Java > Scala

[Adam Wilson]

On Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:57:56 -0800, Walter Bright  
<newshound2 at digitalmars.com> wrote:

> On 12/2/2011 2:15 PM, Adam Wilson wrote:
>> On Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:15:55 -0800, Walter Bright  
>> <newshound2 at digitalmars.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 12/2/2011 11:29 AM, Gour wrote:
>>>> Moreover, developing something from the scratch woudl require enormous
>>>> amount of time in comparison with *just* providing higher-level D-ish
>>>> API for some of the already available GUI toolkit.
>>>
>>> Developing a D GUI from scratch is way beyond our reach at the moment.  
>>> People
>>> have spent enormous efforts developing GUI libraries for other  
>>> platforms,
>>> there's no good reason for not leveraging their efforts.
>>
>> I absolutely agree. However, I don't thank that we should exclude the
>> possibility of building a scratch library either.
>
> At some point, a decision has to be made.
>
> Consider that existing successful GUI libraries have had *enormous*  
> resources poured into them. That just is not possible in the D community  
> right now. And even if it were, do we really want to wait 5 years for it  
> to be built?
>
> Of course, if someone still wants to develop a D GUI from scratch,  
> nobody is going to stop them.

I wouldn't suggest that the community wait for a native UI; only that  
because it takes so long, now is the best time to get started.

Full speed ahead with wxD and DWT! They represent a path of least  
resistance that should absolutely be exploited.

>>> It's not just the code involved. It's the tutorials, web sites,  
>>> manuals,
>>> support, etc., that would have to be reinvented. By developing a D  
>>> interface
>>> to an existing one, none of that has to be developed.
>>
>> This is too true. But if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. You  
>> could say
>> the same thing about compilers, but that didn't stop you ... :-)
>
> Frankly, I think a compiler is much easier to build. .

Hehe, well, I've found myself completely unable to wrap my head around  
compilers ... but I studied game development in school and I find graphics  
pretty easy to work with. I guess it comes down to where our expertise  
lies. Too each his own?

>> My intention is not to draw away any devs who could potentially work on
>> DMD/Phobos, in fact I want them working hard on those because without  
>> them any
>> work I do is pointless, and in some cases impossible (showstopper bugs  
>> and ICE's
>> are rather annoying like that). I suspect that it'll be a case of "me,  
>> myself,
>> and I" working on a native UI for D for quite some time. But at the  
>> same time, I
>> want to continue to have conversations with the community at large,  
>> probably
>> mostly about design and whatnot. If there are people who really want to  
>> help I
>> won't turn them away, but I'll avoid actively recruiting to make sure  
>> that
>> DMD/Phobos gets first pick, as they should. Sound good?
>>
>
> That's fine if you want to do that.

Already started to; i've been laying down the skeleton and learning D at  
the same time. I like the language. But I think I'll leave language design  
to those who understand it best and stick to what I know. I suspect that  
this is going to be a "me, myself, and I" project for some time. I'm ok  
with that. :-)

-- 
Adam Wilson
Project Coordinator
The Horizon Project
http://www.thehorizonproject.org/