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NS Basic/Palm

Sun Sep 24, 2000 - 2:25 PM EDT - By Scott Hanselman

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Would you recommend NS Basic/Palm?
Yes   No  

Product Info


Dev Environ. & Conclusion

Once you've drawn a form or two, you can add action code �underneath� it.� For example, when a button is tapped on a calculator, or an item is select in a list, we'd execute code to handle that action or �event.�

The NS Basic/Palm Desktop, as it's called, includes a code editor that pops up when a control is double-clicked or right-clicked on at design time.� This is where all your code is written.� It's a good editor, and includes syntax highlighting, as see in Figure 2.


Figure 2: Syntax Highlighting

NS Basic supports over 150 commands and all common control structures.� So, IF, WHILE, FOR Loops � they're all there.� But it's the memory management that makes NS Basic so much easier than C, particularly when using Strings.� As we saw in Table 1, the PalmOS forces a programmer to be very aware about memory allocations.� When programming in C on the PalmOS, You have to allocate memory, hold a handle, lock it down to receive a pointer when you want to use it, then unlock and free it when you're done.� NS Basic frees you from that.

I can allocate a string, assign a value to it, and set a field to that string's value with this tiny bit of code.
Dim result as integer
Dim str as string
str = "scott"
fldSomeField.text = recordP.somestring

NS Basic also provides functions to access the PalmOS' built in database manager.� They are very flexible and provide all of the power of the Database, without much of the complexity.� For example, here's some code that spins through a database and populates a ListBox with the Data:
Res = dbReset(dbSomeData)
lstSomeList.clear
Do Until Not res = 0
Res = DbReadNext ( dbSomeData, temp)
if res = 0 then lstSomeList.add lstSomeList
Loop
Figure 3: Database Code Populating a ListBox

Conclusion

For under $100 with no runtime royalties, NS Basic/Palm is in a class by itself.� Save for a few UI glitches and stylistic issues, it�s an excellent product.� If you know BASIC, you�ll feel right at home.� If you've programmed for the Pilot in C, you�ll find that NS Basic�s built in functions mirror the PalmSDK�s quite accurately.


Criteria 

Rating

Features 4
Usability 4
Setup 5
Cost/Benefit 5
Overall
(not an average)
Pros
- Easy to Learn Basic
- Reasonable Runtime Size
- Visual Forms Editor
- Good Manual
- Inexpensive
- No royalties
Cons
- Can�t use Tables
- No Popup Help ala �AutoComplete�
- No View of Complete Code


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