MVC vs. Morphic (was Re: Shrinking)

Kamil Kukura kamk at volny.cz
Thu Sep 2 10:19:34 UTC 2004


Ned Konz wrote:

>How is this different from what was done in Mac OS 7 or Windows 3.1? I recall 
>many applications that would make the whole GUI unusable by doing just what 
>you describe in response to a UI action.
>  
>
This reminds me one funny situation when I was working with Mac OS in 
version 9 even. I was wondering when it takes such a long time for 
Microsoft Explorer to download a relatively short file. Then I found out 
it was simply not doing the job while I was doing other things with GUI. 
Best solution to get the file quickly was to open a web page, starting 
to read it and not touching GUI much :)
In Squeak we're not even there, while downloading something everything 
is stuck. But this is rather up to application or some system layer design.

>In fact, if you look at Squeak as a single application (which it is, despite 
>the windows) ours is a fairly typical architecture. Events come up from the 
>VM and are dispatched in a single loop.
>  
>
I have a project in my papers which heavily uses touchscreen and is not 
connected with using windows as overlapping areas. In this area I think 
Morphic can be a real benefit.

>If you wanted to make a UI in the style you describe -- merely concerned with 
>standard kinds of windows and UI elements inside them -- many of the issues 
>around intra-Morph communication would not be a problem. But you're missing 
>the point, I think; Morphic was not intended (as far as I know) as a 
>windowing system. As you point out, the MVC system is much closer to this 
>model, with its controllers that are associated with things that look like 
>windows on the desktop.
>  
>
Looks like we should put warning to newcomers - objects that look like 
windows might not be what they are :) I hope I don't touch anybody 
smiling over here. Working paradigm based on windows and desktop comes 
from real situation when people in before-computer ages were used to 
work with papers on their desktops. Now if you look how different every 
application (in sense of BFAV, Celeste, IRC client) looks from point of 
view of user how do you feel about it?
Almost everyone working with computer today is use to have some floating 
windows. Even as a developer I use to have window here and window there. 
In contrast when I work remotely on Linux machine I use to have SSH 
terminal with Emacs-like environment. When working with Squeak/Morphic I 
feel like being in between those two.

-- 
Kamil




More information about the Squeak-dev mailing list