Plus, it would not be representative anyways (in the current shape of the questions). I developed in the past 15 years mainly for Windows, because I had to, not because I liked it. Plus 80 percent were console apps and/or Windows Services. For the UI stuff everything was important but not a good looking UI. None of my customers would have cared if the apps are good looking, as long as they did the job. I’m sure others have complete different requirements.
Besides the fact that as already pointed by Anthony, the forum does not reflect all Xojo users, the landscape is changing.
For decades, Mac and Windows were pretty much it in terms of volume.
Today, the first computer is usually a smartphone. It implies massive shifts in market needs. Sure, Desktop apps are here to stay, but the new frontier is definitely mobile.
I believe Xojo’s move toward mobile is quite justified. And that includes Web 2.00.
True, and that’s my biggest pain point with Web 2.0, the lack of responsiveness / adaptive design. Ensuring that a Web App is somehow behaving like a Desktop app is understandable ( and (!) requested by so many users, actually isn’t that the big complaint that Web2 is not as pixel-accurate as Web?) but I don’t think this is what is needed in the (near) future.
Below the accesses to xojodocs.com from last month. Interesting, as more or less “useless” on mobile …
I assume the 55% percent are “Xojo devs”, the rest are people who popped up randomly, by mistake, or by searching for it. If the page doesn’t display right on their mobile device they will likely conclude that it is the wrong tool for them .
On the other hand, it is a difficult call. If you have a very large Listbox for instance, it is not enough to have responsive or adaptive design possibilities but you probably need to re-design your app for smaller screens, something - in all fairness to Xojo - can already be achieved today to a certain extent.
After my experience with Xojo 2018 r3 over the past few years I’d use Xojo for all of the above; mostly my projects are Web 1.0 and desktop, for mobile I will need Android and remember thinking back in 2017 I’ll be glad when it arrives as it was discussed back then as coming soon.
After this afternoon with Xojo 2021 latest release I literally never want to use it again! I’ll put up a separate post to see if other people have the same issues as I’ve had and hopefully there’s a way round them other than go back to 2018 r3.
For Windows, Xojo dropped out of my hands back in 2017. My last version is 2016R3. For a very simple reason: I need the very same transparency as in Mac projects.
For Mac, I currently use 2020R2.1, but chances are I will probably update, after some tests.
If your projects are Mac/Win X-Platform, Do you try to use the same project for both and keep all your code compatible with 2016R3? If so do you just avoid API 2 and newer features or do you use a lot of #If XojoVersion ?
At the risk of straying off topic (lets not), I certainly do.
API2 was no real use to me.
That said, in a brand new project which wasnt X-plat, API2 code is no better or worse than API1
But it’s just …different.
I dont want to recode my older stuff.
When Web 2.was first issued, I hated it with a passion. So, I understand your feelings about it today. The harsh reality is that Web 1.0 is now an orphaned solution. A change in browser technology could break our Web 1.0 projects at any moment. This is why I decided (after testing competing solutions) to tame the beast: learn Web 2.0 and CSS, and a bit of Javascript for good measure. I still prefer Web 1.0 (with 2019 R3.1), but my test application, as of 2021 R1.1, is nearing the performance, aesthetics and usability of my corresponding Web 1.0 productive application. Just for safety, getting ready with Web 2.0 is a good idea.
edit: I am not implying by any means that rewriting an application in Web 2.0 is easy, quick or simple. It is for a good part a re-write from the ground up. Basic concepts changed, commands were removed, some not replaced. We have to re-think the code and the architecture substantially.
Not having to worry about learning that thing of stuff was why I used Web 1 back when it was fairly new and I saw a need for an in-house web App… and was able to churn it out quickly despite some limitations, even though I knew nothing about web technologies, but did have a good grasp of REALBasic.
To a very large extent, Web 2.00 is just as simple to use.
Web 1.00 does require quite a few CSS and JavaScript additions as soon as one wants to part from what it was conceived for.
I feel there are two populations of Xojo web developers: those who have a solid background in web architecture, and are comfortable with CSS and JavaScript. Unfortunately, Web 2.00 will never be able out of the box to satisfy their ambitions.
The other population is composed of the many, many desktop developers who simply want to port their apps to the web without learning a different language. Most of them will probably appreciate the RAD, and the similarity with Xojo Desktop.