[Coco] VCC Update

[James Ross]

I am going to post on this one ... ALL good point Salvador!  Exactly what I was thinking too. 

I'll just point out that C# can run on Linux & Mac through Mono.  Mono is a clone implementation of .NET.  and it has gotten better and better over the years.  AND -- recently Microsoft has opened source the entire .NET software stack -- so, one of these days you will probably be able to run pure Microsoft .NET on any one of the platforms.

But again, Java is FINE too!

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From: Coco <coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com> on behalf of Salvador Garcia via Coco <coco at maltedmedia.com>

MAME is cross platform, so is XRoar. What language/graphics technology do they use?
I tend to favor C# too, but many, not just within the CoCo/VCC community, do not like the Microsoftish tie to it, especially if they are aiming to build a multi platform app.

Java is better favored for multi-platform apps.

At some point, the technology that VCC NxtGen will use will be defined, but speaking from experience, I would not halt development on the current version. It is far too easy to hold off an enhancement in favor of waiting to implement a different platform, but the latter is slow to come and those that could have benefited from the enhancement never do because Other Activities come into play and the next generation project suffers from delay after delay. It is better to have the enhancements in place in whatever version is here today and when it comes time to move it to the Nxt Gen, at least the new enhancements will be there. Plus, having a clear view of what is ahead, the developer can take this into consideration when building the enhancement, if at all possible.

I tend to shy away from suggesting too much regarding this particular project because I agree with Bill in that we are all eager to cooperate with suggestions and Brilliant Ideas, but not with work. This is understandable when we also feel that it is a matter of investing hundreds of hours when we are lucky to have a few minutes. The best that I can suggest is to establish a group that wants to cooperate and establish a VCC 101 course where we can systematically take apart VCC's sources to begin to gain an understanding of what went into it and determine what sort of effort needs to go into it to reach the ultimate goal (multi platform). Salvador