X-Git-Url: https://git.saurik.com/wxWidgets.git/blobdiff_plain/2edb0bdef6238c8c246b6978bc14828b7033d931..f0b1ccde63c1acd9ca18847f758603f39f22cf4b:/docs/html/faqgen.htm
diff --git a/docs/html/faqgen.htm b/docs/html/faqgen.htm
index d945ff7ff8..a0de58ca37 100644
--- a/docs/html/faqgen.htm
+++ b/docs/html/faqgen.htm
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
@@ -25,17 +26,21 @@ See also top-level FAQ page.
List of questions in this category
@@ -46,15 +51,16 @@ wxWindows is a class library that allows you to compile graphical C++ programs o
different platforms. wxWindows defines a common API across platforms, but uses the native graphical user interface (GUI) on each platform,
so your program will take on the native 'look and feel' that users are familiar with.
-Although GUI applications are mostly built programmatically, there is a dialog editor to help
+Although GUI applications are mostly built programmatically, there are several dialog editors to help
build attractive dialogs and panels. Robert Roebling's wxDesigner
-makes light work of resizable, portable dialogs.
+and Anthemion Software's DialogBlocks
+are two commercial examples, but there are others: see the Useful Tools page.
You don't have to use C++ to use wxWindows: there is a Python interface for wxWindows 2,
and also a Perl interface.
-
Can I use wxWindows 2 for both proprietary (commercial) projects, and GPL'ed projects?
+
Yes. Please see the licence for details, but basically
you can distribute proprietary binaries without distributing any source code, and neither will wxWindows
@@ -64,7 +70,7 @@ The conditions for using wxWindows 2 are the same whether you are a personal, ac
or commercial developer.
-
Is there support?
+
No official support, but the mailing list is very helpful and some people say that
wxWindows support is better than for much commercial software. The developers are
@@ -81,6 +87,9 @@ quite large for a list of this type.
See Users for a list of some users and their applications, and
also Feedback for comments.
+Our highest-profile user yet is industry veteran and Lotus Corp. founder Mitch Kapor
+and his Open Source Applications Foundation.
+
@@ -130,10 +139,10 @@ platform-independent code, such as the wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl classes.
No. This is a much-discussed topic that has (many times) ended with the conclusion that it is in
wxWindows' best interests to avoid use of templates. Not all compilers can handle
templates adequately so it would dramatically reduce the number of compilers
-and platforms that could be supported. It would also be undesirable to make
+and platforms that could be supported. It would also be undersirable to make
wxWindows dependent on another large library that may have to be downloaded and installed.
In addition, use of templates can lead to executable bloat, which is something
-wxWindows 2 is strenuously trying to avoid.
+wxWindows 2 is strenously trying to avoid.
The standard C++ string class is not used, again because it is not available to all compilers,
and it is not necessarily a very efficient implementation. Also, we retain more flexibility
@@ -159,10 +168,9 @@ or by adding this to a header before you include any STL files:
These are the possibilities so far:
-- The richedit sample has a text editor that does markup.
- See www.scintilla.org for
-a very nice syntax-highlighting editor widget. Robin Dunn is writing a wxWindows wrapper
-for this widget.
+a very nice syntax-highlighting editor widget. Robin Dunn has written a wxWindows wrapper
+for this widget, available in the wxWindows distribution under contrib/src/stc.
- If you only need to display marked-up information, rather than edit it,
then wxHTML will suit your needs. wxHTML is built into wxWindows - please see the reference
manual for details, and samples/html.
@@ -200,29 +208,29 @@ There are a few issues to keep in mind, though:
-
+
We are using the CVS system to develop and maintain wxWindows. This allows
-us to make alterations and upload them instantly to the SourceForge server, from
+us to make alterations and upload them instantly to the server, from
which others can update their source.
To build source from CVS, see the file BuildCVS.txt in the top-level wxWindows distribution
directory.
-
+
By ftp, and via the wxWindows CD-ROM.
If you are feeling adventurous, you may also check out the sources directly
-from the cvs
+from cvs.
-Currently we're working too hard on getting wxWindows 2 finished (are GUI toolkits ever
+Currently we're working too hard on getting wxWindows finished (are GUI toolkits ever
finished?) to think very far ahead. However, we know we want to make wxWindows as robust
and well-publicised as possible. We also want to aim for better platform-independence of
-resources such as icons and bitmaps, standardising on the PNG for all platforms.
+resources such as icons and bitmaps, standardising on PNG and XPM for all platforms.
Other possibilities include: DCOM/CORBA compatibility; a wxWindows book;
wxWorkshop, an IDE;
@@ -234,12 +242,24 @@ their product.
The high-level goal of wxWindows is to be thought of as the number one C++ framework,
for virtually any platform. Move over, MFC!
+
+
+wxBase is a subset of wxWindows comprised by the non-GUI classes. It includes
+wxWindows container and primitive data type classes (including wxString,
+wxDateTime and so on) and also useful wrappers for the operating system objects
+such as files, processes, threads, sockets and so on. With very minor
+exceptions wxBase may be used in exactly the same way as wxWindows but it
+doesn't require a GUI to run and so is ideal for creating console mode
+utilities or server programs. It is also possible to create a program which can
+be compiled either as a console application (using wxBase) or a GUI one (using
+a full featured wxWindows port).
+
-wxUniversal is a new port of wxWindows being currently actively developed. The
-main difference is that wxUniversal implements all controls (or widgets) in
-wxWindows itself thus allowing to have much more flexibility (i.e. support for
-themes even under MS Windows!). It also means that it is now much easier to
+The main difference between wxUniversal-based ports (such as wxX11, wxMGL) and other ports (such as wxMSW, wxGTK+, wxMac)
+is that wxUniversal implements all controls (or widgets) in
+wxWindows itself thus allowing to have much more flexibility (for example, support for
+themes even under MS Windows). It also means that it is now much easier to
port wxWindows to a new platform as only the low-level classes must be ported
which make for a small part of the library.
@@ -251,11 +271,47 @@ 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.
+
+
+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.
+
+
+- Not everyone wants or needs net services.
+
- C++ will be used for a long time to come; compared with C++, C# is a recent development and its future is not certain.
+
- 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).
+
- C# is usually byte-compiled and therefore slower. Plus, .NET adds a layer of overhead to the client computer
+that wxWindows does not require.
+
- Mono hasn't proven its long-term viability yet (it's a complex system of components); wxWindows is ready now.
+
- You may not wish to buy into Microsoft marketing spin and APIs.
+
- Microsoft may at some point sue developers of non-Microsoft .NET implementations. After all,
+platform-independence is not in Microsoft's interest.
+
- .NET might never be implemented on some platforms, especially Mac and embedded variants of Linux.
+
- wxPython and other language variants provide further reasons for wxWindows to continue.
+
- 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.
+
+
+
Please check out the Community pages,
in particular the suggested projects, and
-mail Julian Smart or the developers' mailing list with your own suggestions.
+mail the developers' mailing list with your own suggestions.