[haiku-development] Re: Haiku, Qt and apps, oh my!

  • From: "Axel Dörfler" <axeld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:50:50 +0200 CEST

Stephan Assmus <superstippi@xxxxxx> wrote:
> it's beautifully designed and is just as nice 
> or nicer as the Be API, and much, much more complete.

Well, while I've been exposed to the Qt API, I actually found many 
holes in its design, especially when it comes to multi-threading, inter
-app communication, asynchronous messaging, etc. The whole UI must run 
in a single thread in Qt, for example.
This is where the Be API shines (if you disregard multi user problems), 
and Qt leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully they'll improve upon this 
in the future.

Stephan Assmus <superstippi@xxxxxx> wrote:
> By now, VLC has switched over to Qt and the GUI is much better.

Actually, I don't like the Qt UI of VLC a lot. I think it's clumsy, 
overloaded, and hides useful functionality behind too many clicks. The 
only thing I like better there is the easily available aspect ratio 
setting. At least I don't consider this as a good example.

And having seen the Qt VLC sources, I know there is just another hole 
in the Qt API to be filled (fast/native QImages, and support for video 
overlays). Not sure if they did already improve this for 4.5.

I definitely see value in a Qt port, as it brings Haiku to the 
commercially viable platforms easily, and lots of nice apps are using 
Qt. But it's not at a point where it could be a full replacement of the 
Be API (or its UI parts), and therefore it'll be hard to make Qt apps 
feel as responsive and native as other apps do, at least when they are 
a bit more complex.

Bye,
   Axel.

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