5 ms·

We are huge into Microsoft but MAUI is on the no touch list. After maintaining a Blazor (server-side) app for a few years, it has become clear to me that even

We are huge into Microsoft but MAUI is on the no touch list. After maintaining a Blazor (server-side) app for a few years, it has become clear to me that even if the abstractions are ideal, the tooling may cripple the entire experience. I don't trust Visual Studio 2022 to not treat me like a piece of shit in a UI style project anymore. The only project types I really trust to not suck are: class library, console app, and azure function (timer or http triggers). If Microsoft wants me to give their UI frameworks another shot, then I challenge them to rewrite visual studio itself using whatever proposed framework. Only then would I have faith that someone sorted out all the long-tailed dragons that would bite me in the ass 2 years deep.

solarkraft 3y ago
Visual Studio hasn't not treated me like a piece of shit ever. It's a similar "lol fuck you" as witnessed in this issue.
deafpolygon 3y ago
What UI framework should I be focusing on in 2023? Should I focus on web-based framework (vis-a-vis Electron or similar platform) or is there something more suitable for desktop UI?
- bob1029 3y ago
  We do web-only right now. No frameworks. Maybe focus on MDN if you think you can get the business done with a webapp. Once you master flex, grid & friends, you will be set free. If we are still insisting upon native apps, I am growing increasingly-curious as to what the reason could possibly be. Unreal & Unity deploy to the browser. What does your business do that is so special by comparison?
  - nvm0n2 3y ago
    HTML is a bad replacement for a proper UI toolkit, that's the appeal. There are so many problems that good UI toolkits and languages solve that HTML just ignores and always will. But, Chrome gets a massive budget, web apps are easy to deploy thanks to the ubiquity of browsers, and there's safety in numbers, so those things usually outweigh the other concerns. Doesn't change the fact that there is plenty of scope to compete with HTML.
- zigzag312 3y ago
  Great multiplatform UI framework doesn't exists currently. Next best thing is to choose a framework that best fits your requirements.
  - deafpolygon 3y ago
    True enough, but is there something less-great? Or not-so-bad?
    - zigzag312 3y ago
      What are the requirements? Single or multiplatform? Which OS? Will there also be a mobile or web version of an app? Or embedded? How well does it need to integrate with target platform? How native it must feel? Does it access to native platform features? Does it need to be lightweight? Does it need very low latency? Is performance critical? Does it need many custom widgets or none? Does it need to have quality implementation of any specific widgets available (like charts, maps etc.)? Big widgets ecosystem? Does it need heavy widget trees? Does UI need to be customizable by users? How important is accessibility? Programming language preferences and limitations? How important is developer productivity? Can framework be proprietary or non-free? Is it maybe just to learn UI development?
- voakbasda 3y ago
  For Go, I just picked up Fyne. Deploys natively on all relevant targets, with a consistent UI across platforms.
  - zerr 3y ago
    No accessibility.
- whynotmaybe 3y ago
  Check flutter.
- mjangle1985 3y ago
  WPF is probably your best bet for desktop UI if you want to stay in the MS ecosystem.
- Angius 3y ago
  For .NET specifically, you would need to reach for 3rd party frameworks. Avalonia in particular is excellent.
- sasakrsmanovic2 3y ago
  Give Uno Platform a try https://github.com/unoplatform/uno https://github.com/unoplatform/uno

solarkraft 3y ago

Visual Studio hasn't not treated me like a piece of shit ever. It's a similar "lol fuck you" as witnessed in this issue.

deafpolygon 3y ago

What UI framework should I be focusing on in 2023? Should I focus on web-based framework (vis-a-vis Electron or similar platform) or is there something more suitable for desktop UI?

bob1029 3y ago
We do web-only right now. No frameworks. Maybe focus on MDN if you think you can get the business done with a webapp. Once you master flex, grid & friends, you will be set free. If we are still insisting upon native apps, I am growing increasingly-curious as to what the reason could possibly be. Unreal & Unity deploy to the browser. What does your business do that is so special by comparison?
- nvm0n2 3y ago
  HTML is a bad replacement for a proper UI toolkit, that's the appeal. There are so many problems that good UI toolkits and languages solve that HTML just ignores and always will. But, Chrome gets a massive budget, web apps are easy to deploy thanks to the ubiquity of browsers, and there's safety in numbers, so those things usually outweigh the other concerns. Doesn't change the fact that there is plenty of scope to compete with HTML.
zigzag312 3y ago
Great multiplatform UI framework doesn't exists currently. Next best thing is to choose a framework that best fits your requirements.
- deafpolygon 3y ago
  True enough, but is there something less-great? Or not-so-bad?
  - zigzag312 3y ago
    What are the requirements? Single or multiplatform? Which OS? Will there also be a mobile or web version of an app? Or embedded? How well does it need to integrate with target platform? How native it must feel? Does it access to native platform features? Does it need to be lightweight? Does it need very low latency? Is performance critical? Does it need many custom widgets or none? Does it need to have quality implementation of any specific widgets available (like charts, maps etc.)? Big widgets ecosystem? Does it need heavy widget trees? Does UI need to be customizable by users? How important is accessibility? Programming language preferences and limitations? How important is developer productivity? Can framework be proprietary or non-free? Is it maybe just to learn UI development?
voakbasda 3y ago
For Go, I just picked up Fyne. Deploys natively on all relevant targets, with a consistent UI across platforms.
- zerr 3y ago
  No accessibility.
whynotmaybe 3y ago
Check flutter.
mjangle1985 3y ago
WPF is probably your best bet for desktop UI if you want to stay in the MS ecosystem.
Angius 3y ago
For .NET specifically, you would need to reach for 3rd party frameworks. Avalonia in particular is excellent.
sasakrsmanovic2 3y ago
Give Uno Platform a try https://github.com/unoplatform/uno https://github.com/unoplatform/uno