Programming Language (was: State of the GnuCash project: A call for help)

[Linas Vepstas]

On Tue, Aug 12, 2003 at 10:56:34AM +0200, Christian Stimming was heard to remark:
> Personally I would love to do the GUI programming in some higher-level 
> language (scheme with gnome-guile, python with python-gtk, C++ with 
> gtkmm). Maybe the modular system organisation would make it possible 
> some day to have some modules written in languages other than C. But 
> setting things up correctly will be a major headache, not to mention the 
> additional dependencies etc. -- so for the time being I will just 
> continue to do OO-programming in C.

In theory, this would be handled by the object system.  I think that the
reason that glib gobjects have all that marshalling and etc.etc. stuff
in them is so that cross-language object calls can become easy, someday.

But for now, 
1) I don't beleive that there is an instant/transparent/automatic
   python-to-gobjects or guile-to-gobjects bridge

2) gnucash does not use glib gobjects.  It uses home-grown KVP's and a 
   home-grown object-query system .. kvp was added before gobjects
   existed, and object query was added because not even gobjects
   supports such a concept, not yet.


There is a massive amount of core infrastructure that needs to be
invented to make writing apps like gnucash simpler.  Things like
gobjects and kvp and query-objects are just baby-steps, and may
I point out babies aren't very good at walking ...

The zen-warlord-programer-master quote on slashdot is precient .

--linas


-- 
pub  1024D/01045933 2001-02-01 Linas Vepstas (Labas!) <linas at linas.org>
PGP Key fingerprint = 8305 2521 6000 0B5E 8984  3F54 64A9 9A82 0104 5933