× The internal search function is temporarily non-functional. The current search engine is no longer viable and we are researching alternatives.
As a stop gap measure, we are using Google's custom search engine service.
If you know of an easy to use, open source, search engine ... please contact support@midrange.com.



Mark,
I can understand the issue of Swing vs SWT, but I did a Google and one of the first hits sold a converter for $60. The after screen shots did not look that bad. And yes I understand it would take more work. I would have to agree that they are not quite getting the WDSC thing yet. Heck most of them are barely getting the GUI thing.
We can only hope that IBM takes it to the next level and bases all their tools on the Eclipse 3.0 client framework. It sounds like they are off to a good start.


-- Scott J

Mark Phippard wrote:

In fairness, the Eclipse GUI (SWT) is unique to Eclipse. So while a vendor already using Java has a leg up on say the Code Designer team which has to port from C/C++, rewriting your UI is still a big deal.

In Eclipse 3.0 there is a better facility for integrating AWT/Swing into the UI. It will create somewhat of a FrankenUI but it will be a little better. Vendors will still have to do a fair amount of work to get their Swing code running, but it provides a better transition option for them.

Finally, I think a lot of iSeries vendors are not convinced that WDSC will "take off" and are hedging their bets, perhaps hoping it will fail. Personally, I think it has already taken off, especially if we can judge by the number of new customers we are seeing, not to mention the existing customers that have adopted it. In my opinion, I think when these vendors hope that WDSC will go away someday they are failing to see the investment that IBM is pouring into Eclipse. Virtually all IBM GUI's, even non-development tools, are being moved onto this framework. I do not see IBM walking away from it, I only see the adoption increasing. People in the general marketplace are paying $2K-$4K per user to use these tools and we get them for "free". We are getting a great value and the tools are only getting better and better.

We were fortunate in that we recognized this potential early on, and with the previous work we had done for our existing Windows C/S apps written in C++ we already had separated our business rules from the UI. So while we had a lot of work to do, it also allowed us to rethink the UI and really get it right. At the same time, we had a rich backend that we could very easily tap into without worrying about that important piece of the puzzle.

Thanks

Mark



As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This thread ...

Replies:

Follow On AppleNews
Return to Archive home page | Return to MIDRANGE.COM home page

This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].

Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.