[brailleblaster] Re: Why Java
- From: Alex Jurgensen <asquared21@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 19:45:44 -0700
Hi John,
C programs run nativvely on all major OS's.
WX-Widgets is like SWT for C and for sure works on the Mac with the Mac's
screen reader.
The compilers are not included on the Mac and as far as I know on Windows, but
those need to be run only once to compile the code.
What you walk away with by using C is faster exicution, and more memory
efficient code, which is important to screen reader users running on low
specification machines.
Just my $0.02 cents worth.
Regards,
Alex,
On 2010-11-04, at 5:57 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
> BrailleBlaster is intended as a desktop application. There is no reason
> why it couldn't be used on a tablet. It would not be suitable for small
> devices, such as phones, because these could not accommmodate the GUI
> which is part of its design and a large part of its appeal. How would
> you fit usable braille and print windows on a small screen?
>
> The core libraries of BrailleBlaster are already in C. liblouis and
> liblouisutdml will be the braille engine of BrailleBlaster and they can
> be used without it via the file2brl command-line interface. They are the
> engine; BrailleBlaster is the rest of the car.
>
> Java was picked because of SWT, which has native C libraries that
> support the UI requirements of different platforms. wxwidgets is
> problematical. I have heard that it really works only for Windows. Java
> provides wuicker software development and indeed a great number of
> libraries that do things like display MathML.
> Microsoft doesn['t provide C at the installation of its operating
> systems. With Apple, you have to install the Developer tools to get C. I
> think both decided that maintaining their own Java runtimes just wasn't
> worth it, because there are so many third-party JREs already available.
>
> I may be wrong on some of this, but I'm hoping we will see some messages
> from More Java experts and from other decision-makers.
>
> Yuemei said she is experienced mostly in C and Visual Basic. She did
> mention Swing, but not that she had used it a lot. I think straight SWT
> is the way to go.
>
> John
>
> On Thu, Nov 04, 2010 at 05:45:02PM -0500, qubit wrote:
>> Perhaps because there are java libraries available that are tempting to use
>> as a base? As for Apple and Microsoft, the java runtime is not being
>> supported by them any longer, but third parties may still develop such
>> support to be distributed with java programs.
>> Any other things I have missed?
>> --le
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Alex Jurgensen
>> To: Brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 2:25 PM
>> Subject: [brailleblaster] Why Java
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>>
>> I mention this now, at the relative beginning of the project, so as to
>> avoid unnecessary work.
>>
>>
>> Why are we using Java and not writing most of the code in C, with a true,
>> native UI on top, such as WX-Widgets for C. Because the code would not need
>> to be exicuted in a virtual machine, we would avoid many of the slowdowns
>> associated with Java.
>>
>>
>> We must also think about embeded devices, where the overhead of Java is
>> either too much for hte battery to tolleratte acceptably or there is no Java
>> Virtual Machine available.
>>
>>
>> Furthermore, both Microsoft and Apple have dropped support for Java within
>> their Operating Systems, it doesn't seem to make sense to continue coding in
>> Java because we may one day soon need to rewrite all of our code to aadapt
>> to a whole new class of machines that don't have Java Available.
>>
>>
>> I feel that if we write the core of our code into C libraries, we should be
>> able to bring about new UI's, such as a Cocoatouch UI for IOS devices, OR an
>> QT UI for Nokea and Intel's new project.
>>
>>
>> Just my two cents.
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Alex,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Alex Jurgensen,
>> VoiceOver Trainer,
>> ASquared21@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>
>> Visit us on the web at: www.vipbc.org
>>
>
> --
> John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
> Abilitiessoft, Inc.
> http://www.abilitiessoft.com
> Madison, Wisconsin USA
> Developing software for people with disabilities
>
>
Alex Jurgensen,
VoiceOver Trainer,
ASquared21@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Visit us on the web at: www.vipbc.org
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