3 ms·

I think the killer feature here is natively targeting Windows AND macOS simultaneously. The only cross-platform alternatives that I've seen in the ecosystem us

by szhu 6y ago

I think the killer feature here is natively targeting Windows AND macOS simultaneously. The only cross-platform alternatives that I've seen in the ecosystem use either web or Gtk in the frontend, and both of these have a distinctly non-native feel to them.

int_19h 6y ago
In which ecosystem? If you mean desktop apps in general, then there are many other options. Qt and wxWidgets, to name a couple of popular ones that have been around for a very long time.
- ComputerGuru 6y ago
  My problem with those two is the damn C++ API. I’ve used both in the past, but I’ve moved on from C++ for desktop applications to greener pastures but these toolkits’ APIs are a pita to use via ffi.
  - int_19h 6y ago
    They're both pretty popular to wrap; I'm surprised that whatever language/ecosystem you're using doesn't have a wrapper lib already.
fmxexpress 6y ago
Delphi does this. GDI+/DirectX on Windows, OpenGL on macOS, and GTK+ on Linux (and OpenGL on Android and iOS). Single source responsive UI.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jcelerier 6y ago
nice, means that Qt apps fit well enough that you don't even notice them :p
ComputerGuru 6y ago
The latest Xamarin is no longer mobile-only for Windows and might potentially fit the bill here.
JamesSwift 6y ago
Xamarin targets windows/mac/ios/android/UWP/tizen natively.
natch 6y ago
Killer vaporware, classic Microsoft FUD modus operandi. Mac is “coming soon.”
dep_b 6y ago
I've been working with Xamarin / Mono and having a Cocoa front-end with a C# back-end is really the best of both worlds. Everything looks native, is snappy, uses relatively little memory and all of the not so immediately visible Good Stuff for macOS like accessibility, document state and AppleScript just works out of the box. Most cross-platform solutions are awful in at least one of those three, usually all of them.
rattray 6y ago
PyQT with QML / QT Quick is another option for cross-platform (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux) development, but the widgets aren't native. It's closer to Flutter in that way. QT Widgets, in contrast, do have native-looking widgets for Mac and Windows. You can use it with Python instead of C++, but it's a bit of a pain, and most of the Qt community seems to be moving towards QML, which is a far better developer experience.

by szhu 6y ago

int_19h 6y ago

In which ecosystem? If you mean desktop apps in general, then there are many other options. Qt and wxWidgets, to name a couple of popular ones that have been around for a very long time.

ComputerGuru 6y ago
My problem with those two is the damn C++ API. I’ve used both in the past, but I’ve moved on from C++ for desktop applications to greener pastures but these toolkits’ APIs are a pita to use via ffi.
- int_19h 6y ago
  They're both pretty popular to wrap; I'm surprised that whatever language/ecosystem you're using doesn't have a wrapper lib already.

fmxexpress 6y ago

Delphi does this. GDI+/DirectX on Windows, OpenGL on macOS, and GTK+ on Linux (and OpenGL on Android and iOS). Single source responsive UI.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

jcelerier 6y ago

nice, means that Qt apps fit well enough that you don't even notice them :p

ComputerGuru 6y ago

The latest Xamarin is no longer mobile-only for Windows and might potentially fit the bill here.

JamesSwift 6y ago

Xamarin targets windows/mac/ios/android/UWP/tizen natively.

natch 6y ago

Killer vaporware, classic Microsoft FUD modus operandi. Mac is “coming soon.”

dep_b 6y ago

I've been working with Xamarin / Mono and having a Cocoa front-end with a C# back-end is really the best of both worlds. Everything looks native, is snappy, uses relatively little memory and all of the not so immediately visible Good Stuff for macOS like accessibility, document state and AppleScript just works out of the box. Most cross-platform solutions are awful in at least one of those three, usually all of them.

rattray 6y ago

PyQT with QML / QT Quick is another option for cross-platform (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux) development, but the widgets aren't native. It's closer to Flutter in that way. QT Widgets, in contrast, do have native-looking widgets for Mac and Windows. You can use it with Python instead of C++, but it's a bit of a pain, and most of the Qt community seems to be moving towards QML, which is a far better developer experience.