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Actually, almost every GUI toolkit's scheme for layout has issues, and none of them are perfect. The ones that use absolute pixel positioning fail when using d

Actually, almost every GUI toolkit's scheme for layout has issues, and none of them are perfect. The ones that use absolute pixel positioning fail when using different resolution displays. The ones that use box packing fail when you need to deal with different sized displays. The ones that use constraint programming fail when you need to layout hundreds or thousands of widgets. CSS-style layout has its own pros and cons, but there is no alternative to it that is clearly better under all circumstances. If you doing layout and want to be resolution-independent, function on everything from phones to giant displays and have thousands of things to layout, CSS is actually likely better than any alternative.

peoplefromibiza 2y ago
possibly, but videogames have been doing layout for ages without CSS and they can vary a lot from game to game while most desktop applications have basically the same 2-3 layouts: input and edit some text, fill in some form, display some data in a table, a tree or a chart
- psd1 2y ago
  Games lay out one game. Document readers lay out every possible document.
  - peoplefromibiza 2y ago
    > Document readers lay out every possible document. you mean like vector graphic software, DTPs, word processors etc etc? Flash did resolution independent graphics and layouts on the web back in the late '90s, we killed it - not without reasons - but we still haven't created a decent alternative to it
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
  DAWs (digital audio workstations) Video editors. Image editors. Web browsers. Circuit, interior and architectural design. None of these are anything like your "most desktop applications".
  - peoplefromibiza 2y ago
    Just to be clear: when you name niche desktop applications you are literally saying that they are not "most of them" BTW all of those applications you mentioned use many of the same techniques video games use (for the same reason: custom layouts), existed long before the web and are doing just fine without CSS

peoplefromibiza 2y ago

possibly, but videogames have been doing layout for ages without CSS and they can vary a lot from game to game while most desktop applications have basically the same 2-3 layouts: input and edit some text, fill in some form, display some data in a table, a tree or a chart

psd1 2y ago
Games lay out one game. Document readers lay out every possible document.
- peoplefromibiza 2y ago
  > Document readers lay out every possible document. you mean like vector graphic software, DTPs, word processors etc etc? Flash did resolution independent graphics and layouts on the web back in the late '90s, we killed it - not without reasons - but we still haven't created a decent alternative to it
PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
DAWs (digital audio workstations) Video editors. Image editors. Web browsers. Circuit, interior and architectural design. None of these are anything like your "most desktop applications".
- peoplefromibiza 2y ago
  Just to be clear: when you name niche desktop applications you are literally saying that they are not "most of them" BTW all of those applications you mentioned use many of the same techniques video games use (for the same reason: custom layouts), existed long before the web and are doing just fine without CSS