| Why Use SWT over Swing [message #168695] |
Thu, 31 August 2006 15:05  |
Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: steve.kincer.org
Here's another newb question. When I fired up eclipse and started playing
around with it, I was shocked to see that it had its own set of GUI
controls. Why would anyone use SWT over swing? Even if there are some
better features in SWT, it seems like you're putting yourself at risk if SWT
(or eclipse) ever went away. It seems like with swing you'll be given a
gradual migration path if they decide to do away with it, and if java goes
away, then you've got bigger problems. Also, if you ever wanted to hire
some staff to do some coding in your app there's a way better chance that
they'll be familiar with swing that SWT.
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| Re: Why Use SWT over Swing [message #168726 is a reply to message #168695] |
Thu, 31 August 2006 16:29  |
| Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: nobody.there.127.0.0.1
Steve Kincer wrote:
> Here's another newb question. When I fired up eclipse and started playing
> around with it, I was shocked to see that it had its own set of GUI
> controls. Why would anyone use SWT over swing?
This is dangerously close to flamebait (as a google of "SWT vs Swing"
will reveal). If you're sincere, here's a link that describes some of
the issues:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=88
In short: when Eclipse was originally written, Swing wasn't sufficiently
advanced for Eclipse. There were also philosophical issues having to do
with native widgets vs drawn widgets. If you're interested in working on
porting Eclipse to Swing, there have been at least two projects. EoS
(http://eos.sourceforge.net/) is one that comes to mind immediately 'cos
it's got a cool name.
Andrew Jr.
============================================================ ==========
IBM Phoenix Labs (OTI)
2929 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona, USA 85012
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| Re: Why Use SWT over Swing [message #168740 is a reply to message #168726] |
Thu, 31 August 2006 16:49 |
| Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: steve.kincer.org
Andrew:
I am sincere, and like I said, I'm a newb to the whole eclipse thing. I
read the blog entries you sited - thanks for the background. I can see why
SWT was created at the time. It still seems like my concerns about
switching from swing to SWT at this stage of the game are valid though.
I've got to believe if I hit the streets looking to hire java developers
more of them will have swing experience than SWT and I think there's a
better chance swing will be around in 5 years than SWT (or at least if swing
is phased out there will be some gradual migration).
Thanks.
Steve
"Andrew Cornwall" <nobody.there@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:ed72je$s1k$1@utils.eclipse.org...
> Steve Kincer wrote:
>> Here's another newb question. When I fired up eclipse and started
>> playing around with it, I was shocked to see that it had its own set of
>> GUI controls. Why would anyone use SWT over swing?
>
> This is dangerously close to flamebait (as a google of "SWT vs Swing" will
> reveal). If you're sincere, here's a link that describes some of the
> issues:
>
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=88
>
> In short: when Eclipse was originally written, Swing wasn't sufficiently
> advanced for Eclipse. There were also philosophical issues having to do
> with native widgets vs drawn widgets. If you're interested in working on
> porting Eclipse to Swing, there have been at least two projects. EoS
> (http://eos.sourceforge.net/) is one that comes to mind immediately 'cos
> it's got a cool name.
>
> Andrew Jr.
>
> ============================================================ ==========
> IBM Phoenix Labs (OTI)
> 2929 North Central Avenue
> Phoenix, Arizona, USA 85012
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| Re: Why Use SWT over Swing [message #168747 is a reply to message #168740] |
Thu, 31 August 2006 17:17 |
| Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: nobody.there.127.0.0.1
Steve Kincer wrote:
> Andrew:
> I am sincere, and like I said, I'm a newb to the whole eclipse thing. I
> read the blog entries you sited - thanks for the background. I can see why
> SWT was created at the time. It still seems like my concerns about
> switching from swing to SWT at this stage of the game are valid though.
> I've got to believe if I hit the streets looking to hire java developers
> more of them will have swing experience than SWT and I think there's a
> better chance swing will be around in 5 years than SWT (or at least if swing
> is phased out there will be some gradual migration).
You could make the same argument backwards: Swing is not open source,
SWT is, so there's a better chance someone will port SWT to your
no-longer-supported platform than that they'll port Swing. I agree,
though, that it's harder to find developers for SWT than for Swing.
The good thing is that you can use Eclipse to develop both SWT and Swing
apps, so whichever you're more comfortable with is the one you should
choose :-)
Andrew Jr.
============================================================ ==========
IBM Phoenix Labs (OTI)
2929 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona, USA 85012
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| Re: Why Use SWT over Swing [message #169162 is a reply to message #168740] |
Mon, 04 September 2006 03:39 |
| Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: eclipse4.rizzoweb.com
Steve Kincer wrote:
> Andrew:
> I am sincere, and like I said, I'm a newb to the whole eclipse thing. I
> read the blog entries you sited - thanks for the background. I can see why
> SWT was created at the time. It still seems like my concerns about
> switching from swing to SWT at this stage of the game are valid though.
> I've got to believe if I hit the streets looking to hire java developers
> more of them will have swing experience than SWT and I think there's a
> better chance swing will be around in 5 years than SWT (or at least if swing
> is phased out there will be some gradual migration).
I think you are severely underestimating the momentum and industry
support behind Eclipse. Eclipse (and thus SWT) is not somebody's pet
open-source project, it is a highly influential industry consortium,
including IBM, a company who has bet its entire future on the success of
Java, and its entire software development product line, on Eclipse.
IBM's current toolset (Rational) is nearly completely based on Eclipse
and SWT now, so it is most certainly not going away any time soon. Nor
would it do so without just as much of a migration path as anything Sun
would provide.
In fact, you quote "5 years" as some kind of important timeframe, but
SWT is already that old.
There is nothing at all magic about Sun and their stewardship of Java. I
happen to historically be a fan of Sun, but the company is in serious
trouble from a business standpoint, so the future of anything Java from
Sun is not as stable as you might be thinking. I've been saying this for
a few years, but I would not be surprised to see IBM buy either Java or
the entire Sun company sometime in the future.
As for finding developers, well: any decent developer can learn a new
framework or API in a matter of days or a week or two. If s/he is really
any good with Swing, s/he will be able to become acquainted with SWT
fairly easily. And the Eclipse tools help a lot, too.
Anyway, I've ranted. Sorry. Point is, neither Eclipse nor SWT are just
"going away" in any vision of the future that anybody "in the know" will
claim. You might have other reasons for choosing Swing over SWT, but
that shouldn't be one of them.
Hope this helps,
Eric
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