Re: [java-gnome-hackers] Mixing generated and hand-written classes

[Vreixo F. L. <met...@ya...>]

--- Colin Walters <wa...@ve...> escreveu:

> I don't think something like this would be too hard
to achieve with
> the current code generator 

In fact, it is quite easy! Having a direct mapping
from Gtk+ to Java is very easy with current code
generator, but that way what we would be doing is
using in Java an API designed for C!! Do we really
want that? Or we prefer a quality API carefully
designed for the Java language? 

With the first option we would have in less than a
week bindings for all Gtk+ functions. But would they
be a good bindings? I doubt. Only humans, by carefully
testing and exploring each of the Gtk+ functions can
provide quality Java bindings, both powerful but
easy-to-use and easy-to-learn, where things are done
in the way a Java developer expects them, and with a
good documentation. Seriously, I doubt the Gtk+
documentation is good for Java bindings. (well, in
fact I do not doubt, I'm sure it isn't!).

Of course, having to hand-coded all our API is much
more work, but that is the price we pay for having
good bindings. Each hour we waste handcoding good API
and docs, is time hundreds of developers won't need to
waste learning an ugly, bad documented API.

We are not developing an end-user app, but a library
many developers will use for writing their apps. Let's
do it ok. 

You may ask, then: why to worry about a code
generator? Because this way the ugly and tedious part
(the direct mapping, JNI layer, etc) is done
automatically!! So we expend our time studying Gtk+
functions and the way they should be mapping in Java,
and not writing JNI code!! In fact, thanks to the code
generator, I waste less than 1% of my java-gnome work
writing code. That is good.

I understand that for apps developers it is a pain to
wait for the coverage they need. But I really prefer
good bindings tomorrow than bad bindings today. And if
you really need coverage for a given widget, just
request us to implement it!! And contribute, of
course! If you use a widget sure you will have good
ideas about how it should be implmented in Java!

Cheers,
Vreixo





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