There have been comments recently here in the Lounge about the growth in GambasONE membership, while concern has been raised that many members are old codgers, who may checkout at any time to join that great Library in the sky!

I have no idea about the age profiles of members, although I have noticed that quite a few new members have arrived here with a background in other languages, typically Visual Basic.

At the same time, I notice that there are now over 2780 posts on this site covering nearly 450 topics. This can make it difficult to retrieve stuff, especially with mega-threads like "Did You Know?".

So what I think may help to attract new (possibly young) first-time programmers to Gambas, is a new sub-forum dedicated to tutorials for beginners. I know we already have "Project Showcase", but I'm thinking more in terms of examples both on how to use the editor & the IDE and how to use the language (e.g. datatypes, loops, using arrays or whatever).

The Project Showcase does not satify this requirement because it contains (for the most part) complete solutions. A Gambas programmer (of whatever level) is generally more interested in developing their own solutions, so just need enough detail to work out what is possible.



During my wind-down-to-retirement phase, I worked for a few years in a secondary school. This was just as the UK was trying to make the transition from teaching useless IT (mostly creating posters & excel spreadsheets) to a curriculum more closely aligned with Computer Science.

Unfortunately the chosen language was Python. This acted like a big OFF switch to the vast majority of 11-16 year olds. I feel that they would have retained the interest of more students by teaching a visual language like VB or Gambas. Obviously I have no axe-to-grind regarding Python Vs Gambas (I look around and see at least 3 internet radios I've built using Python). But Python is not a good language for youngsters to be confronted with as a first language.

So I guess my point is: Gambas should be in a strong position to attract first time programmers on the Linux platform, so long as there is plenty of information & support available of a suitably high standard.

Hi Steve,

We have an area for this sort of thing here. If you want to create some educational material for publication I would be very happy to post it up. We already have 2 books which get quite a few 'hits'.

I am interested in your 'help' ideas and your new program, that I have not yet checked out, and I wondered if I can make a copy of the Gambas.One database file and allow access or publish a copy now and then. I am not experienced in databases so will need some help.

This 'old codger' is still ready to help! (VB - What's that? - Is it like ZX81 Basic?)

cogier said

…VB - What's that?…

It use to be known as VD…but then they found a cure for it.

Yes, the two publications on the home page are great. My HelpBrowser can search Gerry's wiki and it works quite well.

But maybe just take a look at forums for other languages, like this one: https://www.freebasic.net/forum/  …which I guess is closer to what I have in mind.

However, I very much hope that other members will get involved in this conversation. Otherwise we can assume that there is no need for change.


The GambasOne inbuilt search: as a test I tried to search on the word "collection"
Search complains that "collection" is too common, so I went to this small thread: Gambas One - Gambas ONE
…which contains 7 instances of "collection" but 'search in this thread' still complains that it is too common.

Even my HelpBrowser only finds 2 threads on GambasOne with the word "collection" so maybe search technology has its limitations.

I'm not sure how we would use the GambasOne database. Normally a database has to be properly structured to permit sensible searches on the data. But if you can publish a copy to a webpage, then Run my HelpBrowser, you should be able to quickly assess if it offers any benefits.

I hope some of this nonsense helps Charlie.

stevedee said

But maybe just take a look at forums for other languages, like this one: https://www.freebasic.net/forum/  …which I guess is closer to what I have in mind.

This has a 'Documentation' section. It does have a manual in it. Is this what you mean?

 I was thinking more of the Beginners subforum and also Tips & Tricks as a subforum.

...I guess its whatever would help for a beginner to pick up Gambas.

 I am 100% behind the idea of getting more 'beginners' and with that thought in mind I do not want to complicate the site more than absolutely necessary. How about changing the name of 'General' to include the word 'Beginners'? In there is the link to the sticky 'Did you know' section which could be renamed, or I could add another sticky post in there. 'Did you know' seems to have been found by plenty of people as it's heading to 30,000 hits.

As Steve has already said, "are there any other comments on this matter?" Please feel free to add yours here.

 I do agree with the both of you.  Your suggestion to rename General to Beginners would work, and I think changing Do You Know to maybe Tip & Tricks, which is basically what the content is. What we really need is more exposure with links back to this site.

cage said

…Your suggestion to rename General to Beginners would work…

No I don't agree with this. I think its less intimidating (& more welcoming) if there is a Beginners subforum (New to Gambas? post your questions here), in addition to the General (post your Gambas programming questions here).
{once again, take a look at FreeBasic forum}.

 and I think changing Do You Know to maybe Tip & Tricks, which is basically what the content is…

I basically agree with this, except this is a mega-thread, so would prefer it to be broken down. I've just been through every post in this thread* and roughly classified them as follows:-

My suggestion would be:-

…What we really need is more exposure with links back to this site.

I can't argue with that.

I wonder whether you could introduce 'tags' as this would make it easier to successfully search the forum.
To see an example go to: Main WW2 Talk Forum | WW2Talk
…and type in the search box: haa

This will give you a list of posts on the subject of heavy anti-aircraft which have been tagged: haa


*I have just re-learnt several things that I had forgotten

stevedee said

No I don't agree with this. I think its less intimidating (& more welcoming) if there is a Beginners subforum (New to Gambas? post your questions here), in addition to the General (post your Gambas programming questions here).

In my quest to keep things simple I have merged the 'SDL & OpenGL' forum into General as it has not been used for 18 months. I have added a 'Beginners' section as you recommended.

We will see how this pans out.

cogier said

…We will see how this pans out.

Looks good to me, I just hope that some beginners arrive and start using it…
(…or I'm gonna be in big trouble!)

 This seems a good idea.
I could add some things to it.

I made a few apps like the Icon maker that were designed to be very simple and commented throughout to explain what's happening as a form of tutorial.

Hi Bruce,

If you have anything educational I am happy to add them in the Wordpress area. Have a look at Gerry's book which is complete with example programs. These could then be pointed to on the forum. You can email me at admin AT gambas DOT one.

stevedee said

cogier said

…We will see how this pans out.

Looks good to me, I just hope that some beginners arrive and start using it…
(…or I'm gonna be in big trouble!)

It'll need something there first..

cogier said

Hi Bruce,

If you have anything educational I am happy to add them in the Wordpress area. Have a look at Gerry's book which is complete with example programs. These could then be pointed to on the forum. You can email me at admin AT gambas DOT one.

I thought simple examples were wanted for the currently empty Beginners Forum.
Maybe i misunderstood?

Never mind ,, i'll leave you to it.

BruceSteers said

…I thought simple examples were wanted for the currently empty Beginners Forum.
Maybe i misunderstood?…

Ideally we want beginners to ask questions on the Beginners sub-forum, and I thought we were going to change 'Did You Know?' into a series of simple 'Tips & Tricks'

There is a snippet's section here.

At the moment you can't write to this section but that could be changed. I see the Forum for asking questions and the Wordpress area for snippets etc.

Don't log on for two months and you lot have changed everything around…  

stevedee said

Unfortunately the chosen language was Python. This acted like a big OFF switch to the vast majority of 11-16 year olds. I feel that they would have retained the interest of more students by teaching a visual language like VB or Gambas. Obviously I have no axe-to-grind regarding Python Vs Gambas (I look around and see at least 3 internet radios I've built using Python). But Python is not a good language for youngsters to be confronted with as a first language.

Visual Basic and Gambas was my self-taught language, while Python was the first I took formal instruction in (followed by JavaScript and C++). You can argue until the chickens roost about the syntax differences, but for me what keeps me using Gambas is the IDE and the form designer. There really is nothing else like it on Linux with the possible exception of Lazarus, and while I think starting off with command line is not bad per say, it is a really nice thing to maintain interest to able to produce graphical programs easily.