X-Git-Url: https://git.saurik.com/wxWidgets.git/blobdiff_plain/2b5f62a0b2db198609b45dec622a018dae37008e..b3208e1158e3bbc38b73eeda606d92be9e649c1c:/docs/html/faqgen.htm?ds=inline diff --git a/docs/html/faqgen.htm b/docs/html/faqgen.htm index f75ce4688e..d40cb8f4e7 100644 --- a/docs/html/faqgen.htm +++ b/docs/html/faqgen.htm @@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ See also top-level FAQ page.
  • What is wxBase?
  • What is wxUniversal?
  • What about Java?
    • +
  • What about .NET/Mono?
  • How can I help the project?
    • @@ -269,6 +270,40 @@ The Java honeymoon period is over :-) and people are realising that it cannot meet all their cross-platform development needs. We don't anticipate a major threat from Java, and the level of interest in wxWindows is as high as ever.

    +

    What about .NET/Mono?

    + +Microsoft is spending a lot on promoting the .NET initiative, which +is a set of languages, APIs and web service components for Windows. +Ximian has started an open source version of .NET, mostly for Linux. +C# is Microsoft's alternative to Java, supporting 'managed code', +garbage collection and various other Java-like language features.

    + +Although this may be attractive to some developers, there +is a variety of reasons why the .NET/Mono combination is unlikely +to make wxWindows redundant. Please note that the following comments +are Julian Smart's opinions.

    + +

      +
    1. Not everyone wants or needs net services. +
    2. C++ will be used for a long time to come; compared with C++, C# is a recent development and its future is not certain. +
    3. Mono Forms may only target Winelib (at least to begin with), so the end result is not as native as +wxWindows (I'm aware there is GTK# for use with the C# language). +
    4. C# is usually byte-compiled and therefore slower. Plus, .NET adds a layer of overhead to the client computer +that wxWindows does not require. +
    5. Mono hasn't proven its long-term viability yet (it's a complex system of components); wxWindows is ready now. +
    6. You may not wish to buy into Microsoft marketing spin and APIs. +
    7. .NET might never be implemented on some platforms, especially Mac and embedded variants of Linux. +
    8. wxPython and other language variants provide further reasons for wxWindows to continue. +
    9. The same issue exists for Qt: if Qt sales remain strong, it's a good indication that +the market for a C++-based approach is still there. (Either that, or everyone's turning to wxWindows!) +
    + +There is nothing to stop folk from developing a C# version of the wxWindows API; +we already have bindings to Python, Perl, JavaScript, Lua, Basic, and Eiffel. +Update: a wx.NET project is now in progress. + +

    +

    How can I help the project?

    Please check out the Community pages,