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Learning Vala is still far better than GObject-C. Rust GTK bindings are probably not yet there. So what's left? Python and JavaScript. If you care about native

by hawski 8y ago

Learning Vala is still far better than GObject-C. Rust GTK bindings are probably not yet there. So what's left? Python and JavaScript. If you care about native performance the way I believe they are these will also not cut it. Vala seems then a logical choice, especially at the time they were deciding. The question I have is: will Vala be supported further by Gnome in foreseeable future? I heard some time ago that it's not so sure. I would be pleased to hear otherwise.

rijoja 8y ago
Sure got that one right. GObject-C is an impressively good implementation put next to WinAPI but way behind to anything vaguely modern.
computerex 8y ago
Vala is more or less dead.
- simplify 8y ago
  Seems not? https://github.com/GNOME/vala https://github.com/GNOME/vala
scythe 8y ago
https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2017/02/19/on-problems-with-vala/ https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2017/02/19/on-problems-wi... >There are currently 179 unreviewed patches in Vala’s request queue. The oldest patch there is 2,556 days old, so we know that it’s been seven years since anyone has cared for the outstanding patches. Any of those discouraged contributors might have eventually turned into Vala maintainers if only their patches were reviewed. Of course, most would not have, but if only one or two of the people who submitted patches was an active Vala maintainer today, the project would be in a significantly better state.
- floatboth 8y ago
  > /2017/02/19 The situation seems much better now
  - scythe 8y ago
    https://bugzilla.gnome.org/page.cgi?id=patchreport.html&product=vala https://bugzilla.gnome.org/page.cgi?id=patchreport.html&prod... If you're using the link on the blog post, you should also notice the queue looks empty without any status code, which tells me the link is broken. The banner says they've migrated to GitLab, where of 29 merge requests (since May, apparently) 8 are open, 2 of which are older than a month: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=all https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests?scope=all... one of which looks unfinished and won't merge, and one of which should obviously be merged unless the author is a huge liar: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests/8/diffs https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests/8/diffs I will agree it definitely doesn't look as bad, and the door is open to "much better" -- the above is just a nitpick -- but it's too early to say that for sure. They just basically wiped the slate clean with the migration.
floatboth 8y ago
> Rust GTK bindings are probably not yet there They're good enough for https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Fractal https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Fractal :) > what's left? Python and JavaScript And D, and C++. gtkmm (C++) is really underrated imo > will also not cut it SpiderMonkey (gjs) is a fast JIT. Of course you'll have more RAM usage than with a compiled language, but performance should be good. (And don't forget that many GUI applications spend way more time in the GUI library's code than in the application code.)

by hawski 8y ago

rijoja 8y ago

Sure got that one right. GObject-C is an impressively good implementation put next to WinAPI but way behind to anything vaguely modern.

computerex 8y ago

Vala is more or less dead.

simplify 8y ago
Seems not? https://github.com/GNOME/vala https://github.com/GNOME/vala

scythe 8y ago

https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2017/02/19/on-problems-with-vala/ https://blogs.gnome.org/mcatanzaro/2017/02/19/on-problems-wi... >There are currently 179 unreviewed patches in Vala’s request queue. The oldest patch there is 2,556 days old, so we know that it’s been seven years since anyone has cared for the outstanding patches. Any of those discouraged contributors might have eventually turned into Vala maintainers if only their patches were reviewed. Of course, most would not have, but if only one or two of the people who submitted patches was an active Vala maintainer today, the project would be in a significantly better state.

floatboth 8y ago
> /2017/02/19 The situation seems much better now
- scythe 8y ago
  https://bugzilla.gnome.org/page.cgi?id=patchreport.html&product=vala https://bugzilla.gnome.org/page.cgi?id=patchreport.html&prod... If you're using the link on the blog post, you should also notice the queue looks empty without any status code, which tells me the link is broken. The banner says they've migrated to GitLab, where of 29 merge requests (since May, apparently) 8 are open, 2 of which are older than a month: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=all https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests?scope=all... one of which looks unfinished and won't merge, and one of which should obviously be merged unless the author is a huge liar: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests/8/diffs https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vala/merge_requests/8/diffs I will agree it definitely doesn't look as bad, and the door is open to "much better" -- the above is just a nitpick -- but it's too early to say that for sure. They just basically wiped the slate clean with the migration.

floatboth 8y ago

> Rust GTK bindings are probably not yet there They're good enough for https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Fractal https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Fractal :) > what's left? Python and JavaScript And D, and C++. gtkmm (C++) is really underrated imo > will also not cut it SpiderMonkey (gjs) is a fast JIT. Of course you'll have more RAM usage than with a compiled language, but performance should be good. (And don't forget that many GUI applications spend way more time in the GUI library's code than in the application code.)