Re: [wx4j] Cross platform application question

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On Oct 18, 2004, at 11:21 PM, Nycran wrote:
> Hi all, this is my first post to this list so
> appologies if I'm not in the right place.

This list is for wx4j discussion, so sounds like you are.

> I need to develop a desktop application that will run
> on both Windows and Mac OS X.  I have existing Java
> skills and have been reading about wxWindows which
> sounds great.
>
> One of the key objectives of my application will be
> easy deployment and installation for my users.  I
> don't want them to have to run configuration scripts
> or type in complicated java class paths.  Can this be
> done with Wx4J?  What would the typical user
> installation involve, assuming they already had the
> JRE VM installed?

Well, wx4j does not concentrate on deployment and installation.  It is 
a widget set only.  In fact, wx4j may complicate deployment and 
installation because of the extra native libraries needed.  Also, you 
noted that you wanted OS X support.  wxWindows and wx4j do not work 
well at all on OS X.  I'd suggest sticking with Swing.

> Also, does anyone know of a light weight database
> engine that I could use in my application that also
> conforms with my deployment object?  I've had quick
> glance at SQLLite but it looks like installation for
> users might be complex.  Any ideas?

SQLite is awesome, though, maybe not the best for Java.  I've used it 
in C and C++ and would heartily recommend it.  For Java, installation 
may be an issue as it requires native libraries.  As far as 
installation goes, you will *always* need some sort of installer on 
Windows, as far as I'm concerned, and this will allow you to install 
DLLs appropriately.  And on OS X, you can use application bundles to 
make Java apps really easy to install, even those with native 
libraries.  Here are two other embeddable databases that are pure Java:

   HSQLDB
   http://hsqldb.sourceforge.net/

   Mckoi
   http://mckoi.com/database/

Both have some issues but they may be fine for what you need.

-Dave