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Comment by VB6-Programming | Hacker News Reader

The 64 bit version of XYplorer is written in the twinBASIC programming language (actually an import of the VB6 source code and forms).

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This is the first I've heard of twinBASIC. I'm happy to see it on the dev tools scene.

A dev tool with a monthly subscription? That's enough to stop me right there.

An alternative is B4J, a free (as in beer) BASIC that compiles to Java, so should run just about anywhere. It also has

* B4A - a free version for Android * B4R - a free version for Arduino and ESP8266 * B4I - a paid version for iOS

The main (sole?) developer is ridiculously responsive and helpful.

>A dev tool with a monthly subscription?

It seems that can buy a perpetual license for GBP £5000 / developer, which is equal to 16 years of monthly subscription (quite optimistic for a 3yo project).

They actually have a new year deal [0] on a perpetual licence to all v1 versions for £249, equal to 10 months of the subscription.

[0] https://twinbasic.com/NEWYEAR25

it seems pretty reasonable to charge $30-50 a month for somebody doing the hero's work of reimplementing and building on top of a 30 year old programming environment. also there's a free one! spray money the people who do crazy niche work! that's what makes the world beautiful!

They do have a free tier. It's nice having more dev tool options than fewer options.

twinBASIC programming has a free Community Edition.

twinBASIC programming is backwards compatible with VB6 (it intends to be 100% and is very close to that now). Existing VB6 source code and forms can be imported and run (at least as 32 bit apps.). twinBASIC can compile to 64 bit and has many modern features. There is also an optimising compiler. There is a free Community Edition. VBA can also be replaced with twinBASIC programming. Future plans include Linux, MacOS and Android versions.

Never heard of this before. I'm always happy to hear of new attempts to replace vb6, and a backwards compatible one is such an achievement

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