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A Modern & Consistent Future with Xojo API 2.0

Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible.

Alan Kay

This quote reflects a key driver for what we do. With Xojo, we abstract your app development from most platform details so you’re not affected by their complexity and frequent changes. Keep in mind the many platform changes that have occurred over the past 25+ years: from Classic Mac OS to macOS Big Sur, from Windows 98 to Windows 11, to Linux, and the growing relevance of Web and now Mobile applications.

Over the past quarter century there have been many different minds working on Xojo, each using changing API design trends to add new features and entirely new platforms that did not even exist when earlier work was done. This has resulted in inconsistent naming and a somewhat steeper learning curve than we’d like. In order to ensure that Xojo remains as easy to use as it can be, API 2.0 was introduced with a clear set of naming guidelines. After all, any programming language needs updates to stay modern, relevant and usable. Xojo is no different.

With API 2.0, we have taken the opportunity to transition to more consistent APIs, modernize frameworks when we can and generally prepare for the future so that you can continue to use Xojo to make great apps for a long time. However, unlike other platforms and tools, Xojo’s legacy APIs continue to be available for use. We rarely remove anything and for the most part your existing projects continue to work with few or no changes.

The final piece of API 2.0 will be here soon with the arrival of new Desktop controls (introduced in Xojo 2021r3), which bring together all the work we have done for Web and Mobile, including naming improvements and general modernization. In fact, Desktop API 2.0 lays the groundwork for even more improvements, such as Dark Mode on Windows.

We are excited about the future of Xojo and can’t wait to see the apps you create! Read about more technical details in the Xojo Documentation: Moving to API 2.

From the entire team: Thank you for using Xojo!