Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cts.eiu.edu!cfejm From: cfejm@ux1.cts.eiu.edu (John Miller) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: Re: ** Is MS QuickBasic worth looking at? Message-ID: <1991Jun18.033608.15302@ux1.cts.eiu.edu> Date: 18 Jun 91 03:36:08 GMT References: <51051@muvms3.bitnet> <11373@bunny.GTE.COM> Organization: Eastern Illinois University Lines: 38 In article rgonzal@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Ralph Gonzalez) writes: >I think it depends on how much of an investment you want to make in >learning Mac programming. I use MS QuickBASIC to teach a >microcomputer graphics course on the Mac, and I also use Think C to >teach an object-oriented programing course. The students in the >QuickBASIC course are writing apps with full user interfaces by >mid-semester, while the Think C students are still trying to get >simple apps to run without crashing. > >There is no doubt that BASIC is an easier language to learn than C, >and in my opinion if you just want to develop one or two nice Mac >progurams, you're much better off with QB than TC. You can write >about 95% of a QB app without even delving into the Toolbox directly, >but just using the built-in statements for graphics, menus, windows, >dialogs, mouse tracking, etc. > True--a BASIC program with a mac interface is much easier to get up and running than is one in C, but after the initial ease of a couple of basic (pun intended) programs, you're stuck. QB forces you to adapt to its own contrived syntax for most toolbox calls, so you have the problem of learning an obtuse context for toolbox calls which you have to understand in Pascal anyhow--to be of practical benefit. The recommendation: Use Hypercard to learn programming techniques and the rudiments of the Mac interface (plus some object-like constructs), then write some C or Pascal using a console environment, and then move on to a real Mac application using Think compilers complemented with AppMaker or Prototyper. __ John -- John Miller Music Theory Eastern Illinois University