[jgrey29]

Hello, I am new but I need your help.

I am having a Body fat calculator built. Should it be coded in C++, or .NET framework 4.0?

I would like to reach as many people as possible. It is in java right now and it works
fine, I just know that many people are afraid to install java on their computer.

Which code would work the best for most Windows platforms?

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Hello, I am new but I need your help.

I am having a Body fat calculator built. Should it be coded in C++, or .NET framework 4.0?

I would like to reach as many people as possible. It is in java right now and it works
fine, I just know that many people are afraid to install java on their computer.

Which code would work the best for most Windows platforms?

Hey jgrey29 and welcome to Geeks to Go,

Well from the 2 choices you've given most probably the best language to use is the .NET Framework which I assume you actually mean Visual Basic as the .NET Framework consists of many different languages including C++. And even in considering all other languages, I would have said Java as a first choice as you will be able to compile using Java ME and be able to run the application on a mobile device. Although the second choice would definitely be Visual Basic, the reason I'd recommend you use VB is because it already meets one of your requirements ("Windows platform") and as you have mentioned being new it might be a slightly easier language to get use to and feel comfortable in, and the number 1 reason I would recommend it is it is extremely simple to create a user interface, making it easier for you to just drag and drop components that make it even easier for people using your program.

C++ is a great language and can be really efficient, but assuming the scope of your project I don't believe this efficiency is required (In terms of speed). Although VB still has the upper hand of allowing you to easily create graphical user interfaces while being efficient enough. If you really want to code it in C++ with the advantages of drag and drop controls for UI, you could use Microsoft Visual C++ but I do believe Visual Studio Express does not have C++ and you would have to get some premium version of Visual Studio.

I hope that helped you feel more confident in the language you might use. If you have an other questions or have any other requirements you aren't sure about just let us know.

Peace Out

[Spike]

Hello, I am new but I need your help.

I am having a Body fat calculator built. Should it be coded in C++, or .NET framework 4.0?

I would like to reach as many people as possible. It is in java right now and it works
fine, I just know that many people are afraid to install java on their computer.

Which code would work the best for most Windows platforms?

Hey jgrey29 and welcome to Geeks to Go,

Well from the 2 choices you've given most probably the best language to use is the .NET Framework which I assume you actually mean Visual Basic as the .NET Framework consists of many different languages including C++. And even in considering all other languages, I would have said Java as a first choice as you will be able to compile using Java ME and be able to run the application on a mobile device. Although the second choice would definitely be Visual Basic, the reason I'd recommend you use VB is because it already meets one of your requirements ("Windows platform") and as you have mentioned being new it might be a slightly easier language to get use to and feel comfortable in, and the number 1 reason I would recommend it is it is extremely simple to create a user interface, making it easier for you to just drag and drop components that make it even easier for people using your program.

C++ is a great language and can be really efficient, but assuming the scope of your project I don't believe this efficiency is required (In terms of speed). Although VB still has the upper hand of allowing you to easily create graphical user interfaces while being efficient enough. If you really want to code it in C++ with the advantages of drag and drop controls for UI, you could use Microsoft Visual C++ but I do believe Visual Studio Express does not have C++ and you would have to get some premium version of Visual Studio.

I hope that helped you feel more confident in the language you might use. If you have an other questions or have any other requirements you aren't sure about just let us know.

Peace Out

[jgrey29]

Thank you spike-hacker-inc,

I want to be more specific. Is .NET framework 4 already installed on most windows computers?
I don't want people to have to download something to make the app work on their machine.
The person doing the work is very skilled with java, but I am afraid no one will want to
install java on their machine. If someone has XP, 7 or 8 will they be able to run the app
I am having built? or will they have to download something else? I want it to be easy for
anyone to use the calculator on their own computer. Thank you.

[Spike]

Thank you spike-hacker-inc,

I want to be more specific. Is .NET framework 4 already installed on most windows computers?
I don't want people to have to download something to make the app work on their machine.
The person doing the work is very skilled with java, but I am afraid no one will want to
install java on their machine. If someone has XP, 7 or 8 will they be able to run the app
I am having built? or will they have to download something else? I want it to be easy for
anyone to use the calculator on their own computer. Thank you.

Well in the worst case assuming one of your users use the oldest version of Windows you've listed, being Windows XP (Without any service pack) then the .NET Framework will not be installed at all and will require the user to install it separately. If I am correct if the user has Windows XP with Service Pack 2, it come with .NET Framework 2.0. All newer versions of Windows after XP shipped with a version of .NET Framework.
Link: .NET Framework with OS Distribution

But this is of course in the worst case, being that the user's system is not up-to-date or at least up-to-date to an extent. In Visual Studio when creating a project, there is an option to create a project using a certain Framework and depending on the type of functionality you intend your program to use, selection .NET Framework 2.0 (Which if I am correct is the lowest Framework you are able to select) should work on majority of systems running Windows XP and higher. But of course this would not solve your problem as you will still not reach as many users as possible, so we have to assume the worst case and agree that the system is not running any .NET Framework. The best thing to do in all cases is package your program with the .NET Framework, this also allows you to use any version you would like as long as you package it with your program.

Another alternative which I completely neglected to mention, which is probably the most practical of all is creating a web based application for your program. So the functionality of your program can run directly from someones browser and reach majority of users without depending to much on user to do anything more that just interact with your website.

Peace Out

[jgrey29]

I really can't thank you enough,

Here is what I think I know now; The website will have a copy of the calculator for use on the website. For someone
who wants to download the program for use on their computer without the website, they will need .NET 2.0 or higher and they
will be fine. For people who don't have .Net 2.0 they can download the java calculator I already have and they will be fine
if they have java installed. Also, I found a hosting company that supports ASP.NET 2.0, is that what the calculator on the site will
need to function properly?

It sounded like you said the .net framework could be packaged with the program. Does that mean the Body fat calculator
would include a version of .NET framework? how large would the file be? If they already had a version of .NET installed on their
system, would it hurt anything? That would solve the whole problem

[Spike]

Hey again jgrey29 ,

The website will have a copy of the calculator for use on the website.

Yes, so if you choose you like the idea of a website hosting your application then it'll be convenient for most users who will just need to navigate to your site and make use of your program straight away and may even be able to make use of it from a smartphone. Another advantage that you may find interesting is that every time a user requires the use of your program they will have navigate to your site leaving opportunity for you to keep your users up-to-date on the latest news and promoting other applications you might also want to host.

For someone who wants to download the program for use on their computer without the website, they will need .NET 2.0 or higher and they
will be fine. For people who don't have .Net 2.0 they can download the java calculator I already have and they will be fine
if they have java installed.

Yes, so if you decide you going to use Visual Studio (Eg, VB or Visual C++) your users will just require the .NET 2.0 Framework or higher. And yes, they'll be fine to download the Java version if they are comfortable with installing a Java Runtime or already have the runtime on their PC. I think as long as you can keep a fine line between all your versions of the program, you and your users should be fine. Cause you don't want to confused them with like 5 different versions of the same program.

Also, I found a hosting company that supports ASP.NET 2.0, is that what the calculator on the site will
need to function properly?

Well it depends if you want to write your program is ASP; If you do happen to write your desktop application in VB or C# that comes with Visual Studio you should be able to copy over most of the code into ASP without any issues (Excluding graphical components), but just be aware if you do write it in Visual C++ you may have to change some syntax in order to get it to function properly in ASP, because as far as I know ASP only support VB and C#. But yes if you are planning on using Visual Studio you will require a server (host) that is running Windows Server on it as only Windows servers/pc's support the .NET Framework.

It sounded like you said the .net framework could be packaged with the program. Does that mean the Body fat calculator
would include a version of .NET framework? how large would the file be? If they already had a version of .NET installed on their
system, would it hurt anything? That would solve the whole problem

Yes, if you like when you creating a installer you could package the Framework required along with all other prerequisites your program needs with your application. But as you may have already guessed, this would indeed increase the file size quite substantially! If you package the Framework with your application and the user already has .NET installed, then no, it wouldn't affect them at all except for having to download a larger file than necessary. A way of going about solving this very issue, because we can easily assume that majority of users on the Internet already have some version of the .NET Framework installed is by allowing users to download your bare application (Without any packages) and make them aware that one of the prerequisites is .NET and if they don't already have it installed can download the Framework separately from Microsoft or you can even put the Framework for download on your site.

I hope that answered most of your questions. Do keep us updated...

Peace Out

[jgrey29]

I really am getting a grasp of this now. It is a very important project to me
and I hope you don't mind answering these questions. The website is called

www.dietbydna.com and you might let me know what you think when it is up in a few weeks.

I got an email from the developer and he said he is using C#.NET does that sound
like the way to go? Please let me know what you think. I have to make a decision
on this later today.

[Spike]

I really am getting a grasp of this now. It is a very important project to me
and I hope you don't mind answering these questions. The website is called www.dietbydna.com and you might let me
know what you think when it is up in a few weeks.

Of course, I don't mind at all... And will look forward to seeing it up and running

I got an email from the developer and he said he is using C#.NET does that sound
like the way to go? Please let me know what you think. I have to make a decision
on this later today.

That would be great, as you are able to write both desktop and web version with minimal code as ASP also supports C# as a language selection.

I'm glad you are making progress, please do keep me updated. If you have any other questions along the line, don't hesitate to ask!

Peace Out