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As a native mobile dev, I found myself unable to adopt it because I need and/or want direct access to the native platform capabilities, most especially when it

As a native mobile dev, I found myself unable to adopt it because I need and/or want direct access to the native platform capabilities, most especially when it comes to building GUIs. Write-once tends not to work so well when users are able to tell behavior, framerate, appearance, … differences in a split second and when optimal UX was my purpose in writing mobile apps in the first place. In the same way, learn-once is more of a marketing term than a reality, since platforms implicitly differ.

Q6T46nT668w6i3m 9y ago
Just to be clear, you’re talking about GUIs for applications rather than games?
- blueprint 9y ago
  No, I have built and have had need to build all kinds of applications. And even games have 'views' and 'controls' within them.
  - panopticon 9y ago
    I have seen very few games leverage native controls (with the exception of dialog boxes which are supported by almost every write-once framework), so I'd be curious to know your specific case for needing native controls in a game.
    - blueprint 9y ago
      Then you miss the point of systems like Haxe.
      - ZenoArrow 9y ago
        The point of systems like Haxe is "write once, run anywhere". You don't need to mimic the standard OS interface style to do so, especially not with games (as it's more important that the style of the interface suits the game).
        blueprint 9y ago
        That's great as long as you don't care about reusing your code. It's not just biz logic, services, utils, etc either, I'm talking about the fact that people put UIViews over SpriteKit games all the time and you can't rightly say that doesn't exist just because you get to downvote me.
        ZenoArrow 9y ago
        Firstly, I didn't downvote you. Secondly, I don't know what point you're trying to prove. The people that create frameworks for Haxe have their own priorities, if those priorities don't align with your own that doesn't mean they lack merit for those that use them. Haxe has been used to create a number of successful apps and games. Instead of just looking for weaknesses, try also looking for strengths, try understanding why developers are choosing to use it.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
        blueprint 9y ago
        I'm not sure why you responded if you didn't get my point then, but let's assume you're asking me in good faith. All I'm saying is that your premise of "write once, run anywhere" is still not true for everyone, everywhere. So I don't see why I have to accept it as if I'm being unfair to someone. I think it's not honest when people are not upfront about hidden limitations to their promises which are going to have material effects on the future. We ought not to sweep this problem under the rug when we have the chance to solve it. I don't buy that people have entirely their own priorities. We all need a solution to this problem, but who wants to dedicate their life to making "learn once write anywhere" an actual reality? Especially when the developers of top platforms "have their own priorities". Go ahead and call me esoteric but I guess I just prefer it if projects didn't overhype their capabilities when I'm supposed to be evaluating them for security- and business-sensitive contexts. :P
        ZenoArrow 9y ago
jchw 9y ago
Have you seen Flutter.io? I haven't tried it but it sounds like the framework for you.
- blueprint 9y ago
  Well, it's kind of an issue, because it's a similar argument for platforms like Xamarin. A third party still has to keep up with mainline. That means another layer of support, maintenance, dependency… which is not always an issue… but practically speaking is one of the things you eliminate at scale and / or in the rigors of production.
  - jchw 9y ago
    Fair enough; it still seems pretty promising, especially because my experience developing native Android apps did not make me feel confident in doing very advanced UIs with native Android - it just feels complicated, and the compatibility layer stuff seems like no fun. (I had trouble linking the jars in for reasons I was not able to fully understand. I've worked with Java stuff before, but the Android toolchain still has me confused.) I hope that Flutter, with its massive backing, manages to stay up to date with mainline without putting too much burden on app developers. We'll see I suppose.

Q6T46nT668w6i3m 9y ago

Just to be clear, you’re talking about GUIs for applications rather than games?

blueprint 9y ago
No, I have built and have had need to build all kinds of applications. And even games have 'views' and 'controls' within them.
- panopticon 9y ago
  I have seen very few games leverage native controls (with the exception of dialog boxes which are supported by almost every write-once framework), so I'd be curious to know your specific case for needing native controls in a game.
  - blueprint 9y ago
    Then you miss the point of systems like Haxe.
    - ZenoArrow 9y ago
      The point of systems like Haxe is "write once, run anywhere". You don't need to mimic the standard OS interface style to do so, especially not with games (as it's more important that the style of the interface suits the game).
      - blueprint 9y ago
        That's great as long as you don't care about reusing your code. It's not just biz logic, services, utils, etc either, I'm talking about the fact that people put UIViews over SpriteKit games all the time and you can't rightly say that doesn't exist just because you get to downvote me.
        ZenoArrow 9y ago
        Firstly, I didn't downvote you. Secondly, I don't know what point you're trying to prove. The people that create frameworks for Haxe have their own priorities, if those priorities don't align with your own that doesn't mean they lack merit for those that use them. Haxe has been used to create a number of successful apps and games. Instead of just looking for weaknesses, try also looking for strengths, try understanding why developers are choosing to use it.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
        blueprint 9y ago
        I'm not sure why you responded if you didn't get my point then, but let's assume you're asking me in good faith. All I'm saying is that your premise of "write once, run anywhere" is still not true for everyone, everywhere. So I don't see why I have to accept it as if I'm being unfair to someone. I think it's not honest when people are not upfront about hidden limitations to their promises which are going to have material effects on the future. We ought not to sweep this problem under the rug when we have the chance to solve it. I don't buy that people have entirely their own priorities. We all need a solution to this problem, but who wants to dedicate their life to making "learn once write anywhere" an actual reality? Especially when the developers of top platforms "have their own priorities". Go ahead and call me esoteric but I guess I just prefer it if projects didn't overhype their capabilities when I'm supposed to be evaluating them for security- and business-sensitive contexts. :P
        ZenoArrow 9y ago

jchw 9y ago

Have you seen Flutter.io? I haven't tried it but it sounds like the framework for you.

blueprint 9y ago
Well, it's kind of an issue, because it's a similar argument for platforms like Xamarin. A third party still has to keep up with mainline. That means another layer of support, maintenance, dependency… which is not always an issue… but practically speaking is one of the things you eliminate at scale and / or in the rigors of production.
- jchw 9y ago
  Fair enough; it still seems pretty promising, especially because my experience developing native Android apps did not make me feel confident in doing very advanced UIs with native Android - it just feels complicated, and the compatibility layer stuff seems like no fun. (I had trouble linking the jars in for reasons I was not able to fully understand. I've worked with Java stuff before, but the Android toolchain still has me confused.) I hope that Flutter, with its massive backing, manages to stay up to date with mainline without putting too much burden on app developers. We'll see I suppose.