easy for the
newest of newbies to pick up on quickly. Right? Why then does the program
install from a very bland dos screen with lots of "dos-speak" in the
instructions?
IMHO, this is what it needs...
An attractive, user-friendly IDE would help tremendously -- maybe
one
for DOS32 and one for Windows
An easy, "dos-free" or nearly free installation
More built-in functions like fast sprites, fonts, SVGA, sound, etc.
A nicely formatted PDF manual make a lot better impression
than the text and now HTML (which is better than the text
though).
Include some "flashy" demo programs -- maybe some games with
nice sprites, music etc. show that you can make professional
quality software with it and people will take it more
seriously.
If you want people to use it, it's got to be attractive. There are some nice
tools out there to use with euphoria and lots of great include files. Most
people would be turned off to it before they ever got far enough to find
these
things out.
Just my $.02
Charles
