Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 October 25

= October 25 =

Building Apps for Android Mobiles
Before I compile (i.e turn the program into .exe format,) is there a way, using some software tool etc. to turn the work into an app that can work in Android mobile devices ? BTW, I program using Visual Basic 6. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.134.197.76 (talk • contribs)
 * It looks like it: here's a post about the different options. Note that your program will need to use Android's API, so if you wrote it for another operating system, you'll need to modify it before it will work. https://www.techwalla.com/articles/can-i-make-android-apps-with-visual-basic. OldTimeNESter (talk) 11:19, 25 October 2017 (UTC)


 * There are a lot of misconceptions wrapped up in this question.
 * ".exe" is a file-name extension, not a file format. Commonly, it refers to a file that is an executable program on the Microsoft Windows platform.
 * In the most conventional configuration, an application written in Visual Basic targets the Windows platform. There are a few exceptions, but from the limited description we have hear, I'm hearing hoofbeats and thinking horses.
 * Unless you used a cross-platform toolkit, the task of porting an application written in Visual Basic is not going to work on the Android platform. You will need to do lots of work to make changes to your software.
 * Most importantly, Visual Basic 6 was superseded by .NET a very long time ago - almost two decades. Now, we're not speaking of some open platform or some ISO language standard - we're talking about the 1998-vintage version of a proprietary tool.  Why are you using it?  It is no better than the 1997-version, Visual Basic 5; it is no worse than the 2002 version, Visual Basic 7; it is just a randomly-selected version of the tool.  It happens to be deprecated: it has been a dead product for almost two decades, and Microsoft has formally published an end of life statement.
 * Microsoft makes its current-generation software development studio available to you at zero cost.
 * If you continue to use VB6, you are wasting your time and our time. Stop using VB6 for any purpose.  Absolutely do not attempt to use VB6 to develop for Android platforms.  Read, and study, a book or web-tutorial on Android development.  Here is a starting point: the Android Developer tutorials.  Consider purchasing a non-free book on Android development like the O'Reilly Programming Android, 2nd Edition.
 * So, to summarize: educate yourself about your software development toolkit prior to using it for a complicated software development task.
 * Nimur (talk) 19:36, 25 October 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, Nimur. This is really a sincere and concerned advice.