Dispelling Cross-Platform Software Development Myths

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Dispelling Cross-Platform Software Development
Myths

• Cross-Platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets

Kevin Hock August 2005
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Overview

• Who am I?
• What is cross-platform development?
• Why cross-platform?
• Cross-platform myths
• Recap wxWidgets
• wxWidgets book

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Who am I?

• Miami University (OH)
• Visiting Instructor
• Founded BitWise Communications
• Created BitWise IM
• wxWidgets developer
• wxWidgets book co-author

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What is cross-platform?

• Applications for multiple platforms
• Platform-agnostic API
• Write once, compile/run everywhere
• GUI layout
• Advanced classes

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Why cross-platform?

• Heterogeneous world
• Growing Linux / OS X markets
• Increased market share
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Not locked to a platform

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Myth 1Slow applications

• wxWidgets is a thin wrapper
• CPU speeds increasing
• Few real-time applications

Mahogany Mail (Linux)
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Myth 2Large libraries required

• Thin wrapper
• Statically link wxWidgets
• Avoid rpm / so / dll issues
• Compare sizes on Windows

Library Raw MB Zip MB
Java 30 15
GTK 9 4
QT 4 2
wxWidgets lt1 lt1/2
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Myth 3Poor mobile support

• Windows CE
• GPE using GTK
• wxX11 uses only X
• Palm OS 6
• Adjust window layouts (small)

Life! on GPE
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Myth 4Non-native appearance

• Uses OS widgets, not a skin

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Myth 5Awkward window layout

• Sizers adapt to
• Fonts
• Languages
• Widget sizes
• Window sizes

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Myth 6Non-standard dialogs

• wxWidgets uses standard OS dialogs

Native, used by wxWidgets
Non-native, used by another library
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Myth 7Lowest common denominator

• Generic widgets bridge gaps
• Platform-specific classes (wxWebkit)
• Custom-drawn application widgets
• Platform-specific code

Audacity Sound Editor (Linux)
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Myth 8Have to learn OS details

• wxWidgets abstracts common API
• wxMenuBar, About / Preferences
• wxSound
• wxConfig
• wxSingleInstanceChecker
• wxLaunchDefaultBrowser

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Myth 9Complicated, unstable

• More often than not wxWidgets gets out of the
  way of the programmer.
• Well structured, easy to use API
• Excellent documentation
• 12 years of evolution
• Worldwide community
• Lists, newsgroups, forums, wiki

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Myth 10Locked into one vendor

• Open source
• Worldwide community
• Cannot be discontinued
• Not a company, no profit motive
• Community support
• wxCode community extensions

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Myth 11Locked into a technology

• Standard C, no extensions
• Use standard C libraries
• Library-agnostic
• New technologies embraced
• Free upgrades to new technologies!

Old New
Motif GTK
GTK GTK 2
Win16 Win32
Carbon Cocoa
Win32 Vista?
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Why choose wxWidgets?

• Avoids common cross-platform issues
• Open-source
• 12 years of evolution
• Worldwide community
• Many supported platforms
• Advanced features

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Who uses wxWidgets?

• Open source projects
• Small businesses
• Large organizations
• AMD
• AOL (Communicator)
• Carnegie-Mellon University
• Grisoft (AVG Anti-Virus)
• Lockheed Martin
• NASA
• OSAF - Chandler
• Xerox

OSAFs Chandler (Linux)
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Whats in the book?

• Concepts overviews
• Class descriptions
• Code examples
• Discussions
• Project setup guides
• CD-ROM code utilities

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Conclusion

• Powerful cross-platform framework
• Heterogeneous world
• Target additional platforms
• Agile movement among platforms
• wxWidgets book
• Questions?