maemo.org - Talk - Vala for Maemo development

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- - Vala for Maemo development (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=18968)

Re: Vala for Maemo development

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benson (Post 201000)

No, Python is ******ed now, same as it's always been. :p

Subjective flamebait aside, certainly some people want to always play with a new language, but I do think that's a small factor in this area.

Vala is definitely in its infancy and to be honest I don't see what the fuss about it. It may become a great language over time (probably not) but I'm definitely sitting on the fence with this one.

Re: Vala for Maemo development

The fuss is that Vala can offer simplicity, speed and OO at the same time.

So back on the original topic - i did automate building Vala projects in scratchbox and running them on tablet directly from Monodevelop (will work with every editor that can run scripts).

Firstly - use WAF - its faster than autotools, simpler and supports Vala. Vala template here.

You will need ssh passwordless login with key - instructions here.

Use the WAF template to create your project in scratchbox, edit to your liking, create a solution in Monodevelop with the root dir in the your project dir in scratchbox (/scratchbox/users/[user]/home/[user]/[your-project-dir]), check the project option to auto add the files in the folder, reload it.

Add this build and execute commands in Monodevelop project options:

Build:

Code:

/scratchbox/login -d ~/[your-project-dir] -p ./project-build.sh

Execute:

Code:

/scratchbox/login -d ~/[your-project-dir] -p ./project-run.sh

Create executable project-build.sh and project-run.sh in [your-project-dir] with these contents:

project-build.sh:

Code:

#! /bin/sh



cd ~/[your-project-dir]

./waf configure

./waf

project-run.sh:

Code:

#! /bin/bash



scp ~/[your-project-dir]/_build_/default/[your-path-and-executable] root@[your-tablet-ip]:/usr/bin/

ssh user@[your-tablet-ip] '/bin/sh --login -c "/usr/bin/[your-executable]"'

EDIT: Forgot to mention - I'm using Monodevelop 2.0 alpha 1

Re: Vala for Maemo development

I've uploaded vala to extras-devel. Build log is at:

https://garage.maemo.org/builder/diablo/vala_0.3.4/

I've done a quick command line test, I might not have time to test it with the Hildon bindings today, so any feedback welcome.

Re: Vala for Maemo development

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bundyo (Post 201170)

The fuss is that Vala can offer simplicity, speed and OO at the same time.

Oh, I see, like delphi did almost 15 years ago ;) (alas, I doubt that vala can be as good as delphi, maybe in 15 more years...:D).
Pity that fpc doesn't work right with armel yet :(

Re: Vala for Maemo development

Quote:

Originally Posted by luca (Post 201398)

Oh, I see, like delphi did almost 15 years ago ;) (alas, I doubt that vala can be as good as delphi, maybe in 15 more years...:D).
Pity that fpc doesn't work right with armel yet :(

Lets not get into a language debate. Having programmed for around 18 years in a wide variety of languages (I programmed on a z80 commercially for 6 years straight! :() I can safely say that you get lovers and haters of any language. We can debate semantics for hours but I learnt early on that you cannot convert the inconvertible in most cases.

I think the 'horses for courses' argument is best, select the best tool for the job. (BTW I have to fly to another country next week to debate the merits of Python on a particular project :D)

Vala may be the answer in some cases but, from a purely technical point of view, I'm on the fence.

Great work on the port though!

Re: Vala for Maemo development

I doubt Delphi is coming back... :(

What port? Vala compiles straight for the tablet/SDK. Even has some bindings on the official page.

Re: Vala for Maemo development

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bundyo (Post 201413)

What port? Vala compiles straight for the tablet/SDK. Even has some bindings on the official page.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaffa (Post 201267)

Am I miss-reading Jaffa's comments?

Re: Vala for Maemo development

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bundyo (Post 201413)

I doubt Delphi is coming back... :(

Probably not, but Lazarus is going forward at a steady pace.

Re: Vala for Maemo development

I am starting to feel like modern languages need support for concurrency. Stackless Python is a good example. I've written so many state machines in my time that mimic this behavior that I feel it should be standard. Although I wish Stackless Python would automatically take advantage of symmetric multiprocessing (although python doesn't have rock solid threading in general :P).

Re: Vala for Maemo development

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bundyo (Post 201413)

I doubt Delphi is coming back... :(

What port? Vala compiles straight for the tablet/SDK. Even has some bindings on the official page.

It compiles straight and cleanly, as you say. Still needs to be in extras for other apps to use it for building.

Besides, it makes a good test of mud-builder given the package is entirely defined by:

Code:

<package>

  <fetch type="tarball">

    <url>http://download.gnome.org/sources/vala/0.3/vala-0.3.4.tar.bz2</url>

  </fetch>

  <build>

    <copyright>lgpl</copyright>

  </build>

  <deb prefix-section="0">

    <section>programming</section>

    <depends>c-compiler</depends>

          <description>Vala is a modern programming language compiling to C.

Vala is a new programming language that aims to bring modern programming language

features to GNOME developers without imposing any additional

runtime requirements and without using a different ABI

compared with applications and libraries written in C.

.

Given its dependence on gcc, this is intended for use within the Maemo

SDK.</description>

  </deb>

</package>