I tried Xojo about a year ago and I wasn’t very successful. I’m sure mostly my fault. But I thought I’d try it again. I program in another language, Liberty Basic, but want to expand my horizons. I’m 67 and self taught. But not as sharp as I was years ago…LOL. So my question is what are the best steps to take to really get my head around Xojo and learn to program in it?
Thanks for any help,
Milfredo
I’m 62, but I’ve been in this business since before this business really existed … and worked with RealBasic/RealStudio/Xojo since 2006
Xojo is very easy. Start from zero, learn the basics, and advance according to your needs
You can use xojo completely free and when you are ready to compile a program that solves a real problem, buy the license to compile. If for some reason you regret having bought the license of xojo to compile, all xojo licenses are covered by a 90-day money back guarantee.
Here are several learning resources
http://www.xojo.com/resources/
here you can download the last version
http://www.xojo.com/download/
you need to create a free account
by the way… this forum is amazing… use it!
This is usually my “I can tell you haven’t read the documentation and are asking a question you wouldn’t have if you did” copy/paste blob, but it has useful information, so I’m posting it here for you in full respect of the fact that you’re asking for help 
After you’ve read up, if you have any questions stop back here on the forum - we’re happy to help!
First, if you’re an absolute beginner to programming, there’s the textbook. It teaches you to program as well as use Xojo at the same time. Great two-in-one system.
There’s also a manual that comes with Xojo that teaches you the ins and outs of using the IDE, the language, and the features within. You can find that in the Documentation folder next to your installation of Xojo. There’s also an online reference http://documentation.xojo.com
Lastly, when you’re ready to learn from examples, there’s a folder full of example projects next to your Xojo install called “Example Projects” It helps when you don’t intend to reinvent the wheel. Do not copy and paste code from example projects, that won’t help you at all.
Best of luck to you
And if watching another developer via video is helpful we have about 65 hours (200+ videos) available to subscribers at http://xojo.bkeeney.com/XojoTraining/. This includes 2 start to finish desktop apps and 1 start to finish web app.
Tim, I have been programming for over 20 years in Liberty Basic. I started ( self taught) in Pascal during the DOS years. I have written dozens of programs for people. But not used OOP at all. As I said I started to learn XoJo a year ago, but several programming jobs came through and I had to abandon it and never got back to it. I am starting again, but wanted to reach out to users. I spoke to Jason last year on the phone and he told me that there wasn’t very much documentation other than videos on youtube done by the creator of Xojo. So I just left it alone.
I appreciate everyone’s response. Thank you all.
I suggest, use others working program and made some modification. That help me a lot.
Or follow the academic way (I have hard times doing that):
a. write the application specification
(what the application will do [goals], build the MenuBar, add the windows, add the modules (even empty) and at last add the needed SubClasses (!))
b. Once you finished dot a above, you only have to fill the objects with code (!).
c. re format your code once the application v1 is done, for v2 (mainly because you learnet so many things since dot a).
Do not forget to use your application while creating it: this will allow you to refine it (remove boring steps, refine the design, etc.).
HTH
The hardest thing will probably be to get your head around OOP. It certainly was for me (and I’m still struggling at times). You CAN just do procedural programming in Xojo, but you loose a lot of power and need to write a lot more code then. There are a few articles that specifically deal with OOP in Xojo which could be helpful.
Download source code from github or the examples.
File->New Project->Examples
Find something in there that peaks your interest then dive in and see how it works. Click stuff, move stuff, if you break something, just close and re-open it.
If you want OOP info:
http://developer.xojo.com/userguide/object-oriented-programming
The Get Started page has lots information that should help, including of links to documentation, book and videos:
[quote=346050:@]If you want OOP info:
http://developer.xojo.com/userguide/object-oriented-programming[/quote]
“Download pdf for offline use” → page not found
Perhaps you’re on a mobile device? Try requesting the desktop site. I have a Feedback case to hide those PDF links on mobile as the custom links are not working there.
These are all very good recommendations. I’m 66 and was/is in a similar situation, I programmed Cobol/CICS/DB2 for 25+ years then left the industry for awhile. I’m back now and was said earlier, OOP will be the hardest thing to grasp. The Xojo book is definitely the place to start. This forum has been incredibly helpful to me but as was pointed out, read before your post and you will get a better response here - but often for us just staring with OOP, the docs just don’t make it clear.
I would also recommend, after the Xojo textbook, getting a textbook on C#, the syntax in different but the object-orientation became much clearer to me after studying a C# OOP book.
Glad to have you hear.
You’re in good company then!
The XOJO group is a great bunch, you won’t find a better group of users willing to help. XOJO employees are also very active on the forums and are willing to help, which is a big plus and not often found these days.
All the links and advice above are good. I think the learning curve will be like hockey stick for you, once you get past the OOP. It will be very rewarding once you start producing some stuff that works.
Forgot to say: I sold all my old books except one - Matt Neuberg’s “REALbasic - The definitive guide (2nd ed)”.
Chapter 3 and 4 are still an essential read even today. You should be able to read the first few chapters for free on Google books.
I can’t thank you guys enough for the responses. I will jump in and do a lot of the things you guys recommended. I usually do best by starting a project that I really want to do, and then along every step, I look up what I need to do next and lean that. Then on to the next step. I am unfortunately maybe, a linear guy. Step one then step 2 then step 3 and so on. That’s what makes me a bit nervous about OOP.
Thanks Again,
Milfredo