Wayne Hunt
Member
Hi,
I've been running Web sites for about 15 years now, and BBS'es before that. Way back in the BBS days, I used to have a favorite (VBBS, aka "Virtual BBS") which offered Basic developers an "SDK". This SDK was essentially a file of libraries and code which -- when you understood how to code in Turbo Basic -- had a file which literally said;
"---- Your code begins here ----"
"---- Your code ends here ----"
What that SDK provided was a system of all the calls in the system on which you could pull. You wrote your subroutines between those two lines, added it to the modules system, and bingo-bango-bongo, you were a bonafide VBBS module/game developer.
(If any of you were around back then, I wrote v-Shell which allowed a BBS operator to log into their account, then access VERY limited OS calls, like directory listings, moving/copying files, launching tape backups, etcetera with what was then, complete security).
Sorry for the history lesson, but I do have a point.
Granted, Turbo BASIC was 1000x easier than PHP/MySQL, but over the years, I've become a semi-competent "Bedroom" PHP/MySQL coder. Not great, but able to code my way out of a paper bag (so to speak).
The one thing that I think Xenforo could offer that NO ONE ELSE DOES which would instantly create thousands of new Xenforo coders is exactly that type of library set, along with a Word file documenting the system calls necessary for the average idiot to write good, solid modules.
At the time (almost 20 years ago), I paid $99 for such an SDK, and I'm not sure it'd be worth "$500" now, but if someone could take the time to build one for all us hopeful Xenforo developers, I am absolutely certain that Xenforo would literally explode with add-on development, driving sales of the add-on package market, as well as more license sales of Xenforo.
Thoughts?
Wayne Hunt
I've been running Web sites for about 15 years now, and BBS'es before that. Way back in the BBS days, I used to have a favorite (VBBS, aka "Virtual BBS") which offered Basic developers an "SDK". This SDK was essentially a file of libraries and code which -- when you understood how to code in Turbo Basic -- had a file which literally said;
"---- Your code begins here ----"
"---- Your code ends here ----"
What that SDK provided was a system of all the calls in the system on which you could pull. You wrote your subroutines between those two lines, added it to the modules system, and bingo-bango-bongo, you were a bonafide VBBS module/game developer.
(If any of you were around back then, I wrote v-Shell which allowed a BBS operator to log into their account, then access VERY limited OS calls, like directory listings, moving/copying files, launching tape backups, etcetera with what was then, complete security).
Sorry for the history lesson, but I do have a point.
Granted, Turbo BASIC was 1000x easier than PHP/MySQL, but over the years, I've become a semi-competent "Bedroom" PHP/MySQL coder. Not great, but able to code my way out of a paper bag (so to speak).
The one thing that I think Xenforo could offer that NO ONE ELSE DOES which would instantly create thousands of new Xenforo coders is exactly that type of library set, along with a Word file documenting the system calls necessary for the average idiot to write good, solid modules.
At the time (almost 20 years ago), I paid $99 for such an SDK, and I'm not sure it'd be worth "$500" now, but if someone could take the time to build one for all us hopeful Xenforo developers, I am absolutely certain that Xenforo would literally explode with add-on development, driving sales of the add-on package market, as well as more license sales of Xenforo.
Thoughts?
Wayne Hunt
