From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,53c5fea49e77990c X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-03-31 00:07:12 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Al Christians Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada Dot Net ? Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 00:09:03 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: <3CA6C41F.E3A0A406@easystreet.com> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:21911 Date: 2002-03-31T00:09:03-08:00 List-Id: I like Ada, but this GUI thing is one where it's not that strong. moran@acm.org wrote: > > Have you tried CLAW (Class Library Ada Windows) or its GUI Builder, You have admitted, haven't you, that you wished that you could add more to CLAW, that the set of widgets that CLAW supports is way less than what comes with some of the more popular products for Windows (eg VB, VC++, Delphi)? > or Object Ada's GUI Builder? Similarly limited, isn't it? The demo I saw for Object Ada's GUI setup (some years back) gave a simple little demo that it boasted was developed in something like 1/2 day. Very nice. But it was the kind of demo that someone would throw together with the alternative tools I mentioned above in about 5 minutes. > or GWindows No GUI builder AFAIK. Doesn't match the other tools (above) for number of widgets or ease of use. > GtkAda or the other tools Last time I looked at GtkAda, the Windows version of GtkAda depended on the Windows version of Gtk, and the Windows version of Gtk said that it was beta or alpha or developers' code, not intended for production use. My favorite of the Ada GUI tools was RAPID, which gave a very small set of Tk widgets. It was real simple and easy to use. Fine for a program where you could get by with the very limited set of widgets, ie only some simple programs, but very usable and competitive in time required to make an app. But not a match for Delphi if you want to do a high- powered UI. The last version of Delphi I bought came with something like 150 widgets/ controls builtin. I don't think that any of the Ada alternatives you mention can come near that. Then, when I look to buy more, there are many many available for Delphi to add on that can be bought cheap or downloaded free that install right into the IDE and work just fine right away by point and click. You can find the same for VB or VC++. This is not a battle that Ada is going to win. David Botton has the right idea with Gnatcom. Use Ada to write the backend logic where Ada is not at a disadvantage. Use the high-volume mass market UI tools to do the UI. Hook them together. Al