Whither DWT?

[Kyle Furlong]

pragma wrote:
> In article <e257hp$bsn$1 at digitaldaemon.com>, DBloke says...
>>> Another possibility is basing a framework on some portable ground, like 
>>> for instance SDL or OpenGL. But it wouldn't feel very "native", then ?
>>>
>>> --anders
>> This is something that would need to be agreed, do we want Native or X 
>> Platform?
>>
>> Either choice would require significant effort IMHO, and require that 
>> all different platforms be synced to maintain consistency if D goes the 
>> X Platform route.
>>
>> D is X Platform so perhaps D's GUI should be also?
>>
>> SDL and OpenGL could be a useful starting platform, and D's GUI 
>> Framework could leverage a lot of low level code from the two platforms, 
>> and a bonus that it is written in C so will be easier to interface to in 
>> theory and X Platform.
>>
> 
> $0.02:
> As much as I like the idea of using something that is guaranteed to exist on all
> platforms (GL), there comes a rather stiff price for backing a raw graphics
> library.  Most notably is the fact that any such development effort would have
> to build its own rendering and event model from the ground up.  Also, meshing
> with the OS's native capabilities, like cut-and-paste, would prove troublesome.
> 
> Beyond that, it's the one approach that yields the most advantages.
> Applications would be guaranteed to behave *and* look the same on all platforms;
> kind of like Swing.  Rendering and compositing would take advantage of hardware
> where possible, so it'll likely be very fast if not efficent.  You get 3D
> rendering for free, so it could double as a multimedia/gaming lib as well.
> Skinnable interfaces, and paradigm bending concepts also become very possible -
> the kind of stuff that makes X11 look like a tasteless joke.
> 
> So all in all, backing GL is the most ambitious path, but probably the one that
> would yield the most promise.
> 
> I'll add that there seems to be an industry-wide paradigm shift that points
> squarely at using GL for rendering the humble GUI.  From what I understand, OSX
> already does this, and Linux is well on its way.  Windows GDI is a bloated
> dinosaur, and I would not be suprised if MS did away with it in Vista (or at
> least promoted a new model that is closer to the hardware while keeping GDI for
> compatibility's sake). So for once, we'd be planning ahead.  
> 
> In light of all that, I reckon that a GL based D windowing lib would prove
> easier to back-port to a native toolkit once this paradigm shift is in full
> swing - provided that's even necessary.  After all, all three major operating
> systems come with some kind of 3D or GL support out of the box already, right?
> 
> - EricAnderton at yahoo
> 
> PS, you could back DWT, Minwin, DUIT, etc on such a lib if you wanted to.

Terra is well on the way in this vein, you should check it out.