Portability

[asm1]

Hi all,
Thinking of developing a network programme that we would like to be able to use on different platforms (Linux and Windoze) and i was wondering how portable this programme is likely to be. The assumption is that the programmes would have to be compiled on the appropriate platforms. Any advice appreciated. We are still in design stage at the minute.

The tougher it gets the more you learn! The more you learn the tougher it gets!

 

[chipperMDW]

Well, assuming you write it in C/C++, you'd have to compile it for each platform, but you'd also probably need to rewrite your code since *nix and Windows have different networking libraries. Of course, if you found a wrapper library that encapsulates the functionality of both, you could get around that.

With that in mind, you should, of course, put networking in its own module that can be swapped out when/if you port it.

If portability is a big goal, you might want to consider using Java.

 

[asm1]

thank you for your reply, we will have a chat about it.

The tougher it gets the more you learn! The more you learn the tougher it gets!

 

[jstreich]

Indeed, cross-platform and ease of network programming are two of java's strongest points. Not to mention that graphicas won't port well depending on the way that you were planning them. One thing to remeber if you chose to use C++ is that there are some fairly standard libraries for most things, exept system level stuff -- display and networking -- so make those choses first (seems you only have a few option for portable graphics -- but at least there are some out there).

Also write what you know, it's not a good idea to start a big project in a language that you have never used before.

 

[asm1]

Thanks for your good advice. I am sure we will be back to ask more on this subject.

The tougher it gets the more you learn! The more you learn the tougher it gets!