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	5	<TITLE>wxWindows 2 FAQ: General</TITLE>
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	16	<b>wxWindows 2 FAQ: General</b>
	17	</font>
	18	</td>
	19	</tr>
	20	</table>
	21
	22	<P>
	23
	24	See also <a href="faq.htm">top-level FAQ page</a>.
	25	<hr>
	26	<h3>List of questions in this category</h3>
	27	<ul>
	28	<li><a href="#whatis">What is wxWindows?</a></li>
	29	<li><a href="#licence">Can I use wxWindows 2 for both proprietary projects, and GPL'ed projects?</a></li>
	30	<li><a href="#support">Is there support?</a></li>
	31	<li><a href="#users">Who uses wxWindows?</a></li>
	32	<li><a href="#platforms">What platforms are supported by wxWindows?</a></li>
	33	<li><a href="#specific">How does wxWindows support platform-specific features?</a></li>
	34	<li><a href="#stl">Does wxWindows use STL? or the standard string class?</a></li>
	35	<li><a href="#richedit">Is there a rich edit/markup widget for wxWindows?</a></ li>
	36	<li><a href="#exceptions">How to use C++ exceptions with wxWindows?</a></ li>
	37	<li><a href="#dev">How is wxWindows being developed?</a></li>
	38	<li><a href="#distrib">How is wxWindows distributed?</a></li>
	39	<li><a href="#future">What are the plans for the future?</a></li>
	40	<li><a href="#base">What is wxBase?</a></li>
	41	<li><a href="#univ">What is wxUniversal?</a></li>
	42	<li><a href="#jave">What about Java?</a></li>
	43	<li><a href="#dotnet">What about .NET/Mono?</a></li>
	44	<li><a href="#help">How can I help the project?</a></li>
	45	</ul>
	46	<hr>
	47
	48	<H3><a name="whatis">What is wxWindows?</a></H3>
	49
	50	wxWindows is a class library that allows you to compile graphical C++ programs on a range of
	51	different platforms. wxWindows defines a common API across platforms, but uses the native graphical user interface (GUI) on each platform,
	52	so your program will take on the native 'look and feel' that users are familiar with.<P>
	53
	54	Although GUI applications are mostly built programmatically, there is a dialog editor to help
	55	build attractive dialogs and panels. Robert Roebling's <a href="http://www.roebling.com">wxDesigner</a>
	56	makes light work of resizable, portable dialogs.<P>
	57
	58	You don't have to use C++ to use wxWindows: there is a <a href="http://wxpython.org">Python interface</a> for wxWindows 2,
	59	and also a <a href="http://wxperl.sourceforge.net" target=_top>Perl interface</a>.
	60	<P>
	61
	62	<h3><a name="licence">Can I use wxWindows 2 for both proprietary (commercial) projects, and GPL'ed projects?</a></h3>
	63
	64	Yes. Please see the <a href="newlicen.htm">licence</a> for details, but basically
	65	you can distribute proprietary binaries without distributing any source code, and neither will wxWindows
	66	conflict with GPL code you may be using or developing with it.
	67	<P>
	68	The conditions for using wxWindows 2 are the same whether you are a personal, academic
	69	or commercial developer.
	70	<P>
	71
	72	<h3><a name="support">Is there support?</a></h3>
	73
	74	No official support, but the mailing list is very helpful and some people say that
	75	wxWindows support is better than for much commercial software. The developers are
	76	keen to fix bugs as soon as possible, though obviously there are no guarantees.
	77	<P>
	78
	79	<H3><a name="users">Who uses wxWindows?</a></H3>
	80
	81	Many organisations - commercial, government, and academic - across the
	82	world. It's impossible to estimate the true number of users, since
	83	wxWindows is obtained by many different means, and we cannot monitor
	84	distribution. The mailing list contains around 300-400 entries which is
	85	quite large for a list of this type.<P>
	86
	87	See <a href="users.htm">Users</a> for a list of some users and their applications, and
	88	also <A href="feedback.htm">Feedback</a> for comments.<P>
	89	Our highest-profile user yet is industry veteran and Lotus Corp. founder Mitch Kapor
	90	and his <a href="http://www.osafoundation.org" target=_new>Open Source Applications Foundation</a>.
	91	<P>
	92
	93	<H3><a name="platforms">What platforms are supported by wxWindows 2?</a></H3>
	94
	95	<ul>
	96	<li>Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows ME.
	97	<li>Linux and other Unix platforms with GTK+.
	98	<li>Unix with Motif or the free Motif clone Lesstif.
	99	<li>Mac OS.
	100	<li>Embedded platforms are being investigated. See the <a href="wxuniv.htm">wxUniversal</a> project.
	101	<li>An OS/2 port is in progress, and you can also compile wxWindows for GTK+ or Motif
	102	on OS/2.
	103	</ul>
	104	<P>
	105
	106	<H3><a name="specific">How does wxWindows 2 support platform-specific
	107	features?</a></H3>
	108
	109	This is a hotly-debated topic amongst the developers. My own philosophy
	110	is to make wxWindows as platform-independent as possible, but allow in a
	111	few classes (functions, window styles) that are platform-specific.
	112	For example, Windows metafiles and Windows 95 taskbar icons have
	113	their own classes on Windows, but nowhere else. Because these classes
	114	are provided and are wxWindows-compatible, it doesn't take much
	115	coding effort for an application programmer to add support for
	116	some functionality that the user on a particular platform might otherwise
	117	miss. Also, some classes that started off as platform-specific, such
	118	as the MDI classes, have been emulated on other platforms. I can imagine
	119	that even wxTaskBarIcon may be implemented for Unix desktops one day.
	120	<P>
	121
	122	In other words, wxWindows is not a 'lowest common denominator' approach,
	123	but it will still be possible to write portable programs using the
	124	core API. Forbidding some platform-specific classes would be a stupid
	125	approach that would alienate many potential users, and encourage
	126	the perception that toolkits such as wxWindows are not up to the demands
	127	of today's sophisticated applications.<P>
	128
	129	Currently resources such as bitmaps and icons are handled in a platform-specific
	130	way, but it is hoped to reduce this dependence in due course.<P>
	131
	132	Another reason why wxWindows 2 is not a 'lowest common denominator' toolkit is that
	133	some functionality missing on some platform has been provided using generic,
	134	platform-independent code, such as the wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl classes.<P>
	135
	136	<H3><a name="stl">Does wxWindows use STL? or the standard string class?</a></H3>
	137
	138	No. This is a much-discussed topic that has (many times) ended with the conclusion that it is in
	139	wxWindows' best interests to avoid use of templates. Not all compilers can handle
	140	templates adequately so it would dramatically reduce the number of compilers
	141	and platforms that could be supported. It would also be undersirable to make
	142	wxWindows dependent on another large library that may have to be downloaded and installed.
	143	In addition, use of templates can lead to executable bloat, which is something
	144	wxWindows 2 is strenously trying to avoid.<P>
	145
	146	The standard C++ string class is not used, again because it is not available to all compilers,
	147	and it is not necessarily a very efficient implementation. Also, we retain more flexibility
	148	by being able to modify our own string class. Some compatibility with the string class
	149	has been built into wxString.<P>
	150
	151	There is nothing to stop an application using templates or the string class for its own
	152	purposes. With wxWindows debugging options on, you may find you get errors when including
	153	STL headers. You can work around it either by switching off memory checking,
	154	or by adding this to a header before you include any STL files:<P>
	155
	156	<PRE>
	157	#ifdef new
	158	#undef new
	159	#endif
	160	</PRE>
	161
	162	<P>
	163
	164
	165	<H3><a name="richedit">Is there a rich edit/markup widget for wxWindows 2?</a></H3>
	166
	167	These are the possibilities so far:<P>
	168
	169	<ul>
	170	<li>See <a href="http://www.scintilla.org" target=_top>www.scintilla.org</a> for
	171	a very nice syntax-highlighting editor widget. Robin Dunn has written a wxWindows wrapper
	172	for this widget, available in the wxWindows distribution under contrib/src/stc.
	173	<li>If you only need to display marked-up information, rather than edit it,
	174	then wxHTML will suit your needs. wxHTML is built into wxWindows - please see the reference
	175	manual for details, and samples/html.
	176	<li>There are rich edit widgets in both WIN32 and GTK+, but there is currently
	177	no wxWindows wrapper for these (but text attribute functions are being added in the wxWindows 2.3.x series).
	178	</ul>
	179
	180	<P>
	181
	182	<h3><a name="exceptions">How to use C++ exceptions with wxWindows?</a></h3>
	183
	184	wxWindows library itself is unfortunately <i>not</i> exception-safe (as its
	185	initial version predates, by far, the addition of the exceptions to the C++
	186	language). However you can still use the exceptions in your own code and use
	187	the other libraries using the exceptions for the error reporting together with
	188	wxWindows.
	189
	190	<p>
	191	There are a few issues to keep in mind, though:
	192	<ul>
	193	<li>You shouldn't let the exceptions propagate through wxWindows code,
	194	in particular you should always catch the exceptions thrown by the
	195	functions called from an event handler in the handler itself and not
	196	let them propagate upwards to wxWindows.
	197
	198	<li>You may need to ensure that the compiler support for the exceptions is
	199	enabled as, considering that wxWindows itself doesn't use the
	200	exceptions and turning their support on results in the library size
	201	augmentation of 10% to 20%, it is turned off by default for a few
	202	compilers. Moreover, for gcc (or at least its mingw version) you must
	203	also turn on the RTTI support to be able to use the exceptions, so you
	204	should use <tt>--disable-no_rtti --disable-no_exceptions</tt> options
	205	when configuring the library (attention to the double negation).
	206	</ul>
	207
	208	<p>
	209
	210	<H3><a name="dev">How is wxWindows being developed?</a></H3>
	211
	212	We are using the <a href="cvs.htm">CVS</a> system to develop and maintain wxWindows. This allows
	213	us to make alterations and upload them instantly to the server, from
	214	which others can update their source.<P>
	215
	216	To build source from CVS, see the file BuildCVS.txt in the top-level wxWindows distribution
	217	directory.<P>
	218
	219	<H3><a name="distrib">How is wxWindows distributed?</a></H3>
	220
	221	By ftp, and via the <a href="cdrom2.htm">wxWindows CD-ROM</a>.
	222	<P>
	223	If you are feeling adventurous, you may also check out the sources directly
	224	from <a href="cvs.htm">cvs</a>.
	225	<p>
	226
	227	<H3><a name="future">What are the plans for the future?</a></H3>
	228
	229	Currently we're working too hard on getting wxWindows finished (are GUI toolkits ever
	230	finished?) to think very far ahead. However, we know we want to make wxWindows as robust
	231	and well-publicised as possible. We also want to aim for better platform-independence of
	232	resources such as icons and bitmaps, standardising on PNG and XPM for all platforms.<P>
	233
	234	Other possibilities include: DCOM/CORBA compatibility; a wxWindows book;
	235	<a href="http://wxworkshop.sourceforge.net/">wxWorkshop</a>, an IDE;
	236	other platforms, especially embedded systems; other interface abilities such as speech output.<P>
	237
	238	We will investigate the possibility of compiler or operating system vendors bundling wxWindows with
	239	their product.<P>
	240
	241	The high-level goal of wxWindows is to be thought of as the number one C++ framework,
	242	for virtually any platform. Move over, MFC!<P>
	243
	244	<h3><a name="base">What is wxBase?</a></h3>
	245
	246	wxBase is a subset of wxWindows comprised by the non-GUI classes. It includes
	247	wxWindows container and primitive data type classes (including wxString,
	248	wxDateTime and so on) and also useful wrappers for the operating system objects
	249	such as files, processes, threads, sockets and so on. With very minor
	250	exceptions wxBase may be used in exactly the same way as wxWindows but it
	251	doesn't require a GUI to run and so is ideal for creating console mode
	252	utilities or server programs. It is also possible to create a program which can
	253	be compiled either as a console application (using wxBase) or a GUI one (using
	254	a full featured wxWindows port).
	255
	256	<H3><a name="univ">What is wxUniversal?</a></H3>
	257
	258	The main difference between wxUniversal-based ports (such as wxX11, wxMGL) and other ports (such as wxMSW, wxGTK+, wxMac)
	259	is that wxUniversal implements all controls (or widgets) in
	260	wxWindows itself thus allowing to have much more flexibility (for example, support for
	261	themes even under MS Windows). It also means that it is now much easier to
	262	port wxWindows to a new platform as only the low-level classes must be ported
	263	which make for a small part of the library.
	264	<p>
	265	You may find more about wxUniversal <a href=wxuniv.htm>here</a>.
	266
	267	<H3><a name="jave">What about Java?</a></H3>
	268
	269	The Java honeymoon period is over :-) and people are realising that it cannot
	270	meet all their cross-platform development needs. We don't anticipate a major threat
	271	from Java, and the level of interest in wxWindows is as high as ever.<P>
	272
	273	<H3><a name="dotnet">What about .NET/Mono?</a></H3>
	274
	275	Microsoft is spending a lot on promoting the .NET initiative, which
	276	is a set of languages, APIs and web service components for Windows.
	277	Ximian has started an open source version of .NET, mostly for Linux.
	278	C# is Microsoft's alternative to Java, supporting 'managed code',
	279	garbage collection and various other Java-like language features.<P>
	280
	281	Although this may be attractive to some developers, there
	282	is a variety of reasons why the .NET/Mono combination is unlikely
	283	to make wxWindows redundant. Please note that the following comments
	284	are Julian Smart's opinions.<P>
	285
	286	<ol>
	287	<li>Not everyone wants or needs net services.
	288	<li>C++ will be used for a long time to come; compared with C++, C# is a recent development and its future is not certain.
	289	<li>Mono Forms may only target Winelib (at least to begin with), so the end result is not as native as
	290	wxWindows (I'm aware there is GTK# for use with the C# language).
	291	<li>C# is usually byte-compiled and therefore slower. Plus, .NET adds a layer of overhead to the client computer
	292	that wxWindows does not require.
	293	<li>Mono hasn't proven its long-term viability yet (it's a complex system of components); wxWindows is ready now.
	294	<li>You may not wish to buy into Microsoft marketing spin and APIs.
	295	<li>.NET might never be implemented on some platforms, especially Mac and embedded variants of Linux.
	296	<li>wxPython and other language variants provide further reasons for wxWindows to continue.
	297	<li>The same issue exists for Qt: if Qt sales remain strong, it's a good indication that
	298	the market for a C++-based approach is still there. (Either that, or everyone's turning to wxWindows!)
	299	</ol>
	300
	301	There is nothing to stop folk from developing a C# version of the wxWindows API;
	302	we already have bindings to Python, Perl, JavaScript, Lua, Basic, and Eiffel.
	303	Update: a <a href="http://wxnet.sourceforge.net/" target=_new>wx.NET</a> project is now in progress.
	304
	305	<P>
	306
	307	<H3><a name="help">How can I help the project?</a></H3>
	308
	309	Please check out the <a href="http://www.wxwindows.org/develop2.htm">Community</a> pages,
	310	in particular the <a href="projects.htm">suggested projects</a>, and
	311	mail the developers' mailing list with your own suggestions.<P>
	312
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