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Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

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Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop. Just because you refuse to do basic troubleshooting doesn't mean this person shouldn't have showed it off.

Just fixed it for 15 minutes but it is still far from running, I would rather wait until project instructions are added.

Hello, thank you for your interest ! I have fixed the repo structure and added instructions on how to build and run. Hopefully that is fine, if not please tell me about it and I shall update it as soon as possible.

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#62
its a great concept & prototype - really reminds me of the palm pilot graffiti writing system and alphabet [0].

after just watching the video - seems like adding a plugin system for targeting various UI library (ex bootstrap) would be really cool (I didn't read all of the text - maybe he suggested or already has this..)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti_(Palm_OS)

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#63
post #59

For my whole life I've been "drawing" real GUIs and writing the logic code, not GUI code then. It started with VisualBasic 1.0 for DOS, then there were different versions of VisualBasic for Windows, then Borland C++ Builder and Delphi (I was using the former), then NetBeans Swing designer and WinForms designer in VisualStudio. And now building a GUI is such a problem that a huge number of almost-useless (I really pre…

It really is disappointing how modern web GUI environments are harder to use than what was around 20+ years ago. There are still Visual Basic Apps from the 1990s floating around in large corporations and in government. Users who were expert in the process but not expert developers could easily code up tools to their exact specifications. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic#1990s Admittedly the deployment of we…

just curious - why would web assembly make it easier for those tools to reappear?

I used to use hose 90s GUI tools - VB's, VC's, Symantec's and Borland's java gui tools. Although they did work well for fixed UIs (absolute positioning) -- they were rather hard to get non-fixed uis working. IMHO Bootstrap's grid system was a real leap in this regard and (to me) still a pleasure to work with.

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#64
post #36

Maybe I am not a UI designer but I much prefer rule based approaches than drawing. Rule based means I tell use instruction like "this button must be on top on that button horizontally centered", "this label must fit that text", "this image must be between this and that", etc... and let the layout engine deal with it. UIs are usually not paintings, window sizes vary, text length changes with localization, decorations…

MiG Layout sounds similar (see the small example at the bottom of the page): http://miglayout.com/

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#65
post #59

For my whole life I've been "drawing" real GUIs and writing the logic code, not GUI code then. It started with VisualBasic 1.0 for DOS, then there were different versions of VisualBasic for Windows, then Borland C++ Builder and Delphi (I was using the former), then NetBeans Swing designer and WinForms designer in VisualStudio. And now building a GUI is such a problem that a huge number of almost-useless (I really pre…

It really is disappointing how modern web GUI environments are harder to use than what was around 20+ years ago. There are still Visual Basic Apps from the 1990s floating around in large corporations and in government. Users who were expert in the process but not expert developers could easily code up tools to their exact specifications. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic#1990s Admittedly the deployment of we…

It really is disappointing how modern web GUI environments are harder to use than what was around 20+ years ago.

Yes. We had drag and drop UIs decades ago. Now you can't even get a decent GUI program for laying out a web page. CSS/Javascript got so messy that even Dreamweaver became useless.

Part of the problem is that ad code requires a messy environment, so that ad blockers and click generators have a hard time. Google, by policy, does not permit you to put their ads in a iframe, where they belong. You can't even put Google Hostile Code Loader ("tag manager") in an iframe sandbox.

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#66
I still create my UI’s with a sketchbook and pen / pencil. For me there’s nothing that matches it yet. Even though there are a bunch of digital product design tools nowadays, I still tend to begin with my sketchbook.

It’s fast and expressive, and always there and always on, just a single tool / interface (pen to paper), which is a huge advantage when just trying to get concepts down visually. The clincher in this decade though, is the necessity to think responsively while sketching, understanding that there are all sorts of device sizes now. Then either mock it up in a design tool later or straight code it up once I have the general concepts down. I’ve tried all sorts of things (was really disappointed when SubForm shut down, that one was kind of interesting). From concept to product, starting off with paper and pen is still the quickest route for me.

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#67
post #36

Maybe I am not a UI designer but I much prefer rule based approaches than drawing. Rule based means I tell use instruction like "this button must be on top on that button horizontally centered", "this label must fit that text", "this image must be between this and that", etc... and let the layout engine deal with it. UIs are usually not paintings, window sizes vary, text length changes with localization, decorations…

I am not a UI designer but I much prefer rule based approaches than drawing.

CSS isn't even rule based. If it was a constraint system, like "A must be to the left of B", and "C and D must have the same height", extended with "A and B must be at least this big, and drop C if it won't fit", it would be rule based.

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#68
it looks so ineffective and useless... idk it's might be good for not programmers who try to learn or... but i really don't see the point i mean how hard it is to learn css and design a website by a draw/... your given -and how hard it is to draw on a Little piece of paper of what you want the site to look alike. i just don't the point

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#69

Codeless UI is so exciting! This reminds me of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad from the early 60s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchpad

Don't get excited. The thing that this demo shows in minutes could've been typed up in text in seconds . It is not a productive way to do things. There's a reason that these systems never catched on, they are unnecessary. You may say, but "non-programmers" will use it! No, they won't. Designers will use real design tools to create (non-functional) visual designs. Programmers will bring those visual designs to functio…

Airplanes were once worthy of investigation but practical. As were automobiles. Generally, the fact that something works isn't a compelling argument that something else won't succeed.

I do aggree that it's pretty high bar in this case though - it's changing the flow, not just improving it. So it'd have to get very polished to be able to compete, which I just don't think it will.

Still, maybe someday.

Re: Show HN: Don't code your UI, draw it

#70

For my whole life I've been "drawing" real GUIs and writing the logic code, not GUI code then. It started with VisualBasic 1.0 for DOS, then there were different versions of VisualBasic for Windows, then Borland C++ Builder and Delphi (I was using the former), then NetBeans Swing designer and WinForms designer in VisualStudio. And now building a GUI is such a problem that a huge number of almost-useless (I really pre…

If you are a C++ user you might want to check out QtCreator. It makes it as easy to create GUIs as Visual Basic did back in the day, and it's free (both as in price and freedom).
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