There appears to be a large collection of Ruby bindings for various C/C++
widget sets, Gtk, QT, Fox, Tk, etc…
There’s nothing wrong in writing for C/C++ widgets, and in fact it is
nesscesry if you wish your application intergrate with a desktop enviroment
such as KDE/Gnome.
However, I feel there is a lack of native, pure ruby widget set - this way
ruby could have gui support in it’s core distribution, no need for external
depencies.
Although non-trivial ,in theory this task is possible, for Unix pure ruby X11
library available, and for win32 there is the win32api(an abstraction layer
could be used here, with the widget set built on top, like Gtk/Gdk)
I am taking first steps in this direction, experimenting with RubyX11, I just
wonder if someone else has already started working on a similar idea…
However, I feel there is a lack of native, pure ruby widget set - this way
ruby could have gui support in it’s core distribution, no need for
external depencies.
Although non-trivial ,in theory this task is possible, for Unix pure ruby
X11 library available, and for win32 there is the win32api(an abstraction
layer could be used here, with the widget set built on top, like Gtk/Gdk)
Yes it’s probably possible, but it would probably have the same problems as
Java’s SWING, for which took a couple of years to get rid of some major
perfomance problems… and since ruby won’t be any faster than Java, the
problems might even get worse!
That’s why eclipse (The IDE) has been built on top of a native GUI-Library.
I think the existing libraries are sufficiently platform independent and
performant. Although the Library you are wanting to make sounds like a
great idea there’s imho no real need for them (at least from my pragmatic
point of view).
Although non-trivial ,in theory this task is possible,
I definitely agree that this is a non-trivial task, although if you have lots of
time for the project then go for it!
I have experience of Java Swing; Swing is a well thought out
architecture/approach to creating a language “pure” widget set and IMHO would be
a good model for your suggested project.
The best book I have read on Swing architecture & application, is “Java Swing”
published by O’Reilly.
In my opinion, it is questionable whether the world needs another GUI
framework though …
However, I feel there is a lack of native, pure ruby widget set - this way
ruby could have gui support in it’s core distribution, no need for external
depencies.
Although non-trivial ,in theory this task is possible, for Unix pure ruby X11
library available, and for win32 there is the win32api(an abstraction layer
could be used here, with the widget set built on top, like Gtk/Gdk)
If I understand correctly Gutopia is sort of abstraction layer for
low-level toolkit backends, It seems quite interesting although the
codebase in question seems to be a bit in stagnation(No CVS commits in
the last few months).
I am taking first steps in this direction, experimenting with RubyX11, I just
wonder if someone else has already started working on a similar idea…
url is welcome!
As soon as something will be available, I didn’t do any low-level X11
coding in the past, so currently I have only primitive Window widget:-|
If I understand correctly Gutopia is sort of abstraction layer for
low-level toolkit backends, It seems quite interesting although the
codebase in question seems to be a bit in stagnation(No CVS commits in
the last few months).
Both GUtopIa and Rouge aim for higher level abstractions. correct.
Both also tend to be low on activity (while the ideas are pretty good).
I’ve also heard the argument Ruby does not need yet-another-toolkit, but
needs something to improve upon toolkits and distinguish itself in some
way that’s Ruby-like. I think that’s a valid argument.
I am taking first steps in this direction, experimenting with RubyX11, I just
wonder if someone else has already started working on a similar idea…
url is welcome!
As soon as something will be available, I didn’t do any low-level X11
coding in the past, so currently I have only primitive Window widget:-|
btw, Wise uses libX11 (so a C-binding instead of RubyX11), but its aim is
similar to what you want. Do you feel cooperation is an option? A toolkit
is a daunting task
