next »

[Lukas]

Hi!

This year I learned programming with BlitzBasic (Compiler: Blitz3D) and I actually really enjoyed it.
I'm no programmer and never really got into *serious languages* like C and it's relatives...
I'm also not that much into learning those (also: having to tinker with complex compilers etc.)

What really made me get into BlitzBasic was its simplicity (totally simple syntax and no features I don't really need), good documentation (great tutorial on Wikipedia + full documentation of all commands etc. bundled with the IDE) and (last but absolutely not least) ease of use (hitting the "Run" button would simply run the code in the current window without me having to create any actual files etc. - hitting "Compile" would turn exactly that program into a standalone .exe) + it has a nice debugger for my needs .
- All this made me use BlitzBasic like a... notepad in which I could really quickly sketch some ideas and immediately see my stuff run.
Still... BlitzBasic offered things like Functions, including of code and stuff like that which made it more than a "watered down, 'baby'-language".


Now the actual problem: I'm on a Mac. And I had to learn BlitzBasic for a school project which kind of gave me a reason to reboot into Windows XP (bootcamp) and program there. The school project is done now and well... I don't really want to reboot into windows all the time. I really need to find some way of doing this kind of stuff on my Mac now...


Could you guys recommend me anything I could try for Mac? Some programming language that might at least be remotely similar to BlitzBasic in its functional simplicity? It should also be free... if possible.  Or any other possible solution? Write whatever comes to you minds!


Thanks a lot in advance, BaronCid

oh, and: Please don't recommend Processing - am not into that. 

[increpare]

there's a blitzmax for osx, I believe (I think superflat uses it?).

[Ivan]

Can I ask you why you're not into Processing? Just curious.

[Lukas]

there's a blitzmax for osx, I believe (I think superflat uses it?).

Well, BlitzMax is not free and actually a bit different from BlitzBasic. It already goes into the direction of OOP.

Can I ask you why you're not into Processing? Just curious.

Sure. Well, I totally love the idea of processing and its IDE. (just the way it should be) But I don't really like the actual language. I'm not coming from some kind of C-language so the syntax isn't actually that easy for me.
Maybe that could be a opportunity to ask another (Processing-related question):
Could you guys recommend a really, really basic Processing tutorial (that doesn't require at least slight C-familiarity or something like that)  AND maybe some kind of ressource where all of Processings commands can be found and are explained. (in an easy-to-understand way). The way I learned BlitzBasic was simply learning how the basic syntax works and then browsing around in the documentation's list of commands.

What I found so far never helped me with Processing. That's maybe why I kind of gave it up...

[gwar]

Years and years ago there was metal basic.

[Lukas]

http://nuclearnova.com/metal/

In the time, when websites still looked   COOL   ?


Well... I guess the compiler won't run under OSX.5. :/ Seems like there's a number of similar projects that kind of stranded and wont run on Leopard anymore...


By the way... Just found a really good (but german :/) tutorial for Processing and this: http://www.processing.org/reference/ ...
Looks like Processing might be exactly what I need after all...

So could one say that Processing actually enables the programmer to develop a wide range of applications or is it (in the end) just a fun little tool for graphical experiments? What would you say?

[increpare]

So could one say that Processing actually enables the programmer to develop a wide range of applications or is it (in the end) just a fun little tool for graphical experiments? What would you say?

I haven't see too much wide-ranging done with it.  Zaphos made a game in it once, but I've not noticed any others.

[John Nesky]

My first experience with Processing was for the 48 global game jam. We made The World Is On Fire:
http://globalgamejam.org/games/world-fire

I have to say I liked it a lot, but:
-I did not like it as much as I like Flash
-the option to support 3d acceleration is nice though, I miss that in Flash
-the programmer I was working with had a lot of experience with it so he helped me with all my mistakes

[Lukas]

Mh... well, I guess kind of the problem I'm having ith Processing is that it (and its IDE) seems really suited for smaller projects... but once it comes to larger projects it seems quite easy to get into difficulties... I mean... a sketchpad is fine but once you start writing a larger skript, book, scientific work, whatever you'll want to have something like an actual notebook.

I also just found out that C(++) and Java don't seem to be that large of a step from BlitzBasic->Processing->  so...

Could you guys also recommend something like a really nice, simple and clean IDE für any of those languages (or anything related) that could also work for slightly larger projects?
The reason I ask this question is that I already saw things like... Visual Studio and now Xcode and well... they totally overtax me and really don't fit my (comparibly humble) needs.


Thanks a lot so far,
BaronCid

To clarify: It seems strange that I suddenly start thinking about the ridiculous-seeming step of continuing with C, Java or C++ but I guess what I just found out is that those languages can actually be simple enough for me but only if I simply ignore most of their deeper features I don't need anyway. Advanced, complex IDEs overtax me because they always have a range of deeper features right at the users fingertips... which would just confuse me. I'm not sure if that explains what I mean... Also: always correct me in case I have the wrong approaches.

[Jason Bakker]

Just from personal experience, I tend to find XCode fairly straight forward and not too confusing - I think it's definitely laid out in a more user friendly manner when compared with Visual Studio. It also seems to scale to different sized projects fairly well. I have a feeling that once you actually get your feet wet with XCode you'll find that the deep end isn't as treacherous as you may have imagined