Hey there guys,

I'm currently working on a huge program with a buddy of mine and we want to lock the source code so nobody can either edit or read it.

To do that we thought about transforming the program to an App, but we couldn't find a way to work it out and the internet isn't saying much about it either.

In conclusion we wanted to ask you whether there is a way to lock the source code and ultimately hide it from the user or if it is possible to turn the program into an app.

Appreciating your answers,

Klaus
Well, you didn't specify the programming language you're using Wink
Are you really using TI's BASIC ?

Closed-source software runs against the community's spirit of knowledge sharing, and is a bad thing to do on the long term for maintenance, but you already knew that.
Iif your using a TI8X+, you can turn your basic programs into an app using basic builder. ( http://tibasicdev.wikidot.com/basicbuilder ). Alternativly, you can use Axe or Asm. Good luck!
If you're using BASIC, there's nothing you can really do to stop people from looking at the source. Even with basic builder, I'm pretty sure it's trivial to pull the source out.
Doors CS(E?) has the option to lock your program's source code, which prevents others from tampering with the code. (Unless, of course, they have Doors as well, but anywho...).
I have a TI 84 Plus CE calculator, and I use CESIUM to edit lock my programs. Doors CS does have the option to lock a program's source code.

I'm just using Cesium because Doors CSE for the TI 84+ CE hasn't come out yet. I might switch over to Doors when it comes out, or maybe I'll keep using Cesium. But that's besides the point.

So Cesium or Doors CS should work fine. What kind of calculator do you have?
Most likely he is using BASIC, in which the answer is and always will be no. You can edit lock which prevents easy editing, but it's very easy to remove the lock (such as with Doors CS).

The only thing you can do to discourage reading/editing source is to obfuscate your program so that it is not easily readable. And with BASIC, obfuscating/minifying your code may even lead to higher performance.
Ivoah wrote:
If you're using BASIC, there's nothing you can really do to stop people from looking at the source. Even with basic builder, I'm pretty sure it's trivial to pull the source out.


Just saying, to agree with Ivoah here, if people really want to look at your source, as long as it is BASIC, it is a simple task to import it, locked or not, into SC3 and view it there.
Plus, just as Doors and Cesium can lock programs, they can also unlock them.
So, if the person using your program has little knowledge about importing and locking, you should be safe, but otherwise, there are multiple solutions to view BASIC code in any format.
If it is not BASIC, that is a whole other world.
Theoretically you could have an encrypted version of the program on your calc and have a program that decrypts the TIBasic program on runtime.
Even if it is ASM, you can still disassemble it. You cannot escape the power of reverse engineering! Evil or Very Mad
oldmud0 wrote:
Even if it is ASM, you can still disassemble it. You cannot escape the power of reverse engineering! Evil or Very Mad

However, disassembled ASM is considerably harder to read the source code. Also if you have the code encrypted up until you run it, it will be hard to get the decrypted program.
  
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