[AccessD] LightSwitch

[Gustav Brock]

Hi Jim

At the landing page of Visual Studio Code:

    https://code.visualstudio.com/

and here:

    https://code.visualstudio.com/#alt-downloads

you'll see downloads for Windows, MacOS, and Linux/Debian 32/64-bit

Visual Studio IDE (the new name for the full-featured VS) is in preview for Mac:

    https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/

Due to the vast count of Linux distributions I doubt VS will ever be available for Linux; it would be an overwhelming task to maintain the installation options of this extremely complex IDE including its hypervisors. It is already difficult enough with five Windows versions (7-10, 2012 R2/2016) plus Mac.

As for TypeScript, please note that it is not a framework for JavaScript, it is a superset of JavaScript generating pure JavaScript. 
Frameworks often are hard to manage which is why Angular 2 is built with TypeScript:

    https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/typescript/2015/03/05/angular-2-built-on-typescript/

/gustav

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: AccessD [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] På vegne af Jim Lawrence
Sendt: 24. april 2017 07:00
Til: Access Developers discussion and problem solving <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Emne: Re: [AccessD] LightSwitch

Hi Gustav:

I understood that Electron is a framework for creating native applications that can run on various platforms. Didn't Microsoft use Electron to compile Visual Studio Code so it could run on OSx, Free BSD and Linux?  

As long as TypeScript is going to always be fully open source and have no dependencies on specific platforms its future is assured. TypeScript sounds like a advanced JavaScript framework of which there are many excellent ones...

Here is a lecture given by Anders Hejlsberg on TypeScript that seems very interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g48K9LEhHWs

Jim

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gustav Brock" <gustav at cactus.dk>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>, "Development in Visual Studio" databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 11:47:44 PM
Subject: Re: [AccessD] LightSwitch

Hi Jim (and Shamil)

Yes, it looks interesting. But I've never heard about it until now, so zero experience.

There is also Electron:

    https://electron.atom.io/

which you can program in TypeScript - the superset of JavaScript:

    http://www.typescriptlang.org/

If you have ever struggled with JavaScript (who hasn't), you will love the use of classes and strong typing that is adds to JavaScript while still producing pure JavaScript.

By the way, did you know that Visual Studio Code:

    https://code.visualstudio.com/

is programmed entirely in TypeScript? The combo of VSCode and TypeScript adds Intellisense to JavaScript. A must-have - and open source so free to use at zero cost.

Recently, I attended a lecture with Anders Hejlsberg (the creator of TypeScript). He is a gifted lecturer (don't ever miss to attend if you get the chance). You know - from childhood you remember the single teacher you loved because he/she always could catch your attention and interest and the bell rang before you expected it. Anders does just that.

He also told, that he got the idea for TypeScript after having seen at the team in charge of OWA (the web interface for Outlook 365) how they had built a major construction in C# to manage and generate the huge amount of JavaScript code that drives the client.

So - back to where I came form - it was at that lecture Anders mentioned Electron, because the question about JavaScript on the desktop once again was raised.

/gustav

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: AccessD [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] På vegne af Jim Lawrence
Sendt: 20. april 2017 21:19
Til: Access Developers discussion and problem solving <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Emne: Re: [AccessD] LightSwitch

"DotVVM" looks like a very interesting product. Have you done any work it? 

There are so many applications out there, in the world of the internet, it is really difficult to decide which is the best horse to hitch to. Do you think the industry is heading towards more specialized wed applications or should the approach be more generic and possibly more stable (...given the example of LightSwitch)?

Jim

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gustav Brock" <gustav at cactus.dk>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>, "Development in Visual Studio" databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2017 12:18:05 AM
Subject: [AccessD] LightSwitch

Hi all

It appears that VS2015 was the last version of Visual Studio to include LightSwitch:

    https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/lightswitch/2016/10/14/lightswitch-update/

Though it will be supported like VS2015 until 2020, it may be the time to look for alternatives.
Microsoft recommends PowerApps but, as you may know, this at the current state is not a programming tool but a drag-n-drop type environment living in the cloud (Azure) only.

So, browsing the numerous comments in the above link, I've located some potential alternatives:

DotVVM:
    https://www.dotvvm.com

Serene:
   https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VolkanCeylan.SereneSerenityApplicationTemplate

I've never heard of these before. Anyone having experience with these?

/gustav