[svlug] Re: Cross-platform GUIs

[Daniel Howard]

> Which technologies would you recommend for cross-
> platform GUI development?

I've had experience with wxWindows, wxPython and,
briefly, Mozilla's XUL.

> What are the benefits of the technology you
> recommend, and what are the drawbacks?

wxWindows:
Overall- Good, not great.  Certainly usable.  Some
commercial toolkits are more consistent in widgets,
code quality and design.

 * App starts up and runs quickly
 * Compiled
 * Not obvious that you are using a GUI toolkit
 * Easy transition from MFC to wxWindows
 * Great license: use it for whatever you want
 * Free
 * Never tried but one guy said wxMac is obsolete
 * A few widgets are poorly written, useless
 * No extras need to be installed to use your app
 * C++ is for programming experts, really

wxPython (Python using the wxWindows Python library):
Overall- Good.  Similiar issues to wxWindows.

 * App starts up slowly (a few seconds pause)
 * Interpretted so the source comes with your app
 * Very hackable; users can modify the code easily
 * Obvious that you are using a GUI toolkit
 * Must install Python and wxPython to install your
app
 * Don't know about Python's license

Mozilla's XUL:
Overall- Nice but difficult.
 * App starts pretty quickly
 * Use JavaScript to write common pieces of your app
 * Can drop into C++ to write difficult pieces
 * XPCOM is hardcore and requires a programming expert
 * Obvious that you are using a GUI toolkit
 * Installer will work like Mozilla installer

For commercial products, I have used wxWindows and
would use it again.  For public domain projects, I'd
use wxPython so users could hack in their own tweaks
easily.  I probably wouldn't use Mozilla's XUL for any
project; it is a big barrier to find people who know
it well (or are willing to learn it) and, while the
benefits are significant, those benefits do not
outweigh the costs for me.

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