AcadX: Important announcement

http://www.caddzone.com/acadx/index.htm

 

Hi.
.. . . so, to develop something in the ACAD environment, will it be a good
investment to learn some .NET language ?
What do you recommend ?

C# ?

ciao
Domenico

 

There's really very little reason to program for AutoCAD in .NET unless
you're planning on using the managed API.

 

Anything except VB.NET.

 

Could you clarify this a bit, Tony.
They've just foisted that VB.NET stuff on me.
If I wanted the job I was going to produce VB.NET code or nothing...
If it's really useless I can of course still dump it.

Greetings
Guido Rooms

 

Guido - I never cared for VB and in .NET, its only worse,
but it's mainly a personal preference.

 

Tony's dislike for all things VB does not bear on the effectiveness of
VB.NET.

All .NET languages leverage the .NET framework. While VB.NET is a sloppy
language, it's just as capable any other managed language.

 

Frank and Tony,

Until now, I've used Delphi and Lisp for development in and around AutoCAD.
This is my first project in which I have to work together with other
programmers.
One of their arguments for using VB.NET is that when VBA is finally replaced
by VSA, VB.NET code will be easier to adapt...
Does this make sense?

Guido Rooms

 

Thanks.
Also see my answer to Frank Oquendo's post in this thread (below)

 

Guido.

Forget about the arguments you've heard.

The most compelling reason for why you would want to use
C# is because that is the hands-down choice of the ovewhelming
majority of experienced, professional programmers, many of whom
do not regard VB as a programmer's programming language, but
rather, as a language for non-programmers.

What does that mean to you? That's easy: You will far more
resources and quality code written in C# in constrast to VB.

To wit, go to CodeProject.com and see how much .NET
sample code there is in C# and how much there is in VB.

This fact alone makes it clear that C# is the right
choice, unless you need to drag a lot of legacy VB code
into the equation.

Of course, if you are a Delphi programmer, than you
also have Delphi.NET (D8) as another choice. I use
it, and have been able to port massive amounts of
existing Object Pascal code with relative ease.

 

What does that mean to you? That's easy: You will far more

Sorry, notebook keyboard stinks...

I mean that you will find much more resources and better
quality code written in C# than you'll find for VB.

 

Thanks for the reply.
For the moment, I think I'll have to put up with VB for a while.
Nothing lost, though. If people pay me for VB code, VB code is what they'll
get.
For my own projects I'd prefer me dear ole Delphi.
But since some of the projects we're currently working on have to run on
Windows CE.NET, Delphi is out of the question for these.

Greetings,
Guido Rooms

 

No. VB and VB.NET are worlds apart.

 

Frank,

I know how far apart they are. There is all the difference between object
based languages, of which VB(A) is one, and object oriented languages such
as VB.NET. Since I've done most of my development in Delphi, learning VB.NET
and the concepts of the NET framework does not require me to unlearn
everything before I can start learning NET.
For those who have worked with VBA or VB, at least some of the VB syntax is
preserved in VB.NET. Whether this is an advantage or a drawback, I don't
know. The customer I have to work for clearly thinks it is. If VBA in
AutoCAD is finally replaced by VSA, so he thinks, we'll have at least some
subs and functions that won't be affected because syntax, keywords etc...
will remain untouched. Behind this reasoning may of course live the idea
that visual basic programmers are cheaper. But this is never explicitly
stated. As I already wrote, for my own projects I'd prefer Delphi or C#. I
also have doubts about VSA, there are those who say it's going to be there
soon and those who say it never will...

Greetings,
Guido Rooms

 

Anything except VB.NET.

 

Tony;

To get back on the original message. Although I never used AcadX (the code)
I did visit the site quite a bit in the early days and have to say (again)
thanks for the help. What was posted on that site helped to demistify quite
a bit for myself and others.

Many people (myself included) have found that developing a resaleable
product for AutoCAD is not very profitable, especially the programming side
as many of use develop for employers who do not see the need or benifit of
custom solutions, so money for automation systems is limited at best.

With that aside, thanks for all you did and have done for many of the people
on this NG and others. Good luck in the future and I hope to talk to you
again soon.

 

I believe VB.NET's superficial syntax similarities with VB to be a
disadvantage. As for VSA, don't expect it any time soon. VBA apps are
the backbone of Microsoft Office and there's no way Microsoft is going
to upset their user base.

 

If you mean the AcadX web site, that was me.

Otherwise, ignore this post.

 

Dean - Thanks.

I'm not going anywhere.

 

Sorry Frank (I've visited your site as well so dont feel left out