At 4:44 PM +1000 7/2/00, Karl Goiser wrote:
>G'Day,
>
>I'm sorry.  I just feel so stupid at not being able to get my point
>of view across.
>
>My argument is not that Squeak shouldn't be identical across all
>platforms.  It should - that's what I'm saying!

*snip*

>So, if people *must* have native widgets in Squeak, surely the best
>thing to do would be to abstract them as far as possible via some
>api so that the same code would work on other platforms?

I'm not suggesting that the code should be identical across
platforms.  I'm suggesting something far deeper -- that the execution
of the code should appear identical across platforms.  For many
applications, a general transliteration, if you will, of a
least-common-denominator GUI model, is probably a good thing.  For
the stuff I deal with (multimedia and games), that doesn't cut it.
Until you can assure me things will look the same regardless of the
machine I am running, I continue to have to "port" the application
from format to format to make up for the nuances lost by the LCD GUI
model.

Unfortunately, the devil in user interfaces is precisely the nuances.
Consider Jef Raskin's remarks in this regard from his book, The
Humane Interface.  When you simplify the model, you simplify what I
can do with that model.  Sure, the broad strokes cross over.  For my
purposes, however, that will not be enough, and I must write the
strict details once for every platform on which it runs.

Just like in Java
Just like in Tk/Tcl
Just like in Python/Tkinter

Its not awful (how can so many successful languages be wrong)?  Its
just not "write once/run everywhere."

Squeak is.
-- 
Andrew C. Greenberg		acg at netwolves.com
V.P. Eng., R&D, 		813.885.2779 (office)
NetWolves Corporation		813.885.2380 (facsimile)
www.netwolves.com

Please use werdna at mucow.com instead of werdna at gate.net
-- 
Andrew C. Greenberg		acg at netwolves.com
V.P. Eng., R&D, 		813.885.2779 (office)
NetWolves Corporation		813.885.2380 (facsimile)
www.netwolves.com

Please use werdna at mucow.com instead of werdna at gate.net