Ideal D GUI Toolkit

Jacob Carlborg doob at me.com
Sun May 19 23:46:24 PDT 2013


On 2013-05-20 07:25, Tyler Jameson Little wrote:
> I've been looking into trying to fix QtD, but it seems writing a binding
> to a C++ library is a bit complicated. I've read on the forums that a
> native D GUI toolkit is the most desirable long-term, so I'd like to
> start that discussion.
>
> First off, I've heard of the DWT project, which looks promising, but it
> seems like a direct port of Java's SWT instead of a reimagining using
> idiomatic D. I understand the allure here (works, little translation for
> new developers), but since it's not yet in Phobos, I can only assume
> it's still up for discussion.
>
> Personally, I want these features:
>
> * simple and extensible
>    * minimal components (something like HTMLs feature-set)
>    * custom components (embed OpenGL/direct frame buffer)
> * "native" window decorations by default, but can provide custom
> decorations
> * markup (like QML) or programmable (like SWT)
>
> Nice-to-haves:
>
> * hardware accelerated (2D OpenGL)
> * GUI designer (much easier with QML-esque markup)
> * part of Phobos
>
> I'm willing to lend a hand, but I'd like to know in what direction the
> community would like to go. I'd also like to know the likelihood of
> getting a GUI toolkit into Phobos.
>
> Thoughts?

Creating a new GUI toolkit is a huge amount of work. It's more than you 
can imagine. A GUI toolkit for creating a window with a button isn't 
that much work. But it's all the rest of the stuff, that a toolkit can 
do and people will expect from it. Like stuff you didn't think of or 
even didn't know they existed.

A GUI toolkit in Phobos will probably not happen.

-- 
/Jacob Carlborg


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