Suneido Platform

Homepage of Suneido is http://www.suneido.com Latest release is Feb. 4, 2007. The latest snapshot release is from April. 4th, 2011

Suneido is a complete, integrated application platform - a system for developing and deploying applications without the frustrations of integrating multiple different products. Suneido incorporates an object-oriented SuneidoLanguage, client-server relational SuneidoDatabase, and application frameworks and components. It includes the SuneidoDevelopmentEnvironment used to create applications as well as the client and server required to run applications on your network. Suneido is OpenSource software - it is provided free, with complete source code, to give you full control over your development projects.

Suneido's mission is to provide a simple, open, lightweight, industrial strength alternative to large, complex, expensive, closed application technologies such as Visual Basic, Delphi, Oracle, and SQL Server.

Suneido currently runs on Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP. Windows NT, 2000, or XP are recommended for the server. A Linux version is planned. but when?

Suneido includes simple language translation support. Translation tables are included to run the IDE in French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, German, Czech, Slovak, Norwegian, Dutch, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Bulgarian.

There is an on-line forum for the discussion of Suneido at http://www.suneido.com/forum/

Suneido can also be found on:

Note: Suneido includes it's own Wiki implementation. :-)

What is the itch that this language scratches?

The itch for me, as the instigator of this project, was to have a free, open source, integrated platform for developing and deploying information systems. I like C++ and Java just fine. But they're complex (C++ especially) and they're not complete solutions. You still need a database, and a user interface, and networking. Look at all the pieces Microsoft would have you use to build an application - Visual C++, Visual Basic. SQL Server, COM, DCOM, COM++, .Net ... Even if you don't mind the cost and licensing, there's a huge amount of complexity there. And if you do run into a bug, you're out of luck. All-in-one solutions like Suneido have their own weaknesses, but it can handle many applications and at least it's manageable. -- AndrewMcKinlay

Andrew, would you agree - I only did a 2 hours testing session with Suneido - that its overall structure as a product is nearest to MS Access?

Both

have integrated db, language, development environment
target (multiuser) database applications
available for Win32 systems

What Suneido has:

open source
a small footprint
a smalltalk-like open system
an application framework "Book" similar to an HTML-based HLP-file

What Suneido still lacks:

a form/subform editor (discussion moved to SuneidoDevelopmentEnvironment)
separate databases for program logic, customer data
a bit of performance

Similarities to MS Access

I'd agree that there are a lot of similarities with MS Access. Although MS Access is also intended as an end-user application (i.e. for people to make up their own lists) as well as a development tool. Whereas Suneido (currently, anyway) is just aimed at programmers developing applications. And I think, although MS Access has it's own database engine, for larger systems you have to use SQL Server. Also, I think MS Access uses a form of Visual Basic :-(

In many ways Suneido is more similar to the SmalltalkLanguage (which is also not just a language) - dynamic types, integrated development environment written in the language itself, browsers, integrated compiling, etc. Many of the Smalltalk idioms (as in SmalltalkBestPracticePatterns by KentBeck) also apply to Suneido. However, Smalltalk has a completely different syntax and doesn't have its own database.

Separate databases for program logic and customer data

Helmut - you've tried to explain this to me, but I'm still not convinced (or clear) that it is necessary to physically split data and programs. (Currently, Suneido stores both the data and the code in a single database file.) Obviously, you need to be able to update the code without affecting the data, but there are many ways to handle this logically without forcing a physical split. I can see some value in allowing an application to access multiple databases, but I'm not sure the value justifies the considerable extra complexity. A common, single, context for an application is very valuable.

Book application framework

Although, Suneido's application Books can be used simply like a help file containing HTML pages, (like the Suneido documentation), when used as an application framework, pages can also be Suneido user interface forms. This lets you use HTML pages for menus and help mixed in with the actual program pages. I should probably write a better description of the SuneidoBookMetaphor?.

-- AndrewMcKinlay

A Linux version is planned.

This would be cool. Perhaps the simplest way to get such a port might be to use WineLib (http://www.winehq.org/). Just a suggestion.

Other people have suggested Wine. I haven't had time to look at it yet. The first step would be to port the server side since this would be useful, and wouldn't require porting the user interface. I think in many ways the Linux audience, although smaller than Windows, might be more receptive to Suneido. I keep hoping someone will offer to do the Linux port for me! :-) -- AndrewMcKinlay

I browsed some of the source code today - nice work, Andrew! And I like the decision to use truly relational language to query the database. -- NikolaToshev

Thanks Nikola, it's always nice to get some positive feedback. People seem to be able to write more complex queries easier with a straightforward relational algebra query language than with SQL. -- AndrewMcKinlay

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