4 ms·

Every 6 months or so, I take a quick tour through all of the various cross-platform UI frameworks out there. Most of which, with the notable exception of Flutt

Every 6 months or so, I take a quick tour through all of the various cross-platform UI frameworks out there. Most of which, with the notable exception of Flutter, are C# and .NET Core based. I'm just wondering... does anyone actually have success using any of these frameworks from a context other than Visual Studio on Microsoft Windows? I'm on a Mac, install .NET through Homebrew, and use Rider when I dabble with C# stuff, and I've just never had a smooth experience getting ANY of these things to work. Even for "Hello World" test apps. MAUI, Avalonia, Uno, I'm probably forgetting another one. None of them actually work on my machine. I always get the feeling that someone, somewhere, at one point got "Hello World" working on a Mac... wrote up a doc saying that it's supported... and then the doc immediately fell out of date. I feel like the only Mac user on earth touching any of these things every time I experiment with them.

jayd16 4y ago
It would be useful to hear what doesn't work. The same thing? Different things?
- StevePerkins 4y ago
  To be fair, I went to the website and gave it a fresh try again: https://platform.uno/docs/articles/get-started-rider.html?tabs=macos#prerequisites https://platform.uno/docs/articles/get-started-rider.html?ta... I was able to get through the .NET install, and "uno-check" process without much issue. However, the screenshots on this page show a Solution file with a "MyApp.macOS" project inside. I generated the "MyApp" skeleton project using the verbatim bootstrap command "dotnet new unoapp -o MyApp"... but the generated solution does not include a "MyApp.macOS" project inside. After a lot of experimenting, I discovered that the WASM-based implementation actually does run. Even though it requires me to enter my root password every time it starts the development HTTP server (WTF?). I mean... a fresh install, following the published instructions step-by-step verbatim, should produce a "Hello World" skeleton project that matches the doc. Just saying.
password4321 4y ago
I'm not aware of any 3rd party that can afford to both offer an open core product and keep up with Microsoft, a company infamous for "fire and motion" - attracting developers to the next new thing.
- StevePerkins 4y ago
  I feel like this is a muscle-memory comment, reflexively farming for upvotes without reading what I actually said. I didn't raise an issue about keeping up with Microsoft, I raised an issue about support for non-Microsoft platforms.
  - password4321 4y ago
    Of course I'm farming for upvotes, isn't that what HN is all about? ;) Sorry if I wasn't clear -- as you mentioned, Microsoft and others are barely supporting non-Microsoft platforms. > then the doc immediately fell out of date Not sure how I can be responding more directly to what you wrote... there's a lot of motion right now! No one will keep up (polished DX) without significant funding. This means non-Microsoft platforms don't get the love they need (not priority #1 for Microsoft, and no one else is close).
AnonCoward42 4y ago
I actually got Avalonia working with VSCode in Linux, but neither with Hot Reload nor any other bells or whistles. Just compile and run. It's okay, but it's clearly a second class experience.
zxspectrum1982 4y ago
The obvious answer is Qt, which is a lot more than a UI framework.

jayd16 4y ago

It would be useful to hear what doesn't work. The same thing? Different things?

StevePerkins 4y ago
To be fair, I went to the website and gave it a fresh try again: https://platform.uno/docs/articles/get-started-rider.html?tabs=macos#prerequisites https://platform.uno/docs/articles/get-started-rider.html?ta... I was able to get through the .NET install, and "uno-check" process without much issue. However, the screenshots on this page show a Solution file with a "MyApp.macOS" project inside. I generated the "MyApp" skeleton project using the verbatim bootstrap command "dotnet new unoapp -o MyApp"... but the generated solution does not include a "MyApp.macOS" project inside. After a lot of experimenting, I discovered that the WASM-based implementation actually does run. Even though it requires me to enter my root password every time it starts the development HTTP server (WTF?). I mean... a fresh install, following the published instructions step-by-step verbatim, should produce a "Hello World" skeleton project that matches the doc. Just saying.

password4321 4y ago

I'm not aware of any 3rd party that can afford to both offer an open core product and keep up with Microsoft, a company infamous for "fire and motion" - attracting developers to the next new thing.

StevePerkins 4y ago
I feel like this is a muscle-memory comment, reflexively farming for upvotes without reading what I actually said. I didn't raise an issue about keeping up with Microsoft, I raised an issue about support for non-Microsoft platforms.
- password4321 4y ago
  Of course I'm farming for upvotes, isn't that what HN is all about? ;) Sorry if I wasn't clear -- as you mentioned, Microsoft and others are barely supporting non-Microsoft platforms. > then the doc immediately fell out of date Not sure how I can be responding more directly to what you wrote... there's a lot of motion right now! No one will keep up (polished DX) without significant funding. This means non-Microsoft platforms don't get the love they need (not priority #1 for Microsoft, and no one else is close).

AnonCoward42 4y ago

I actually got Avalonia working with VSCode in Linux, but neither with Hot Reload nor any other bells or whistles. Just compile and run. It's okay, but it's clearly a second class experience.

zxspectrum1982 4y ago

The obvious answer is Qt, which is a lot more than a UI framework.