[simpits-tech] VB Code to strip digits apart

[Gene Buckle]

> Since we're on the topic of programming, I want to learn how to write
> programs for windows and interfacing with flight sim software.  I know this
> will take a bit of learning and time, but time is all I have at the moment.
> I would like some opinions on the best language to learn for this and any
> other task I might want to take on in the future.
>

The first thing you should decide is how much money you're willing to
spend. :)

The reason I ask is that there are 3 primary languages you can use with 3
different costs involved.

Cheapest (free!) is to use C.  There are 3 good free C compilers that can
be had for free that you can use.

Borland C++ v5.5  (downloadable from http://www.borland.com)
Open Watcom C     (downloadable from http://www.openwatcom.com)
Cygwin gcc        (downloadable from http://www.cygwin.org)

Of the three, only Open Watcom (I think) comes with a good IDE (Integrated
Development Environment).

Next on the list is Delphi.  Delphi is a RAD (Rapid Application
Development) tool that uses a language called Object Pascal.
There is a free edition of this tool, but any code you produce with it
must fall under the GPL.

The "Personal Edition" of Delphi 7 is only $95.  There is a huge amount of
community support for Delphi.  It's prime competitor is Visual Basic.


The third option is Microsoft Visual Basic 6.  I can't seem to find a
price on this beast.  It's not cheap though. :)  You'll spend more on this
than you will for Delphi.

I don't mention Visual Basic .Net or C# (C-Sharp) because they're not
truly compiled languages.  They're tokenized and run through a byte code
interpreter which makes them noticibly slower than their natively compiled
equivalents.

My personal choice is Delphi since it does what I need with a lot of
flexibility, even though VB6 pays my mortgage. :)

g.