Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jpl-devvax!david
From: david@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (David E. Smyth)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Motif vs OpenLook - a heretical thought?
Message-ID: <11545@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 21 Feb 91 23:49:27 GMT
References: <8658@suns4.cel.co.uk>
Reply-To: david@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (David E. Smyth)
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 39

ajy@cel.co.uk (andrew yeomans) writes:
>
>I believe that the current window system API's are FAR too complex for 
>effective use ...
>
>It seems to me that we should instead be debating which Interface Builder we 
>should be using, as these offer the chance of:
>
>	a) Simplifying use of the window system, so that most of the available
>	   functionality is easy to understand and use;
>	b) Building the same user interface to run with either Motif or
>	   OpenLook - without preventing use of 'special' functions in each.

OK, class, guess what I'm going to recommend ;^)

Use Wcl.  Then the documents your programmers will mostly have to use
will be reduced to one: the widget set man pages.  And the way they
need to learn about widget programming is nicer : learn about the
widgets, then Xt, then X11 (many will never need to know anything
beyond the widgets - they can use Wcl provided callbacks as examples,
and just edit, instead of compose - a much easier job).

And your code will be pretty darn free of widget set dependencies.  In
an application I've been developing, out of 10027 lines of C, include
files, and resource files, there are 287 references to Motif (the
widget set I'm using).  That seems like a pretty widget set independent
application to me.  And what's better, the count of lines dependent
upon Motif is actually decreasing over time!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Smyth				david@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov
Senior Software Engineer,		seismo!cit-vax!jpl-devvax!david
X and Object Guru.			(818)393-0983
Jet Propulsion Lab, M/S 230-103, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
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