I don't necessarily mean a skilled 'C' programmer.
I mean a programmer that can use any language
to do what needs to be done, provided that the
language supports it.
Perhaps you can tell us how many commercially
available software applications are currently written
in VB, verses C++, Delphi, and .NET. If I had to
guess, I'd say no more than 5%.
Most IT administrators will not even allow VB-based
applications along with all of their ActiveX 'baggage',
to be installed on their systems, not to mention even
bother evaluating them.
VB wasn't created for professional programmers to
develop robust applications. It was designed to let
non-programmers and domain experts whose primary
profession is not programming, write programs that
are primarily for their own or their organization's use.
When you talk about the typical VB program, you
are not just talking about the VB-based code, but
also all of that ActiveX 'baggage' that it carries with
it, polluting and bloating the system registry and
causing other components on the system to fail
(to wit, install a new release of AutoCAD and your
VBA apps no longer work even after uninstalling it).
Skilled programmers do not write programs that
incorporate all that third-party ActiveX 'baggage'.
The reason for that, is because skilled programmers
understand the need to have 'control' over the code
they distribute, and have the means to fix bugs, no
matter where in the code they are.
When an unskilled programmer relies on third-party
ActiveX components which they usually do not have
the source for, and bugs start showing up in them,
the unskilled programmer often heads for the hills,
and is nowhere to be found.
Do you know why? Because they can't fix the bugs,
and didn't bother to tell the people who they gave
the software to, that significant parts of the app
is comprised of ActiveX components which they've
licensed or aquired otherwise, and hence, they are
at the mercy of the vendors of those components
when it comes to fixing bugs. Some times, they
will just pass the buck and tell the users of their
apps that the problem is in an 'ActiveX control'.
Then they get something like this:
"Hey - I paid you for the software, not the person
that wrote the 'ActiveX control'. So, fix the bugs or
give me a refund".
What you're asking for here and now, is one of those
ActiveX components, and it certainly isn't bug free,
but tell me, do you really think I'm going to just drop
whatever it is I'm doing to fix bugs for you?.
Pay a programmer to write what you need, and you
will have and own the source, and more important,
you will at least stand a chance or surviving a bug
infestation.
--
http://www.caddzone.com
AcadXTabs: MDI Document Tabs for AutoCAD 2008
Supporting AutoCAD 2000 through 2008
http://www.acadxtabs.com
wrote in message news:[email protected]...
When you refer to a 'skilled programmer'... I take it you mean a 'skilled C programmer'. You really do view VB as a kid's tool... why is that? It used to be VB was too slow but with advances in cpu and ram, that isn't as much an issue as it used to be. Additionally, making use of the win api via VB helps as well. I would love to have a 'skilled programmer' rewrite my application... all 80,000 lines of code but I'm fresh out of 100,000 dollar bills.
Thanks for all of your 'support'.
