VB to Web-based

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Tjoker

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Good day forumites

I work for a company that sells an educational program to home users, as well as schools all over SA. Our code was written vb6. Obviously we only support Windows, and guys using MAC and Linix are losing out, especially at school level. We recently discussed porting over our code to VS2010 and work from there......

But here is my question? Should we rather not move into the "Cloud" direction, as that is future? Bug fixes will be instant! No download patches and updates. And best of all will be anyone can use it? Will it be a waste to port our software to work with Linux and MAC?

Personally i think this is the way to go.....

P.S Any good software companies/houses you guys can recommend to do Web-based porting?
 
Web-based is the way to go, specifically because it instantly makes your application platform agnostic. You can even modify it to support mobile browsers at some point...
 
If you want cross-platform:
Port to PHP/Java,use MySQL for databases,offer a Local and hosted option in case they don't have a (stable) internet connection to use for hosted option
 
PsyWulf said:
If you want cross-platform:
Port to PHP/Java,use MySQL for databases,offer a Local and hosted option in case they don't have a (stable) internet connection to use for hosted option
Click to expand...

Agreed..

While I'm not weighing up the pros/cons of the various languages, or saying that it's better than the ones already mentioned, obviously another option is ASP.net.

OP: Having coded up til now in VB, this change should feel very familiar/comfortable.
 
Just port it to classic ASP, since it already uses VB6 it should be quick. You might need a bucket for all of the vomit though.

Jokes, please DONT port it to classic ASP. You have several options here:

1. Keep it non web - go with a .Net or Java application. Java has the advantage that it is crossplatform.
2. Go web - use Java, PHP or .Net. Of the three, I know .Net the best, but it is not cross platform. That being said, since everyone will be using the web, that might not matter.

I'd have a careful look at how the system is used to determine whether web based is suitable. Remember, not everyone will have access to the internet, especially if its a rural school somewhere. A standalone application could be useful in that regard. How would you benefit from the web? Its also possible to have your standalone application talk to a web server so that it can receive new lessons, content etc, if need be.

Before rushing for any particular solution, I would examine exactly what it is you want your application to do, and what criteria any solution must have, to suit you. Remember, this will practically be a new application anyway. Once you have a clearer idea what you require, you can decide whether the web is suitable.
 
Port your business logic and data layer to WCF/MSSQL. Then you can write a WinForms frontend, or an ASP.net webapp, or even a Java frontend/webapp to consume the WCF services.
 
Tjoker said:
Good day forumites

I work for a company that sells an educational program to home users, as well as schools all over SA. Our code was written vb6. Obviously we only support Windows, and guys using MAC and Linix are losing out, especially at school level. We recently discussed porting over our code to VS2010 and work from there......

But here is my question? Should we rather not move into the "Cloud" direction, as that is future? Bug fixes will be instant! No download patches and updates. And best of all will be anyone can use it? Will it be a waste to port our software to work with Linux and MAC?

Personally i think this is the way to go.....

P.S Any good software companies/houses you guys can recommend to do Web-based porting?
Click to expand...

Put it on Wiki and make it open source (thus free) then you have done a great thing for the community.
 
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