Software Development, Xojo and more

What books should I read to become a Professional in Xojo?
Where is the training courses?
Why Should I use Xojo?
Where does software Ideas come from?
Can Xojo Turn me Into a Professional developer?
How do we sell Software online?

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HI Javan!

Welcome to Xojo! In general, if you are new to development or just to Xojo, start here. Access the free textbook Intro to Programming with Xojo. Join us for free webinars or watch on-demand videos covering a range of topics from intermediate to advanced.

When you are ready to build your app, find details about our licensing and pricing at the Xojo Store. All Xojo licenses are covered by our 90-day money-back guarantee. And you are welcome to email me at hello@xojo.com anytime you have any questions :slight_smile:

As to why you should use Xojo:

The Tool

As you evaluate Xojo, consider what you get in this one development language - the ability to compile for macOS, Windows and Linux plus the ability to develop for web, Raspberry Pi and iOS (Android coming soon).

Build apps with native controls so your app looks and feels right on any platform. From resources for new coders to advanced features like inheritance, interfaces and polymorphism for more experienced developers, learn and develop faster with Xojo.

The History

Consider the competitors Xojo started out against in the 90’s - which of those tools are currently supported, which are still owned by the same company and which are growing? Not VB6, not Apple’s MPW, Borland Delphi or Metrowerks CodeWarrior - it’s Xojo.

Betting on a well known tool, from a big company doesn’t necessarily offer long-term security or support. We’ve been around for 20+ years, we added iOS and Raspberry Pi support within the last few years and we are planning for the future of Xojo with Android support coming up next.

*edited to add more info!

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I would dive in, set small goals to do something you want. Ask questions here on the forum when you get stuck there is let of people here that can answer.

Once you more comfortable then set bigger goals.

On selling Software on line there are many threads here on the forum about selling in the Apple App store for example.

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Perhaps you can learn from what I did wrongly far over a decade ago, when I started. I was relatively seasoned in VisualBasic but loved the cross platform aspect of Xojo. At time there war far less documentation and tutorials out there, YouTube did not even exist etc.

The biggest mistake I made was giving up again and again. Mainly for three reasons:

  1. Looking for a better tool
  2. Defining too ambitious timelines and/or too big goals
  3. not searching enough for examples in the forum

The third one is a bit tricky indeed. As a beginner you are sometimes not yet knowledgeable enough to understand a snippet of code as it might not run itself easily (as it is only a snippet). I was too shy at that time to ask a question. Big mistake looking back!

The first one is an important one. Sometimes I had to use a different tool by customer request, but I lost far too much time by looking for alternatives when I already did know that Xojo would be sufficient. Triggers were probably the size of the company and some rants here and there. Today I have a different view: the company is still alive and even if not we all own our bought release by the end. We will always have enough time to move on later. Currently I don’t see the need to worry any longer. I’m even convinced that with Web 2.0 more people will find Xojo a lifesaver for many tasks. Is Xojo perfect? Nope, no tool is perfect but you can achieve a lot (almost everything), not necessarily the way you planned it originally but there is always a way to get things done.

All of the books are currently outdated, so, no books for the current versions of xojo

There used to be some great ones, on bkeeney.com but with the constant changes in the laguage they were outdated and the autor said that it will not worth to make new ones and stop offering them, so, Not real traning courses, just some videos at https://www.youtube.com/c/XojoInc/videos

Easy to deploy on windows/mac and linux with a single code base.

What software? Yours? Usually from clients.

That depends on your concept of “Professional developer”, for a job? First try to search for Xojo job offers.

To many options. App stores, your own web site with payments and license managing, etc

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Introduction to Programming with Xojo is updated and free :slight_smile:
Xojo: Learn Xojo Programming

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Javan, you are young and you can learn to program and build some useful things. The first projects will just be for learning. Like learning about databases with SQL classes and build e.g. a todo list app. then you may have a Rasperby Pi and may do something with the pin connector, e.g. run an app, which can put power on a pin, which triggers some action like turning lights on/off.

You may learn how to build user interfaces and watch all the tutorials for Xojo on YouTube.

Next you may want to talk to companies in your city and learn if they need some help with some software. You may want to ask what annoying tasks they have and maybe come up with an idea on how to solve it.

e.g. if someone has to fill out the same web form every week to report something. Why not have an app, which can pre fill the fields for the client? Would help a bit and could be a first project.

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Dana Brown has been doing " Programming with Xojo Courses" on the Xojo YouTube channel

Programming with Xojo

Very good videos and well done

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Xojo community is too small to make it profitable to produce true Xojo courses. Regretfully but that is the reality.
However, on Youtube, you can find enough video’s to get you up and running.
Indeed, all RealBasic (by my knowledge there was never a RealStudio/Xojo book) are outdated. However, if you can find a copy of Matt Neuburg book about RealBasic version 2, you will find many useful subjects in there.
I am not going into a discussion if there are better tools than Xojo because it is pointless. Whatever tool you use, it is important that you master it at a very good level.
I agree Xojo is around for 20+ years and survived many other tools. However, take into account that it is very buggy which is the real drawback of Xojo. As long as you do not run into a showstopping bug, Xojo will work for you. If you run into a showstopping bug you need to find a workaround or the nightmare will begin. Don’t expect the Xojo team to solve your reported bug. Many bug reports are open for years now without any fix. You are warned.
For many people, Xojo is their way of software development. Can you make money with it, certainly. Can you do professional programming, sure! Will Xojo give you the creativity to write software, certainly not. Creativity comes from yourself and is determined by the efforts and ideas you want to put into your projects.
You can use the free version to see if Xojo is for you. Just develop your software idea with the free version. When you have a working version and it is time to build, buy a license. In this way you cannot go wrong.
Hope this helps.
Chris

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If anyone runs into a show-stopping bug, as always, please reach out to Xojo Technical Support for help. First, file a case in Feedback, then write Tech Support with case number and indicate that it’s a show-stopper. We will help you find a solution.

Edit: Added more info

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thank you

To be clear, I was not saying that a showstopping bug makes Xojo useless. What I intended to say was that when running into a showstopping bug, you have a problem. Anyway, Xojo has features and options enough to find another way around the bug.

To be honest, I do not use the Feedback system because in the past, it didn’t work for me. I always report problems here in the community forum. I am sure Technical Support will do their best to help solving an showstopping bug.

Chris

That’s what I did for a long time as well, until I realized that you can finde project examples in the Feedback System. Now obviously you can’t learn much if someone is describing an error, but often the project is a bit larger and you can learn from other parts of this project ;-).

If you don’t report via Feedback, then there is no good mechanism for others who have the problem to vote on how important it is to them.

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Okay Sir

@TimStreater; I agree, but I am only a small developer. I rather use my time to seek for workarounds for the problem. I am too small to be of any importance for Xojo. Therefore, my points will not receive enough votes to be considered. However, if I find a workaround I will share it here with the community.
I have some license issues and have some requests for the Combobox and Listbox controls. But generally beside the license issue, I have no serious issues. But others have and therefore the feedback system is very important.
I know, I can be very critical but always to help Xojo improve. On this moment, Xojo seems to have serious problems, but I am sure they will be solved one way or the other.
Its very important to encourage new people to Xojo because they will introduce new ideas into this community. They have the option to test Xojo freely without any risk. Lets give a new user our honest feedback, negative and positive but at the same time motivate them to make their own mind about Xojo. That will help the new user, Xojo and ourselves;
Chris

I am small developer too. But I disagree with your statement. If you are reporting a bug which involves others, it will get its needed attention. I think the recent rants were all more about individual issues, issues only a very few people have or are even noticing. That’s of course more difficult. I learned a lot from feedback cases to find workarounds, I had not thought of. Not saying that it is easy to work with the Feedback app, but this has been discussed many times ;-), let’s hope for a better alternative soon.

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Thanks for the reply

okay