Re: 3.2: gjs/seed, QML?

[Alberto Mardegan <mardy users sourceforge net>]

On 04/21/2011 02:12 AM, Colin Walters wrote:
> == Dynamic Languages in GNOME ==
> 
> One thing that's worth addressing though (again) is the question "do
> we need both Python and JavaScript?".

IMHO, no. Which doesn't mean that one of the two must die; but I don't
see much benefit in spending energy on two language bindings, when at
the end they are pretty much equivalent when it comes to making a
programmer's life easier/different.

Javascript doesn't bring any greater advantages to an application
developer over Python; it's just a different language, with more
immature bindings.

What would be more beneficial (again IMHO) is to invest our energies on
something like QML [0].
A GNOME implementation of QML would be simply rocking. :-)

Over the past few months/years I've seen some blog posts from highly
skilled and respected developers from the GNOME world who were
(skeptically) wondering what's so cool about QML, and comparing it with
introspectable Gtk+/Clutter/Clutterscript/Cluttersmith and/or
Javascript. Well, if you still think the same, you are off track, by a
large distance.

Just a quick glance to the wikipedia page for QML [0], or to some of the
examples provided with Qt documentation [1] should be enough to give an
idea of the differences between QML and imperative programming
languages. True, QML uses Javascript, but it's far more than that, it's
the concept which is totally different.

I believe that a QML-like engine would be extremely beneficial for
GNOME; just think of the possibility of creating completely different
UIs for desktop and tablets/touchscreens, or 2D and 3D UIs [2] according
to the host system hardware capabilities and screen size.
And themes could be just different QML skins.


I want to make it clear that I don't want to detract from Python (which
I love) or Javascript; but you won't change application developers' life
much with just a different language that you use in the same way;
surely, you can save typing a few characters here and there, but at the
end it's still the same old stuff.
I personally know some developers who are rather unproductive with
traditional languages, but who can build great applications in little
time with QML; this is also something to consider, because it could mean
widening the GNOME developers community.

Just my two cents. Actually, not mine even. :-)

Ciao,
  Alberto


[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QML
[1]: http://doc.qt.nokia.com/4.7-snapshot/qdeclarativeexamples.html
[2]:
http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/03/22/the-convenient-power-of-qml-scene-graph/

-- 
http://blog.mardy.it <- geek in un lingua international!