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Topic: Call for Visual Basic programmers (Read 5793 times) previous topic - next topic
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Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #2 –
"... you should have good knowledge in Visual Basic 6 and in the "anatomy" of audio files. C and Delphi knowledge are a plus, as we have some sample code here which should be translated to Visual Basic."

I have a good knowledge of VB, mediocre knowledge (but some) of the anatomy of audio files, and possibly remember enough C to be able to translate cleanly written C code to Visual Basic.  Dunno if I qualify, but would be interested in knowing what kind of help you're looking for.  I can definitely do user interfaces and am familiar with API calls and calls to external dll's (but would have to refresh on the latter).

Only prob is that I have VB5 installed, so depends on how well VB6 would load the particular VB5 code... that can vary in irritating ways (gives the finger to Microsoft  )

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #4 –
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Why, oh why VB? 

Taken out from the VBSpot main page:

Quote
So, why are you guys using Visual Basic instead of C, Delphi or any other language?

There are actually three reasons for this decision:
  • The most important reason is that Visual Basic is the language we know best. We do not have much experience with other languages, but we know the basics, though.

  • Visual Basic is a very easy to use and some times powerful language. It isn't as powerful or as fast as C or Assembler, but with the right techniques it can be really useful. Anyway, because VB is so easy to use, a lot of people use it. Actually, it is one of the most used languages around! We think that making this project open source, will help other Visual Basic developers to see how to implement functions for retrieving information about audio files in their own programs. VBSpot can be extended to a very useful cataloging program or whatever you would like.

  • Finally, we would also like to show people that Visual Basic's capabilities are far behind from what other people think and that it can be used for more than just creating GUIs or simple applications à la "Hello World".


Edit: One more thing Gambit, could we use parts of the MAC source code for our project? As far as I know is your project released under LGPL while VBSpot uses the GPL license.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #5 –
Have you taken a look at this encspot like program?

It seems to be very accurate.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #6 –
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Have you taken a look at this encspot like program?

It seems to be very accurate.

Oh, yes, I know about it. Feltzkrone helped me with some things, too. I have even mentioned it (the project) in the VBSpot website. I will add some additional information there about the project, such as the author and a page with it, if it is OK with Feltzkrone.

Thanks for the link, anyway!

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #7 –
Quote
Why, oh why VB? 

IMO, VB gets too much bad PR.  VB6 and below aren't bad at all, except a few problems -- programs eat too much memory (not much of a problem anymore in 2003) and too many external dependencies (see below).  Also, the #1 issue (imo)... VB attracts a lot of bad programmers! 

Criteria for judging a good VB programmer?  IMO, different from other languages: A good VB programmer will make liberal use of the Windows API to avoid external dependencies as much as possible, up to and including re-inventing the wheel (even when "unnecessary").  Avoiding as much as possible the "tempting amenities" MS put in to attract and keep people who just want to whip out a project as fast as possible with no regard for anything else.  It is possible to write a powerful (albeit shorter) program in VB, without resorting to that much external stuff.  Unfortunately VB makes it too easy to write crap...

Anyway... I think it's fine for simpler projects like an "EncSpot" sort of thing.  And I think MS is destroying it with the .NET crap... already it's far less useful to individual programmers and small teams than it is now directed toward large organizations and enterprise use.

Edit -- portability (thanks dev0)... certainly a negative when it comes to VB.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #8 –
I don't know how far this project is and if there's still any chance of changing the programming language at all, but IMHO a more portable language like Delphi/Kylix or (even better) Python (WxWindows) would be a much better choice for this kind of project, duplicating effort (Feltzkrone's work) seems very pointless to me.

I'd absolutely love to help, if you are considering to switch to one of the languages mentioned above.

dev0
"To understand me, you'll have to swallow a world." Or maybe your words.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #9 –
Well, the problem is that I (or Sebastian Andersson) don't know much Delphi. We can't write such a "massive" program in a language we don't know. It's like writing a book in French without actually knowing French.
Anyway, I have said this in a private message to fewtch and I think I should make it public, too.

We aren't actually only looking for VB programmers, but for 3 types of people:
  • People who would like to "actively" write Visual Basic code "from scratch".
  • People who would be willing to translate C or Delphi code to Visual Basic.
  • People who actually don't write any code at all, but could provide technical information about how things should be done (stuff like how to extract ancillary data...).
So, I would be very glad if you could help us with technical information if you don't want to code in VB (or if you don't know it).

Regards,
Sebastian Mares

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #10 –
There are too many code snobs around ...BTW in Visual Studio .NET the end code VB or C++ (or c#) is compiled down to the same interpreted-language. Yes VB isn't as efficient at re-casting things such as pointers and structures, but then again you probabbly won't be spending 4 hours looking for a rogue pointer in VB, instead you will spend the 4 hours wondering how to make it work with what is out there

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #11 –
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  • People who would be willing to translate C or Delphi code to Visual Basic.

Well, that's the point. Why translate the code if you could use it as it is. Sure you can do a lot in VB, but nevertheless... There are limits you will hit, if not now maybe in the future. And (speaking from my and others experience), once you try something better than VB, you will never go back. I know I never did after I found Delphi (or VC, but that's a matter of personal preference  ).

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #12 –
Quote
Quote
  • People who would be willing to translate C or Delphi code to Visual Basic.

Well, that's the point. Why translate the code if you could use it as it is.

Translating code is not the same thing as fluency in programming with a language.  I remember enough C that I could probably translate it (using a reference guide) to Basic or 16-bit x86 asm, but not enough that I could write a full program in C.

From my experience with VB (fairly extensive), it's well capable of an "EncSpot" type program -- easy.  This is not the sort of project that pushes the limits of what can be done with VB.

Edit -- they will need at least one person who knows how to optimize for speed with the 'nitty gritty' code.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #13 –
I understand Gambit's point(s) 100%. Anyway, translating source code can also be hard if some C++ coder would like to implement some of the Delphi code you (Gambit) used.
Also, I know Visual Basic has some disadvantages, but I think every language has its own. Anyway, I will try to do my best to make the program fast, reliable and easy to use.

Oh, one more thing... Thanks Gambit for letting me use some of your code!

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #14 –
Another point is that there is a vast interest in a cross platform "encspot" tool. VB is one of the most unportable languages ever and coding such a tool is IMHO a waste of resources.

<edit>
Someone should move this into the General section, since it is in fact audio related and very important to many users.
</edit>
"To understand me, you'll have to swallow a world." Or maybe your words.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #16 –
You have probably been to the vbAccelerator site already, but in case you haven't, I think it's a very nice site, I've used it mainly for interface design stuff (small apps here at work) and was very pleased with the results. Unfortunately, I only have access to VB5, but still might be able to help a bit.  Here's the vbAccelerator license, just in case:

Quote
vbAccelerator Software License

Version 1.0

Copyright © 2002 vbAccelerator.com

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
  2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
  3. The end-user documentation included with the redistribution, if any, must include the following acknowledgment:

"This product includes software developed by vbAccelerator (http://vbaccelerator.com/)."

      Alternately, this acknowledgment may appear in the software itself, if and wherever such third-party acknowledgments normally appear.
  4. The names "vbAccelerator" and "vbAccelerator.com" must not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without prior written permission. For written permission, please contact vbAccelerator through steve@vbaccelerator.com.
  5. Products derived from this software may not be called "vbAccelerator", nor may "vbAccelerator" appear in their name, without prior written permission of vbAccelerator.



Cheers, Joey.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #17 –
The simple fact of life is that you can't make everyone happy.

Windows users will enjoy the fact that there is a new, supported program like EncSpot to use, while non-windows users just want to complain about how using some other cross-platform language would be better, just so they can use the program too..

Well, as much as one can argue that a cross-platform language would be better, the fact is that the creator of this project is a Visual Basic programmer, and does not know any other languages.. there is no amount of arguing you can do to change this fact.

If you want a cross platform language used, start your own SourceForge project and get on with it..  then both users will be satisfied: Windows, and other.

I'd offer my VB programming skills for this project, as I'm always wanting something new to work on, but I'll further check out the project website and see what's going on.

Call for Visual Basic programmers

Reply #18 –
Version 0.1.0 (pre-alpha) released! The program only supports returning the basic information about an MPEG Audio file, such as bit rate, sampling rate, channel mode, flags..., has support for both Xing/Info and VBRI header and is able to detect APE, ID3v1, ID3v2 and Lyrics3 tags.

For more information, visit http://vbspot.sourceforge.net/forums/index...w=findpost&p=21 .

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