Migration of PowerBuilder application to multiplatform
- by Alex Bibiano
I developed a client/server application with PowerBuilder in the past for medical clinics and done maintenance for it until now.
Now, some clients are asking me to develop a release for Mac/Linux and need some advice about what programming language/technology is best suited for it and the learning curve.
It’s not a very very big program but I’m the only developer and have done it in my spare time. PowerBuilder is very productive for this kind of projects (database centric), but it’s not multiplatform and it’s hard to sell PowerBuilder application now days (web, .NET, java sells a lot better with his marketing).
My programming skills:
- I studied C and C++ in the past (university) but never used it on real projects
- Have some Java experience but not in desktop applications
- Some experience with Ruby on Rails for web projects
- Good skills with PowerBuilder and C# (.NET) (there are my main developing languages)
My first dilemma is if I change the desktop application to a web interface, but I think the user will lose some user-experience, and some doctors don’t have a clinic (they are alone at home with my software). I think installing a web application (with webserver) for one user will be overwhelming.
If I continue developing desktop application, what is at the moment a good framework/toolset to learn having my skills?
Somebody has had similar experiences?
A lot of thanks
