From: frederic.bonnet at ciril.fr (Frederic BONNET)
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 14:10:42 +0200
Subject: The Future of Tk?
References: <371E964F.C531C2A@istar.ca>
Message-ID: <371F11C2.3162025@ciril.fr>
Content-Length: 2310
X-UID: 284                                                  

Hi,

Eugene Dragoev wrote:
[...]
> But I also found that while older versions of Tk were using lightweight
> components (Some Java terminology :) the latest version is using native
> components for things like scrollbars and buttons.
> 
> I don't want to say that this is bad for Tcl users but what about all
> the other languages that use Tk? Isn't writting multiplatform GUI harder
> using native components. I think Java made big step forward in
> abandoning the native components and using lightweight ones in Swing.
> 
> Is there going to be any Tk implementation that will continue using
> lightweight components?

By lightweight I guess you mean emulated in some way. I don't think that
cross-platform look&feel consistency is a good thing. As a GUI designer
I'd rather follow the principle of least astonishment: an app running on
Windows should look and feel like a Windows app. The same app running on
MacOS and X should do the same on the respective platforms. Such a
cross-platform application is not supposed to look and feel the same on
all platforms. If users want to use the same app on several platforms,
it's their problem, and I think this isn't an issue: if the same person
uses an application on both Mac and Windows, he or she is supposed to
know both platforms, so he won't be surprised if the same application
behave differently on different platforms. On the contrary he or she
would be surprised to use an application that behaves like a Mac app on
his Windows system. The current Tk implementation addresses these
problems in a transparent manner, which is good for both programmers and
users.

A short summary of menubar differences between systems: 
	- they are placed on top of a window on Windows and X, and on top
	of the screen on Mac.
	- on Mac, the mouse button must be kept pressed to open and 
	navigate the menu (until recently). On X, one needs to click on
	each menu to open it. On Windows, one needs to click on a menu
	but doesn't need to keep the button pressed.

And I don't speak about look differences.

See you, Fred
-- 
Fr?d?ric BONNET                        frederic.bonnet at ciril.fr
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Theory may inform, but Practice convinces"
                                                    George Bain




