VB to Python migration

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 23:48:51 +0000, Josh wrote:

> We have a program written in VB6 (over 100,000 lines of code and 230 UI 
> screens) that we want to get out of VB and into a better language. The 
> program is over 10 years old and has already been ported from VB3 to 
> VB6, a job which took over two years. We would like to port it to 
> Python, but we need to continue to offer upgrades and fixes to the 
> current VB6 version. Does anybody know of ways we could go about 
> rewriting this, one screen at a time, in Python, and calling the screens 
> from the existing program?

I know little about VB, but if it can call external programs, then it
should be able to call a Python program from the command line.

[snip]

> Any answers/suggestions/pointers are greatly appreciated.


I suggest you hire a couple of experienced Python developers, pick half a
dozen screens, say three simple screens and three complex ones, and build
them in Python. That will give you an idea of how much work is involved.
Don't get your VB developers to try to port it themselves, that's a recipe
for disaster: they will be trying to learn Python, and will end up writing
VB code in Python, which is sure to be slow, inefficient, bulky and buggy.

You may also like to think about using a web front end. If your GUI app
only uses simple controls like text fields and push buttons, a web front
end might simplify things a lot.

Good luck.



-- 
Steven.