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

[Marc Ernst Eddy van Woerkom]

>   as objects. Even the GUI systems written in procedural
>   languages like C (gtk, etc) have an object oriented
>   feel to them. 

The name object for a compound of data and functions is
a good one, it can model physical objects (which have state
and are subject to actions).
It just happens that one can assemble GUIs out of such
objects like list boxes, buttons, sliders, etc quite good.
So much for oop.
 
The other common feature of modern GUIs is that they are 
event driven apps, with many visual components running in
parallel. The event wiring of the components is a bit ugly.
That part should be easier in Erlang.


> I realize that most everyone on this list at the
> moment is a server side guy (I am myself by and large)

I did much GUI hacking in the past, I hope this will benefit
the erlide. :)


> Perhaps this could be one of the many killer aspects
> of Erlang that would help draw users.

Important for GUI development IMHO are
- the GUI must look professional (win95 or Aqua look)
- the GUI must act snappy (not more than .5s delay on user interactions)
- there must be builder tools which enable people to slam together
  GUIs very quickly
- it should not crash

Java has some advantages when it comes to quick development,
but depending on the visual complexity of the data performance
penalties.
Qt is nice for cross platfrom development.

Depending on your view either look or quick development is
the top argument. Robustness comes last, I guess.

Regards,
Marc