Musings on an Erlang GUI System. [long, very long] ramble... ramble ...

[Bjorn Gustavsson]

Some random comments:

1. Based on my expericence with GUI for Wings
   (which now has dialog boxes and some windows),
   I am convinced that Erlang is fast enough to create a
   GUI toolkit (on top of a suitable low-level rendering
   API such as OpenGL).

2. However, it is important to find a good approach and
   good architecture to make the GUI fast enough. Having
   one process per window could be too slow. (If every
   single widget, such as a check box, is a window, there
   could easily be thousands of windows.)

3. Implementing a GUI is incredible time consuming. Many
   different kind of widgets are needed, and you'll need
   ways for them to communicate, and so on.
   
4. OpenGL could be a good choice for a rendering API
   (it is available from Erlang via ESDL/SDL.)
   However, the only parts from SDL proper that I use
   is the event handling. It could be a good idea write
   a new low-level event toolkit instead of using SDL.
   (It would not be that hard.)

5. I would not recommend borrowing code directly from Wings.
   Although I have tried to have some separation of the Wings
   Window System and Wings The Application, there are of course
   still many dependencies. Also, I still expect to do a lot of
   rewriting. Some of the ideas might be useful, though.

/Bjorn

Eric Merritt <cyberlync@REDACTED> writes:

> I have seen it said on this list on more then one
> occasion that Erlang is not well suited to do any real
> GUI work. I have even agreed with it on more then one
> occasion. However after spending a little time
> thinking about it I have changed my mind.
> 
>  Granted at the moment all we have is a string based
> interface to TK. Obviously, this leaves allot to be
> disired. The implementation is good, but it is limited
> by the technologies used. 
> 
>  To meander off topic for a moment ....
> 
>  I lurk on the squeak list quite a bit. They have
> implemented a gui system called Morphic. Morphic is a
> nice gui system (undocumented and hard to use but
> nice). One of its principle tenents is that of
> liveliness, this means allot of things, but mostly it
> means that the object is reactive. When a user clicks
> it has the tactile feelings of being 'picked up'
> animation is easy the gui is never locked up in a
> process etc, etc.  I was thinking about this and how
> easy it would be to implement liveliness in Erlang.
> 
>   Now back on topic ....
> 
>  Over the last couple of decades (since the birth of
> smalltalk actually) GUIs have been dominated by Object
> Oriented languages. Perhaps this is becuase its simply
> easy to think of a button as an object or becuase when
> GUIs where new and interesting they where implemented
> as objects. Even the GUI systems written in procedural
> languages like C (gtk, etc) have an object oriented
> feel to them. At this point it doesn't matter really.
> 
>  To move on. I am begining to think that Objects are
> probably not the best way to implement a gui at all,
> but processes may just be. Why? well I think it will
> help add two features to GUI systems that are sorely
> needed. First, I believe it will help to add
> Liveliness  in that checkboxes, buttons, anything
> really can have its own independent, concurrent,
> behavior. It may even lead to other more interesting
> ideas, perhaps even away from the staple buttons and
> boxes that have been our crutch for the last twenty
> years. 
> 
>  The other thing that using Erlang would provide is
> *robustness* which every GUI system lacks right now.
> 
>  I realize that most everyone on this list at the
> moment is a server side guy (I am myself by and large)
> but perhaps that would give us a fresh perspective on
> the problem and allow us to tackle the problem from a
> diffrent perspective.
> 
>  I have nothing to offer yet as far as an
> implementation is concerned but I will think on it.
> 
>  The only core thing that is currently lacking is some
> type of drawing and rendering api, and perhaps the
> Erlang SDL project would work for that (along with a
> few pieces of wings).
> 
> Perhaps this could be one of the many killer aspects
> of Erlang that would help draw users.
> 
>  Sorry of the length and unfocused nature of the post,
> 
> Eric
>  
> 
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Björn Gustavsson            Ericsson Utvecklings AB
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