Who is Basic4Android really for?

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Gmation

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Hi group.

I have discovered AppInventor by Google and have been experimenting with it with admirable success.

I am a moderately accomplished Website developer (via HTML editors). I have no OOP or Java programming.

While I am starting to feel comfortable with AppInventor and its "Block Coding" concept, it has its limitations.

Is it possible to become a proficient Android App developer using Basic4Android just by reading the beginners manual or do I need formal training in C++ or some other OOP language?
 
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Widget

Widget

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Gmation said:
Hi group.

I have discovered AppInventor by Google and have been experimenting with it with admirable success.

I am a moderately accomplished Website developer (via HTML editors). I have no OOP or Java programming.

While I am starting to feel comfortable with AppInventor and its "Block Coding" concept, it has its limitations.

Is it possible to become a proficient Android App developer using Basic4Android just by reading the beginners manual or do I need formal training in C++ or some other OOP language?
Click to expand...

The Beginner's Manual and tutorials are a great way to learn B4A. You don't need training in C++ or OOP's. I've been using B4A for 3 months and I'm quite happy with it. The documentation and support is terrific. :)

Widget
 
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Gmation

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That's wonderful news!

I started to work with AI around 8/25/2011 and I am doing rather well with it in my opinion.

However, before I get too involved with it, I think I will try out B4A as I feel it will do more for me and I love the screens I saw; they were so inspirational.

I've found out about B4A on the AI forum of all places and I have a code for 50% off a B4A license.

Can anyone tell me what the license includes, such as:
  1. Full support. Android Market Publishing. Extra forum support. Lifetime License. etc..
At what point should I purchase one?
 
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vb1992

vb1992

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Full support.

I think the support has been amazing so far in email
and also having this message board community where
tech staff and users have been contributing for almost a year now.

Android Market Publishing.

There is no royalty charged, so you build it, and then publish it
Publishing on Android Market | Android Developers


Extra forum support.

Yes, and if you pay, you get extra .zip download files


Lifetime License. etc..

Depends on what version you buy, but I just bought the
lifetime with the 50% off and I'm quite happy, I believe
it was called "enterprise" version

At what point should I purchase one?

After testing the free trial, I think I was sold on it
after a few days.

I been using this for less than a week, and I been
able to interesting things already from trying
the sample projects, and reading through the forum
where they occasionally post test code to play with too.

This is my opinion, I do not work for them, and I
just stumbled on it myself a week ago.
 
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Gmation

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Thank you VB1992 for your candid assessment.

I am stoked and ready to go. I have sent the PDF manual to Staples for them to print me out a hard-copy as I study and work well with a hard-copy manual.

I'm going to finish my current App in AI then the next one which is already on my whiteboard will be the one I use B4A to develop.

This is a great thread and I hope the administrator lock it in as a notable one because I am confident this question will come up often and your explanation along with the previous two were quite clear.

:)
 
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Tom Christman

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Gmation, I too had some experience with App Inventor, and I think you'll find B4A is a huge step up in capability. I have had previous experience with Basic programming, which helps quite a bit, but the tutorials and example code are very informative and helpful. In addition there are many experienced and helpful members who are more than willing to assist with code problems and direction. One simple example of how B4A has expanded capability over AI is in screen layouts; which are devoid of table - column layout requirements in B4A allowing WYSIWYG layouts utilizing the entire screen. WELCOME AND HAVE FUN!
 
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Gmation

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Thanks Tom, I appreciate your comment.

There is a WONDERFUL community atmosphere at A.I and from what I have read here thus far, it appears to be here as well.

I am looking forward to becoming a positive contributor to the group in the near future and thanks again for your well wishes.
:)
 
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pcbtmr

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I too started with AI and have created many useful apps. However, you have to jury-rig to get it to save data (tinyDB only works for internal data, can't save externally), app sizes are at least 100+X the size of B4A's compiling, the B4A bridge is (IMHO) one of the single best advantages of B4A and
MUCH faster in connection. AI is fully online so if Google's server (or MIT's soon) goes down, your stuck. B4A is totally local. Using Dropbox, you can have B4A on multiple PC's for work/home. Using Dropbox, once an app is compiled, it is (virtually) ready for install immediately rather than having to download it via QR code. Admittedly, the learning curve is steeper in B4A compared to AI and it helps to have a VB background. I will admit that I lost faith in AI when they were developing code to control Lego Robots and not addressing core functionality issues. When I could not open AI on my netbook because it required so many resources, I left. B4A works great on the netbook with "no" resources. I got tired of playing with puzzle pieces when app logic was the smaller time requirement.
 
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Gmation

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Thank you PCBTMR for joining the thread.

Wow! That is very encouraging about B4A compile time vs AI.

Regarding the download, I was able to merely click on a button then package the App using AppToMarket or Marketizer with no problems at all.

You mentioned that it helps to have a VB background. In "your" opinion do you feel a person with a simple HTML background could grasp the concept with a consorted effort or do you feel a formal training in VBasics is necessary?
 
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Widget

Widget

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You mentioned that it helps to have a VB background. In "your" opinion do you feel a person with a simple HTML background could grasp the concept with a consorted effort or do you feel a formal training in VBasics is necessary?
Click to expand...

PMFJI, but the B4A documentation is more than sufficient to get you going with B4A. They explain B4A basic at the command level with plenty of examples. Make sure you download the Beginner's Guide at the top of this link:

Android Programming Tutorials - Basic4android

Widget
P.S. B4A is considerably easier to learn than Javascript. :sign0060:
 
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pcbtmr

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Definately, the tutorials and the forum. Some of the more advanced features are a little cryptically explained but for the basic building blocks of the object-oriented environment, the tut's (with examples) are the best.
 
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Gmation

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Widget said:
PMFJI, but the B4A documentation is more than sufficient to get you going with B4A......

Android Programming Tutorials - Basic4android
Click to expand...

No apology necessary Widget; jump in anytime.

I did start looking through the tutorial while waiting on my hardcopy and see that it does appear to be sort of like a drag and drop setup.

I ran into a small problem (I'm sure) with connecting to the emulator or just after connecting which I will search the forum later for a solution.

But on the chance that one of you might have the answer on the top of your head, I am getting a "daemon still notrunning error" to which I have restarted the ADB Manager as suggested to no avail. I suspect I missed a step somewhere in the tutorial.
 
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Gmation

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Thank you for responding Erel,

I did indeed restart the ADB server which I called manager.

I uh, (slap on the hand) didn't install the Android SDK because I presumed it was the same one I installed for A.I. for when I downloaded it a few days ago, it came down as a second copy (2).exe.

What I may do, depending on any further response is uninstall the Android SDK and reinstall it with the copy I downloaded from here.
 
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Gmation

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Daemon still not running

Hey guys,

I uninstalled Android SDK Tools and B4A then did a fresh install from the files I downloaded from this site.

The emulator will connect only for a few seconds or until I click on the Add-On button. At which time the link breaks and I get the "daemon still not running" error.

I decided to double click on the "Button" button and it appeared in a black window similar to the tutorial but not identical as the Activity name is not there and still there was no emulator connection as the broken link icon was displayed.

Any ideas?

Thanks
 
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Gmation

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Thanks for your reply AGraham,

I am indeed running 2.2 API8.

It's a bit discouraging because I had high hopes of jumping in head first but I can't even get off the ground to begin exploring the code.

(sign)
 
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Gmation

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Is there a difference between the emulator and abstract designer? When I click on connect, I get a black window that says

"This is the abstract designer. Connect to Emulator or device to start WYSIWYG designer."

This is the only way I know how to connect and the only way the tutorial shows.
 
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