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Gravit – Open-source design tool

hub.gravit.io

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Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#41

Post by clarry »

Igglyboo wrote: post #39
clarry wrote: post #31

I came expecting a free alternative to something like AutoCAD. Instead I got a blank page, and after reloading with JS enabled, a core dump from a browser that ran out of memory. For a snappy drawing program, native code remains the way to go.

I disagree, this is really fast and totally rivals a native app. What are you computer specs and what browser are you using?

Do you disagree with the core dump on my hard drive? Firefox 31 ESR, Atom N450, 1G of RAM. Gimp for instance runs pretty smooth (although there are much faster still options if you don't need all the features); I use it a lot.

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#42

Post by _delirium »

For offline usage, has anyone used both Gravit and Inkscape for any significant period of time, and can comment on pros/cons?

This might be a dumb question if they don't really occupy the same space. But naively it seems to me like they overlap somewhat, and maybe I should move some of what I currently do in Inkscape to Gravit? (I'm not all that proficient in Inkscape, and at first usage Gravit seems simpler.)

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#43

Post by coldtea »

freework wrote: post #33
jarek-foksa wrote: post #8

It's worth noting that Gravit.io is a JavaScript rewrite of Stagestack project [1] which was an attempt to create commercial clone of Macromedia FreeHand from scratch [2]. Stagestack project failed due to lack of funding from FreeHand community. [1] http://www.stagestack.com/ [2] http://www.freehandforum.org/news.html

... but Joel Spolsky said you should never rewrite code ever ever ever...

Whereas what Joel said is debatable, this snark comment is wrong on so many leves it's funny...

1) Joel was talking on the context of a software business -- if you have working code it can be detrimental to business to do a rewrite from scratch, it will take you years, you will leave stuff off, piss off your customers, lose ground to the competition etc. It's not like Gravit.io has that kind of "business reasons" at this moment (this is their initial version offering), so his reasons do not apply to it.

2) Gravit.io is a port of a project to another language. This is not a rewrite -- much less a "rewrite from scratch". Again, Joel's reasons do not apply to the situation.

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#44

Post by coldtea »

pestaa wrote: post #30
moron4hire wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "What front-end frameworks/technologies did you use?" Why is that everyone's first question? I get this constantly when I demo my stuff at meetups and hackathons. None. The answer is none. And they look at me like I just admitted to being a person who prefers to breath water. Vanilla JS is not that hard. It's a sight easier to know one language than to have to relearn the darling framework of the year all the time…

It's only been a year or two since major software is written in JavaScript. Why did you relearn the darling language of the year?

Perhaps you have been sleeping under a rock for the last 10+ years. Unless most multi-billion web services, from Gmail to Facebook are not "major software".

Plus, from his cv: "I've been doing JavaScript since it was invented.".

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#45

Post by coldtea »

moron4hire wrote: post #27
joelthelion wrote: post #6

This may be the first time I try a web app that is as snappy as a desktop one. Congratulations! What front-end frameworks/technologies did you use?

>> "What front-end frameworks/technologies did you use?" Why is that everyone's first question? I get this constantly when I demo my stuff at meetups and hackathons. None. The answer is none. And they look at me like I just admitted to being a person who prefers to breath water. Vanilla JS is not that hard. It's a sight easier to know one language than to have to relearn the darling framework of the year all the time…

>Why is that everyone's first question? I get this constantly when I demo my stuff at meetups and hackathons. None. The answer is none.

Are you the creator of Gravit.io? If not, then your response is useless, because nobody asked YOU that.

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#46

Post by Tosh108 »

coldtea wrote: post #43
freework wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... but Joel Spolsky said you should never rewrite code ever ever ever...

Whereas what Joel said is debatable, this snark comment is wrong on so many leves it's funny... 1) Joel was talking on the context of a software business -- if you have working code it can be detrimental to business to do a rewrite from scratch, it will take you years, you will leave stuff off, piss off your customers, lose ground to the competition etc. It's not like Gravit.io has that kind of "business reasons" at…

I think he was trying to be funny

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#47

Post by coldtea »

thewarrior wrote: post #22

Has anyone here manage to figure out the secrets behind this apps blazing fast performance ?

JS is very fast in modern browsers. It blows things like Python and PHP out of the water, it competes with Go, and with asm.js (or sometimes without) it can be like merely 2x slower than C.

The main reason most web apps don't also feel very fast is not "DOM manipulation" or things that happen inside the page, is that they also do AJAX network calls and that adds huge latencies.

This app, judging the functionality, does everything inside the VM (no need to do AJAX calls for a drawing app), so can offer the full speed JS can do.

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#49

Post by Igglyboo »

clarry wrote: post #41
Igglyboo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, this is really fast and totally rivals a native app. What are you computer specs and what browser are you using?

Do you disagree with the core dump on my hard drive? Firefox 31 ESR, Atom N450, 1G of RAM. Gimp for instance runs pretty smooth (although there are much faster still options if you don't need all the features); I use it a lot.

I disagree with your statement that native code is the way to go for snappy drawing apps, maybe for low end hardware like what you're using but for more powerful hardware there is no downside.

Re: Gravit – Open-source design tool

#50

Post by coldtea »

clarry wrote: post #41
Igglyboo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, this is really fast and totally rivals a native app. What are you computer specs and what browser are you using?

Do you disagree with the core dump on my hard drive? Firefox 31 ESR, Atom N450, 1G of RAM. Gimp for instance runs pretty smooth (although there are much faster still options if you don't need all the features); I use it a lot.

>Do you disagree with the core dump on my hard drive?

No, he and I disagree that your experience is typical for everybody. Most people in this thread (including me) praised this for its quick loading, snapiness and speed.

Perhaps "Atom" and "1GB of RAM" doesn't cuts it for this kind of in-browser app, despite GIMP (a native app) running "pretty smooth). It makes sense if this has a minimum memory use requirement -- below which you can't run it at all because you don't have enough space that it needs to load, and after which you're OK and it's fast.

That said, people have run it on their iPads, and it's extremely snappy there too.

I'm also not sure the core dump was because of "out of memory". How about some glitch with your graphics card driver and the canvas renderer (which is not uncommon)?

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