Can anybody tell me in SIMPLE words, what does it mean when we say "I want to build a framework for blah..blah"
From Software Framework on Wikipedia:
In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by user code, thus providing application specific software. A software framework is a universal, reusable software platform used to develop applications, products and solutions. Software frameworks include support programs, compilers, code libraries, an application programming interface (API) and tool sets that bring together all the different components to enable development of a project or solution.
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I want to create a third-party plug-in for Serato (a software for DJs).
I searched in their site and I saw that Serato supports VST (VST2) plug-ins. So my question now is what should I read in order to create a VST plug-in?
Thank you in advance.
A good starting point would be the wikipedia site for VSTs, just to get the basics if you are not familiar with this technology, first you need to know the creators of the VSTs: Steinberg.
VST SDK is a set of C++ classes based around an underlying C API. The
SDK can be downloaded from their website.
Therefore I would recommend starting with something simple. Let’s review a few options:
JUCE
This technology is trending for a few reasons, like their homepage says:
With support for PC, Mac and Linux, JUCE is the perfect tool for
building powerful and complex applications. JUCE also supports the
development of plug-ins: VST, AU and AAX. Run your desktop
applications on mobile! One-click deployment to Android and iOS
(requires Android Studio and XCode) Adjust the user interface of your
application with the Projucer live coding engine Use the best audio
performance available on iOS and Android.
So the pros of this technology are the big community, multi-platform and that is free, at least for non-commercial developments (then if you want to sell it you have to pay). The cons would be that you need to have a little more than the basics of C++ to get started, fortunately there are a lot of tutorials on their page, youtube and the internet, the community is growing so if you have issues you can always ask.
SynthEdit and FL SynthMaker
If you don’t want to get into the code that fast you can start practicing with these, as they don’t require programming expertise, or only a few basics.
SynthEdit is a framework and a visual circuit design that allows you
to create your own synths with only drag & drop without programming.
Therefore giving you the flexibility of using your DSP algorithms
inside the modules.
This is cool if you want to start going quickly, this currently has a cost you can check on their official website.
FL SynthMaker, aka Flowstone, comes free with FL studio. It has a straightforward drag-and-drop graphical interface and a wide range of components. You can use it to code modules and DSP in Ruby and comes with loads of examples to get started quickly and its capacity to assist you in creating a prototype within a short time is a plus.
FLowstone is a programming application that is used to create virtual
instruments effects and computer control of external hardware without
the need to write basic code. The instruments and effects you create
in SynthMaker can be used in FL Studio as 'native' plugins and shared
with other FLowstone users.
MAX MSP
Max, also known as Max/MSP/Jitter, is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling '74. Over its more than thirty-year history, composers, performers, software designers, researchers, and artists have used it to create recordings, performances, and installations.
The Max program is modular, with most routines existing as shared
libraries. An application programming interface (API) allows
third-party development of new routines (named external objects).
Thus, Max has a large user base of programmers unaffiliated with
Cycling '74 who enhance the software with commercial and
non-commercial extensions to the program. Because of this extensible
design, which simultaneously represents both the program's structure
and its graphical user interface (GUI), Max has been described as the
lingua franca for developing interactive music performance software.
SOUL
The SOUL project is creating a new language and infrastructure for
writing and deploying audio code. It aims to unlock improvements in
latency, performance, portability and ease-of-development that aren't
possible with the current mainstream techniques that are being used.
SOUL unlocks native-level speed, even when hosted from slower, safer
languages. The SOUL language makes audio coding more accessible and
less error-prone, enhancing productivity for both beginners and expert
professionals.
Maximilian
Is a cross-platform and multi-target audio synthesis and signal processing library. It was written in C++ and provides bindings to Javascript. It's compatible with native implementations for MacOS, Windows, Linux and iOS systems, and client-side browser-based applications. The main features are:
sample playback, recording and looping
support for WAV and OGG files.
a selection of oscillators and filters enveloping
multichannel mixing for 1, 2, 4 and 8 channel setups controller
mapping functions
effects including delay, distortion, chorus, flanging granular
synthesis, including time and pitch stretching atom synthesis
real-time music information retrieval functions: spectrum analysis,
spectral features, octave analysis, Bark scale analysis, and MFCCs
example projects for Windows and MacOS, using command line and
OpenFrameworks environments
example projects for Firefox and Chromium-based browsers using the
Web Audio API ScriptProcessorNode (deprecated!)
example projects for Chromium-based browsers using the Web Audio API
AudioWorklet (e.g. Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi)
Extras
A few months ago I found this community that is focused on audio programming. They also have a Youtube channel with hundreds of tutorials and a discord server where you can ask questions, and even show your projects or even get a job. If you are interested. It’s called the “The audio Programmer”
Hope this helps you get started. I know there are a lot of option out there and this might confuse you at the beginning but I hope this little guide helps you choose a good starting point depending on your needs and goals since every technology offers different things.
What is a 'generic specification' with regards to web programming, specifically for PHP or JavaScript/jQuery?
A software specification is a text describing the developing goals and features of a software project. This text is usually written during planning phase, before any code is being written for the project. It often contains information about the software and frameworks that is being used, the software architecture, database schemas and other design decisions.
A generic specification in particular is a software specification that does not go much in detail about the implementation, and is rather an early concept of the project.
I have heard of several things, quoted from Wikipedia:
"Java Runtime Environment",
A JVM is distributed along with a set
of standard class libraries that
implement the Java application
programming interface (API).
Appropriate APIs bundled together form
the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
"Adobe Integrated Runtime"
Adobe Integrated Runtime, also known
as Adobe AIR, is a cross-platform
runtime environment developed by Adobe
Systems for building Rich Internet
Applications (RIA) using Adobe Flash,
Adobe Flex, HTML, and Ajax, that can
be run as desktop applications.
".NET Framework"
The .NET Framework (pronounced dot
net) is a software framework for
Microsoft Windows operating systems.
It includes a large library, and it
supports several programming languages
which allows language interoperability
(each language can use code written in
other languages). The .NET library is
available to all the programming
languages that .NET supports.
As described above, if I understand correctly, the first two seem to be related to "runtime environment", but there is no related Wikipedia to explain what "runtime environment" is.
The third is said to be a "Software framework", which has a Wikipedia article as:
a software framework is an abstraction
in which common code providing generic
functionality can be selectively
overridden or specialized by user
code, thus providing specific
functionality. Frameworks are a
special case of software libraries in
that they are reusable abstractions of
code wrapped in a well-defined
Application programming interface
(API), yet they contain some key
distinguishing features that separate
them from normal libraries.
So my questions are:
Are "Runtime Environment" and
"Software framework" the same
thing? If not, how do they differ,
and do they belong to some common
category?
Are they all programming
libraries/APIs that can be used by
programmers to develop their own
software?
The three examples are often
required when installing some
software. Do they belong to the
concept of virtual machine? If
not, what category do they belong
to? How is that category different
from virtual machine?
Thanks and regards!
PS: I don't know if this post is more suitable for superuser or for stackoverflow, as the three examples are often required when installing some software, and they are also seem to be providing API for software developers.
No. A runtime environment basically is a virtual machine that runs on top of a machine - provides machine abstraction. It is generally lower level than a library. A framework can contain a runtime environment, but is generally tied to a library.
Java, AIR and .NET (in this case the Common Language Runtime) has each its own runtime in a certain byte code that runs on top of the operating system. It allows the code to be quite portable without recompilation to do it this way.
Libraries and APIs are used for making new programs. A runtime environment is where the programs run.
A runtime environment does coincide with the concept of a virtual machine, albeit not as complex as VMWare or otherwise. They both share the goal of abstracting the underlying systems to a point that other software can run on it.
Are "Runtime Environment" and "Software framework" the same thing? If not, how do they differ, and do they belong to some common category?
No, not really. The "runtime environment" is typically referring to the core technology that actually executes the code itself. In Java, this would be the JVM - in .NET, the CLR. The "framework" typically refers to the suite of libraries that are distributed by default.
Are they all programming libraries/APIs that can be used by programmers to develop their own software?
This is more of the "framework" - the "Framework" provides the APIs available by default.
The three examples are often required when installing some software. Do they belong to the concept of virtual machine? If not, what category do they belong to? How is that category different from virtual machine?
A Virtual Machine is a form of "runtime environment" - this is what Java and C# uses for their runtime environment.
The confusion arises since you typically install both things together - as a runtime environment is of little use without some basic libraries (the framework), and a framework does nothing without a runtime environment (since the latter is required to execute code based on the framework).
This question already has answers here:
Closed 12 years ago.
Possible Duplicates:
What is a framework? What does it do? Why do we need a framework
What is the difference between a class library and a framework
Although I referred to various sources, I still can't understand the proper definition. What is meant by "application framework"?
Here's a simpler answer:
Application frameworks make writing applications easier.
Creating applications is hard. Applications have to provide input and output which they get through operating system semantics. Modern applications are usually GUI based and a GUI app is orders of magnitude more complex than a non-GUI app.
It's that simple. The framework takes all the complexities of interfacing with the operating system and simplifies them for you. It handles all the nitty-gritty details for you. Obviously certain frameworks do a better job at it than others.
There is one drawback to using an application framework that rarely seems to be discussed (presumably because we are all smiling about the amount of work we didn't have to do). In order to provide a simplified view of the operating environment, a framework has to box you into a certain 'style'. If your app is sufficiently different from the usual form of app, you are likely to end up frustrated in the framework as it will make doing what you want very difficult. This is partly because you now have to do all the things that the framework was hiding from you and partly because the framework is probably a closed system.
Frameworks are a special case of software libraries in that they are
reusable abstractions of code wrapped
in a well-defined Application
programming interface (API), yet they
contain some key distinguishing
features that separate them from
normal libraries.
An application framework consists of a framework used by software developers to implement the standard structure of an application for a specific development environment
Wikipedia answers, as you might expect, that an application framework is a framework for developing applications.
An application typically provides a user interface. "Application framework" can be used loosely to refer to user-interface frameworks that provide little more than a collection of low-level user-interface controls -- like MFC, Swing, Qt and the like.
However, it is useful to distinguish these from more powerful frameworks like the Eclipse Rich-Client Platform and the Netbeans Platform, which provide a higher-level framework -- built atop those low-level toolkits -- on which to develop applications.
I personally use "application platform" only for these latter platforms, and refer to the low-level APIs as "user-interface toolkits."
I would like to start a new project which will make extensive use of plugins. I know that both Eclipse and Netbeans have their respective Rich Client Platforms, both with their respective strengths and weaknesses.
I would like some comments on which the Stack Overflow community prefers.
Also, and most importantly, how easy it is with the respective platforms to write plugins for already existing applications. For example, if I finish my application, and would like to enable 3rd parties to extend it with their own plugins, how does each of these platforms provide functionality for this? Would they need my source to do it, or do these platforms provide plugin APIs towards which 3rd parties can code?
I would like some comments on which the Stack Overflow community prefers.
I lean my preference to Eclipse RCP, mostly because I still think that the IDE itself is the best right now. Eclipse RCP is also more mature, and has more books and documentations on the web. Netbeans RCP is slightly behind with only three books I can find on Amazon.com regarding the platform.
I'm also very eager to see the platform growing with its e4 projects which will simplify a lot of things (from dependency injection to UI customization)
Also, and most importantly, how easy it is with the respective platforms to write plugins for already existing applications. For example, if I finish my application, and would like to enable 3rd parties to extend it with their own plugins, how does each of these platforms provide functionality for this? Would they need my source to do it, or do these platforms provide plugin APIs towards which 3rd parties can code?
I can imagine that the answer for this question will not really be satisfying while both platform are designed to be extensible. They are pretty equals in this department.
The most important thing is to design your application to also be extensible. That is, providing extension points. You don't have to provide source code for that but you can document the extension points. Also, in case you need to provide interfaces, you can just provide the javadoc without the real source.
I repeat my point, designing application using RCP doesn't mean your application will automatically be extensible. You have to also design your application to be so. This won't come easily as you learn the platform for the first time but you will eventually learn about it from experience.
(Note: I'm not speaking for the community here ;) )
The two major differences between Netbeans and Eclipse RCP are:
OSGi (Netbeans 6.9 is only beginning to support it): it is designed to support extensions
Swing vs. SWT (can you app benefit from the native look supported by SWT)
Another factor, as you can read in this blog post is RAP (Rich Ajax Platform), which could help deploy your app on many platform based on one source code. But that may not concern you.
The maven integration is quite good from both side (see the Netbeans-RCP-Maven Hello World article), but the Maven3-Tycho integration is primarily developed on Eclipse.
Again, you might not need those new maven features (or you could use other build management system entirely, like Ivy or Graddle)
Consider if your plugins does really need such complex architecture as eclipse RCP or NetBeans provide. Plugins for RCP or NetBeans can be only created by Java Developers with strong RCP/NetBeans experience. Be aware that you can do (very easy) RCP application that is not pluggable at all. In some cases is better to write your own, maybe less flexible but more friendly way to attach new plugins. You can even do some wizards for them.