4 ms·

GUIs are still harder than they need to be. Async patterns that don't compose, operating systems where CLI and GUI programs are separate concepts entirely, mass

GUIs are still harder than they need to be. Async patterns that don't compose, operating systems where CLI and GUI programs are separate concepts entirely, massively complex GPU-based stacks needed to fill 800 MP/s... I no longer blame people for punting to Electron. As bad as HTML is, it's still only 100 MB to save yourself from the worst parts of GUIs.

int_19h 1y ago
On Windows, GUIs are still as easy as they were in VB6 days if you pick the right tools. It only becomes a headache if you need cross-platform support. Although even there options like Avalonia are far superior to Electron.
- anthk 1y ago
  Lazarus it's cross platform; it might even run under Windows XP and 2000, if not NT too...
  - lproven 1y ago
    I think I saw, mentioned in the system requirements, "Windows 2000 or above" or something like that. I do wonder how cross-platform your code will be, though. I suppose it depends on whether it talks to Win32, or Gtk2, or Qt4, or Qt 5, or Qt 6... etc. I wonder if FPC+Lazarus could be wired up to Tk so that there was a portable, cross-platform toolkit as well...?
    - int_19h 1y ago
      FPC/Lazarus motto is "write once, compile anywhere", so the idea is that you rebuild as needed for different platforms. It could certainly be wired up to Tk, but what does Tk offer that Qt already doesn't when it comes to a portable cross-platform toolkit?
      - lproven 1y ago
        > but what does Tk offer that Qt already doesn't Small (relatively tiny) code size and simplicity. Very slow release cycle and long lifetimes. Qt moves pretty quick and this causes problems for downstream projects. E.g. KDE had to keep Qt 5 alive for _years_ until KDE 6 was ready. Rochus Keller has a version of Qt 5 as well. Trinity is still maintaining Qt 3. Extremely wide cross-platform support, e.g. on the BSDs and some other niche OSes. I think there's even a Haiku version.
        anthk 1y ago
        TCL/Tk works under XP under the IronTCL release. With modern TLS and all (use http://legacyupdate.net http://legacyupdate.net for newer certs).

int_19h 1y ago

On Windows, GUIs are still as easy as they were in VB6 days if you pick the right tools. It only becomes a headache if you need cross-platform support. Although even there options like Avalonia are far superior to Electron.

anthk 1y ago
Lazarus it's cross platform; it might even run under Windows XP and 2000, if not NT too...
- lproven 1y ago
  I think I saw, mentioned in the system requirements, "Windows 2000 or above" or something like that. I do wonder how cross-platform your code will be, though. I suppose it depends on whether it talks to Win32, or Gtk2, or Qt4, or Qt 5, or Qt 6... etc. I wonder if FPC+Lazarus could be wired up to Tk so that there was a portable, cross-platform toolkit as well...?
  - int_19h 1y ago
    FPC/Lazarus motto is "write once, compile anywhere", so the idea is that you rebuild as needed for different platforms. It could certainly be wired up to Tk, but what does Tk offer that Qt already doesn't when it comes to a portable cross-platform toolkit?
    - lproven 1y ago
      > but what does Tk offer that Qt already doesn't Small (relatively tiny) code size and simplicity. Very slow release cycle and long lifetimes. Qt moves pretty quick and this causes problems for downstream projects. E.g. KDE had to keep Qt 5 alive for _years_ until KDE 6 was ready. Rochus Keller has a version of Qt 5 as well. Trinity is still maintaining Qt 3. Extremely wide cross-platform support, e.g. on the BSDs and some other niche OSes. I think there's even a Haiku version.
      - anthk 1y ago
        TCL/Tk works under XP under the IronTCL release. With modern TLS and all (use http://legacyupdate.net http://legacyupdate.net for newer certs).