4GL Spotlight: BinaryStar Development
Today we're going to be talking to Lee Becall and Harvey Rodstein of BinaryStar Development about their product Nucleus.
Q: I've been hand coding, why would I use a 4GL like yours? What advantage do I get from that?
Lee Bacall: Let's talk about a jump into hyperspace. You can get so much more with a tool that does all the grunt work for you. You can build your model of your data. From that model you are able to deploy — automatically — in green screen or a GUI using AccuTerm or create a web product with all the bells and whistles.
Q: As a MultiValue guy, do I need to learn twenty new technologies to use your stuff?
Lee Bacall: Not at all. Nucleus bases it's operation on Pick BASIC fundamentals.
Harvey: It's kind of different levels of knowledge you need as you move ahead. Nucleus itself is built for an MV programmer because it helps you manage all your rules to update and retrieve data. Now let's talk about moving out of the green screen. There is a product we created called Starsite. You can use Starsite as the back end to a web server, to process and return data.
It does that using HTML templates. So, how do you do that? You'd better learn HTML. You need some chops in HTML and maybe JavaScript. Once you've done that, that same ruleset that was working on character screen and a GUI screen is now serving the same rules to update and retrieve data.
Q: So I can do this in stages. I can start by cleaning up the way I am handling things on my current green screen and then either bring it into GUI or web.
Harvey: That's exactly correct. You are taking the logic that worked in the legacy environment and letting that service the new environment.
Q: Am I writing MultiValue code, am I writing in a scripting language?
Lee: We're dealing with a script here. The simple script which defines the filename and the field names.
Watch the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgtcNhIi2y0&t=117s . There's a lot more, including NuSQL, debugging tools, and other details of the BinaryStar offerings.
Charles Barouch is the CTO of HDWP, Inc. He is also a regular contributor to International Spectrum Magazine, a former Associate Editor for both Database Trends and for Gateways Magazine, a former distance learning Instructor for CALC. He is presently the Past President of the U2UG. Mr. Barouch has presented technology and business topics in front of hundreds of companies, in a wide range of product and service categories. He is available for on-site speaking and consulting engagements in and out of the United States.
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