I think you’ve misread Christian’s response as he specifically said that he would like to see them improve the framework & IDE.
No. Plugins (and declares) are away to extend the functionality of the system outside the current scope of the product no matter what it is. Our apps don’t need the ability to generate HTML, generate graphs, generate Bar/QR codes or send emails so I would class them as specialised functionality.
To me, it makes sense for Xojo to prioritise improving the IDE, compiler & debugger since only they can work on those areas. Any significant improvements should also help them to become more productive which again, benefits us all.
Nope. He said: “they should concentrate on things that can’t be done via plugin.”
Well, other people need. And as I said, as other tools offer them OOTB, Xojo must match them or will decline as a solution in a competitive environment.
But this conversation about extra features is beyond the initial topic that is just “updating” the framework, not upgrading (also desirable).
I work for my clients, which need more than Xojo can deliver. So we add what we can.
But I can’t fix the compiler, the debugger, the IDE itself. We can patch some framework classes or controls if needed and do a lot via plugin or declares.
Updating ICU libraries would be nice, but only worth it, if there is an issue in Xojo or a benefit of adopting it. SSL Socket could get an update like recompiling with newer OpenSSL library and then adding constants for TLS v1.3.
But Zip classes are an example for wasting time. They exist already in open source code as well as in code from several plugin vendors. Just pick whatever version you like.
Completely fair. As I said, that’s the plugin market, go beyond the basics.
Yep. I call fixing bugs a good reason.
Agree too.
I disagree here. I could for example use something simple as MiniZ, but as Xojo lacks it natively, and they need to offer something to compete, they should do what you said, pick one and offer it in the framework if the current one they have is not enough.
In general I would prefer to get improvements to frameworks, compiler and IDE itself. Xojo Inc. has limited resources, so they should concentrate on things, that can’t be done via plugin.
But it’s almost not. Xojo already has GZip classes. They’re used by Web Edition. Code has already been posted here to use them. They’re not really wasted time because it’s already done. The time would be some renaming and documenting.
I wanted to check Feedback because I am certain I filed a case like “isn’t it time to expose these to the users” and the reply was essentially “yes.” I can’t check right now because I’m guessing the launch of Feedback for the Web is imminent. At least, I can’t think of any other reason it’d be scheduled for 48 hours of offline maintenance. But regardless, I’m just working off memory.
Among many other things, working with X.509 certificates. Basic stuff for the standar, reading the info, checking if cer and key are a pair, Converting beetween formats (PEM, DER), Signing, etc.