-
Welcome to B4X forum!
B4X is a set of simple and powerful cross platform RAD tools:
- B4A (free) - Android development
- B4J (free) - Desktop and Server development
- B4i - iOS development
- B4R (free) - Arduino, ESP8266 and ESP32 development
9 Best Cross-Platform Mobile App Development Tools
- Thread starter b4auser1
- Start date
- Similar Threads Similar Threads
How come b4x is not listed.. Shame.
Because b4x is not a cross platform tool.
Cross platform means u create 1 project 1 ui 1 code and have the possibility to export that code to any platform.
There is only 1 ide where u create everything and an export button to choose where u want to run your app (ios, android, windows)
Cross platform tools can mean many things.
I consider B4X to be a suite of cross platform development tools as you can share most of the code.
Actually you can share much more than you can share in Xamarin (with the exception of Xamarin.Forms).
if you ask me Cross Platform is only good for games.
if you want to make apps i prefer B4x much more then everything else.
i was told by a dev teacher from the technion that it is wrong to use ios ui for android apps or android ui for ios apps.
ios apps should use ios ui and android should use android ui.
but for games because they should look the same on both platform it would make sense to use a cross platform dev tool for that.
thatswhy buildbox, construct 2 or unity is a better choice for making games then b4x.
the problem is that i preffer the language b4x uses and thatswhy i keep using b4x and try to create custom tools that will make the conversation from b4i to b4a simpler when making games.
bottom line for Apps b4x is the best choice i have seen and for games its less good unless you dont mind to write your game twice.
Maybe I've already written on other posts, I'm repetitive, but I really like Embarcadero Delphi. You can create a single source to compile for windows / linux / android / ios.
It is very powerful and very expensive.
B4X is a great compromise. Unfortunately not all created code can be wholly transported between B4A B4I B4J B4R
It is very powerful and very expensive.
B4X is a great compromise. Unfortunately not all created code can be wholly transported between B4A B4I B4J B4R
Are you sure that it would have been a good idea to limit the features to only features that are available in all platforms (Arduino, Android, iOS, desktops, servers and others)?
We would have ended with a development tool limited to one feature:
Log
The platforms are too different to be treated as a single platform.
Even if we are only talking about iOS and Android (why should we?), there are still many differences between the platforms that you shouldn't ignore in a real app (to name a few: services, intents, different life cycle, different UI, classic Bluetooth and many more).
B4X tools are RAD tools. They help you get your job done.
Whenever it is possible and reasonable the APIs are the same.
The language itself is the same (excluding B4R as the Arduino platform is not strong enough for many of the language features).
Most of the differences in standard apps are in the UI related code. The new XUI library will make the differences much smaller.
It follows two important concepts:
1. Cross platform API.
2. Very simple to move back and forth between the native (platform specific) API and the cross platform API. You are not limited in any way.
Last edited:
The diversity of different platforms makes it difficult to have a language only for all the os.
I agree with you that sometimes it is not convenient to flatten everything in a single language.
But sometimes it's important to have a single language for multiple platforms to get the same result.
I like Delphi because you can take advantage of the features of each platform or have a unique language that does not exploit everything but that allows you to have a unique and fully portable source code.
Then Delphi is based on Turbo Pascal, which is my second language I learned.
That said, I'm very happy with B4A. Manually is maturing and the XUI interface makes it more versatile, but still can not be considered at the level of other languages that have only one IDE for all platforms. In any case, B4A is based on Basic, which is my first language I learned
.
I agree with you that sometimes it is not convenient to flatten everything in a single language.
But sometimes it's important to have a single language for multiple platforms to get the same result.
I like Delphi because you can take advantage of the features of each platform or have a unique language that does not exploit everything but that allows you to have a unique and fully portable source code.
Then Delphi is based on Turbo Pascal, which is my second language I learned.
That said, I'm very happy with B4A. Manually is maturing and the XUI interface makes it more versatile, but still can not be considered at the level of other languages that have only one IDE for all platforms. In any case, B4A is based on Basic, which is my first language I learned
.
The number one cross platform tool in this article is Xamarin. As I wrote, Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android (which are the tools that most Xamarin developers use) are not cross platform at all. They allow you to write code based on the native APIs with C#.
Xamarin.Forms is cross platform as they provide their own abstraction layer.
Compare this code snippet: https://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/b4x-xui-create-a-round-image.85102/#post-539123
To: https://blog.xamarin.com/elegant-circle-images-in-xamarin-forms/
The "cross platform level" of the B4X snippet is 100%.
The level of this Xamarin solution is ~0%
I could not try the new XUI tools because I'm still with version 6.50. But I follow with interest the developments of the new versions.
Seeing the latest updates you posted on the forum seem to me very interesting. As I said above B4X is making progress and is maturing.
I did not think about Xamarin, I do not really like it. When I think about Cross Plattform, I think of nothing but Xamarin. There are languages with IDE environments compiling for Windows / Windows Phone / Linux / Android / IOS and also for consoles.
I also really don't understand why in the article there is not react native.. Facebook, Instagram, and more other applications are made using react native, and this is not a tool... This is THE tool
I honestly never heard of it. I've discovered the existence of your post.
It is written in JavaScript and realizes native App, no hybrids as it may seem.
The Linguistic Market is becoming crowded. This is good, allowing us to choose to develop the language that is most enjoyable to us. Too bad that there is not enough information to let you know all the offers.
At the same time too many choices sometimes lead to confusion. We look like kids in a hypermarket full of toys of all kinds and have to choose one just one.
I have my idea about the best RAD CrossPlattform, at least compared to those I know, maybe in the future knowing other existing (or being developed) I could change my mind
I heard it, but don't know nothing about react navite before this week end. During the week end, i listen a speech from an architer software from Moscow, during the devfest organized with Google support. I think it is really great. I'm not able to compare it with B4x, and btw B4x is RAD, react native no, but there are some features that are fantastic. For example, you can change the code of your application and fix bug after that application is in distribuition, without send a new package on store. I don't know java script, and i never wanted to learn it, but i think i will learn it
I know JavaScript, it's not very different from Java, but it's not the same. You have to consider that it is a script not a language.
This will make it possible to develop apps even for those who are amateur because the scripts are much simpler, albeit less powerful
This will make it possible to develop apps even for those who are amateur because the scripts are much simpler, albeit less powerful
It is completely different from Java. Javascript has nothing to do with java, except the first 4 letters in its name.
This article (https://hackernoon.com/how-it-feels-to-learn-javascript-in-2016-d3a717dd577f) was written over a year ago and I would say that since then it has not gotten any better for the JavaScript landscape. So, if you want to learn JavaScript, and make a living with it, you better make it fast (the learning and the continual learning), since the landscape changes (seemingly) hourly.