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Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

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Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#261

Post by wkat4242 »

Aurornis wrote: post #19

This is a good overview of some of the options, but the author’s specific requirements push it in a specific direction that eliminates a lot of options. Specifically, the requirement for completely custom GUI styling without writing his own render functions means it’s really a task of selecting easy, customizable GUI libraries rather than generic GUI work. The requirements to be self-contained executables and under a…

Qt makes such amazing apps. I love KDE and the apps they spawned like Kate, KDEnlive, Krita.. It's no wonder their apps are so popular on Linux and windows alike. Unlike GTK apps even though it does have bindings for Windows.

Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#263

Post by Androth »

magicalhippo wrote: post #26

Writing GUI apps for Windows in C++ is painful There, fixed it for ya. There are solutions if you're not hell-bent on using C++, be it .Net, Lazarus (FreePascal) or Delphi. We're using Delphi at work and for the most part it's super simple and easy.

lazarus is great, but the GUI library it comes with has the same issues that the author is concerned about... try changing the theme colors to a dark theme... you end up with something looking like crap with all the other controls using standard colors.

Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#265

Post by Androth »

mjevans wrote: post #24

Windows (MS) and OSX (Apple) need to agree on a GUI interoperability API. Either hammer something out, or adopt one/more of the OSS GUI framework specifications from QT and GTK. It MUST be open spec. It MUST be free for all/any to implement. It MUST either be included or be in the primary vendor (MS, Apple, distro) software center. A simple Hello World, click OK to exit the program application should be able to be cr…

they don't need to do this and likely don't care to. web ui exists. microsoft doesn't even care about native anymore. they are focusing on .net maui cross platform/web (with blazor) stuff and AI.

the days of snappy portable applications are over. unless you want to stick with win32. and nothing wrong with that. in win32, you have the tools to create any look and feel you want. the author just doesn't care put in the time to do that and wants something pre-built while conforming to his demands.

Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#267

Post by dang »

Klonoar wrote: post #244
dang wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html : " Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that." " I realize project != article but the same point applies. Note that if by following that guideline, your comment gets "shortened" to the empty string, the implication would be not to post. More helpful, th…

shrug I acknowledge your comment, and I'm aware of the guidelines. I'm not the only one who questioned their response, so I don't feel particularly off balance here.

Oh I'm not saying your underlying point was wrong or bad! It's a question of how you express it. If it pattern-matches to a snarky internet dismissal, that makes it a bad HN comment even if the point is right. That's because readers will react more to the pattern-match than anything else.

It's even more important to follow the guidelines when your point is right, because if you don't, then you give readers an extra reason (e.g. snarky dismissal) to discredit the truth (i.e. your correct point) and this is a bad deal for everyone. Past explanations in case helpful: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor....

p.s. I don't think what you did was so bad and the length of my response here is just because I think you might find it interesting. It's not meant to pile on criticism.

Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#268

Post by ivm »

smackeyacky wrote: post #232
EasyMark wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re on windows and want a “standard” guy, either use the .net GUI or Qt , if you want completely custom and willing to do the work use QML or ImGui (or variant like eGUI)

Which particular .NET Gui? There is a collection of them: MAUI, WPF, Blazor Hybrid, WinUI. Microsoft have utterly screwed the pooch on getting their .NET GUI story straight.

WinUI 3 is the default for Windows-only applications

Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#269

Post by ModernMech »

the__alchemist wrote: post #199

I've been using EGUI to write GUI programs. Works nicely and runs on both Linux and Windows without notable differences. (I haven't tried Mac, but it presumably will work there as well without changes). Small binaries (a few Mb), and can integrate with maps, 3D rendering etc.

Yes it also works on MacOS, and web as well.

Re: Writing GUI apps for Windows is painful

#270

Post by ranger_danger »

gibsonpil wrote: post #28
mdorazio wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are portable AC units not available in Europe? They are inefficient but can sit inside next to the window and only require that you partially block off a window opening.

I don't know what landlords are like in European countries, but some landlords in America forbid people from connecting any kind of AC exhaust port to a window.

Can you name one place where this is an enforceable rule?
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