I am investigating RAD tools for my company.

I have used VB for about a year (3.0 and now 4.0) and the main thing
I hate about it is all the .DLL {*filter*}you have to install in the users
system directory.  These then get overwritten by older applications
and now the app does not work, etc.  Arg.

Delphi is cool, fast, and makes a little EXE that simply needs to be
put on the users machine.  Main problem is it's crappy use of Access,
which is the standard end-user DB in my company.  Also I don't know
Pascal, but I can learn.

I do not know C, but it seems that MS Visual C++ would do what I want.
It would use Access MDB files as a native format (through JET) AND it
would create small EXE files that do not need all the OLE*.DLLs that
VB requires.

Now you are probably laughing because it is obvious I know nothing
about Visual C++.

Can someone explain why development is so hard in Visual C++?  I
thought that by now MS would have made it as easy as VB.  I think I
can use VBXs in C++, right?

Thanks,
-=BMM=-
<<<<<>>>>>>>This is from Brent<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

As a side note, you're not going to escape those hefty DLL's with C++
either, unless you want to code directly against the Windows API (not
something I'd recommend either). You'll still need to include the MFC
support DLL's, which aren't all that slender themselves. Basically,
for any reasonably complex Windows program, you're going to have to re-
distribute various libraries. It's just a fact of life.

----

Catalyst Development Corporation          Web:   http://www.catalyst.com

You're going to need to devote a **lot** of time to learning the syntax.  C++
is like two languages in one.  It is derived from 'C'; so to learn C++ you
must first learn C (then C++, MFC, OLE....).  And you'll still be using DLLs
from time to time.

The reason C and C++ are so much more powerful than VB is that they are lower
level languages with very few keywords.  The majority of it's functionality is
based on pre-existing code ('functions' and Macros - for instance: C/C++ has
no PRINT statement; it uses printf(), sprintf(), cout or other derived
*functions*). Re-usability of code is one of its strong points, but being
lower level languages they are more _machine_ friendly and less _user_
friendly.  Again, if you have the time, go for it!

VB is evolving (slowly) into an Object Oriented Language modeled on C++.  I
see a lot of C style code form creeping into the language with every upgrade.
Function call syntax, variable and function declarations, header files,
resource files, User Defined Types (struc's), data member 'dot' notation
(type.member).  And now with Class modules and OLE interface exposure it's
getting to the point that a programmer versed in VB and C++ can use VB to
prototype an application and use the VB code as 'pseudocode' for writing the
C++ version of the same app.

BTW - I have it from an accepted athority on C++ instruction that it takes
approx. two years for the *average* C++ programmer to get comfortable with the
language.  But its power approaches Assembly Language and it is (slightly)
less tedious to code with.

Here's an idea - why not use VB and learn C/C++, too.  While you're getting
the hang of C you can use it to write DLL's for your VB apps.  That will help
to optimize your VB stuff and you'll be learning C at the same time.

-Don

P.S.  You can write your own OCX's and VBX's in C(++).
--
________________________________________________________________________

Eastpointe, MI USA           just like you!"
                       Dad: "Well, make up your mind - you can't have
                             it both ways."

..and don't think that just because you are using C++ that you don't need
any extra DLLs...  if you want to use DAO code from C++, you'll need all
the Jet DLLs, just as you would if you were going to get to Access MDBs
from VB...

There are plenty of dependencies with the add-on components (OCXs, in-proc
DLL servers, etc.) that you'll need to worry about with either development
platform...

Geoff

My VB at work is still screwed up after installing another
application.  I will have to figure out which one and restore from the
CD.

So to get away from the .DLL problems, it sounds like Delphi is the
answer?

-=BMM=-
<<<<<>>>>>>>This is from Brent<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

e.g. to to draw aline in VB - yoiu would say MoveTo, Line to with x, y coords. However, in VC++ you got to think of the
creating device context, selecting right brushes, line styles, selecting them to device context, fill styles, fore-back colors, to
make more compatible/general you got the adsuct colors to default palette, etc....whereas Vb has most of the defualt
setting & are never exposed to programmer giving limited control.

Another interesting thing is caret - your cursor shape/appearance. Since it is a shared resource, whenever your app loses
focus, it has to be set back to previous(default) shape...so forth

Ajay