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0 pointsdgxyz4d ago0 comments

After bouncing around GUI toolkits (from win32 to SwiftUI) and web for 30 years I have simply run out of fucks. They all suck. Each in their own unique way. Apple aren't worth singling out - they are just their own special isolated variant of it.

0 comments

rwmj4d ago

Tcl/Tk is pretty good in terms of rapid development. Unfortunately it has stagnated quite a lot over the years.

Gtk on the other hand is absolutely terrible and its developers don't help by completely rewriting things every few years and breaking all existing code in the process.

bigfatkitten4d ago

Tcl/Tk was also popular in certain niche products, like in RF test equipment.

rwmj4d ago

It's still quite big in EDA (electronic design software).

lylejantzi3rd4d ago

But, why? It's been 30 years. You'd think somebody would have figured out how to make a decent GUI toolkit or framework.

NetMageSCW4d ago

Have you tried WinForms? It isn’t the latest hotness so Microsoft has to be dragged kicking and screaming to support it in current VS, but they were forced to do so because corporate developers still have some clout.

PlunderBunny4d ago

I recall there used to be a problem if you edited a (win)form in Visual Studio on a computer that didn't have the DPI set to 100% - did they fix that?

The work around was 'simply' to switch to 100% DPI scaling before opening Visual Studio. On my macBook Pro built-in monitor, this was not cool.

int_19h4d ago

I still think that WPF was the peak desktop UI framework. Extremely powerful with lots of small composable primitives, can easily do declarative but drop into more traditional event-driven imperative style where it makes sense.

1 more reply

lenkite4d ago

They generally get the design right after some mistakes and are stabilizing it, when the new UI designers take over and want to re-do it from scratch.

ranger_danger4d ago

I have no complaints using Qt for cross-platform development, it has been paying my bills for the last 15+ years.

exceptione4d ago

AvaloniaUI + MVVM toolkit.

dgxyzOP4d ago

We just built layers of shit over the ones we have.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

rwmj4d ago

Tcl/Tk is pretty good in terms of rapid development. Unfortunately it has stagnated quite a lot over the years.

Gtk on the other hand is absolutely terrible and its developers don't help by completely rewriting things every few years and breaking all existing code in the process.

bigfatkitten4d ago

Tcl/Tk was also popular in certain niche products, like in RF test equipment.

rwmj4d ago

It's still quite big in EDA (electronic design software).

lylejantzi3rd4d ago

But, why? It's been 30 years. You'd think somebody would have figured out how to make a decent GUI toolkit or framework.

NetMageSCW4d ago

PlunderBunny4d ago

I recall there used to be a problem if you edited a (win)form in Visual Studio on a computer that didn't have the DPI set to 100% - did they fix that?

The work around was 'simply' to switch to 100% DPI scaling before opening Visual Studio. On my macBook Pro built-in monitor, this was not cool.

int_19h4d ago

1 more reply

lenkite4d ago

They generally get the design right after some mistakes and are stabilizing it, when the new UI designers take over and want to re-do it from scratch.

ranger_danger4d ago

I have no complaints using Qt for cross-platform development, it has been paying my bills for the last 15+ years.

exceptione4d ago

AvaloniaUI + MVVM toolkit.

dgxyzOP4d ago

We just built layers of shit over the ones we have.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse