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digitalmars.D.announce - The Future of the GtkDcoding Blog

reply Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
In 2006, I started a blog on PHP-GTK 2.x that ran for 40 posts 
before the blog site I was using closed its door. By then, I was 
caught up in writing Corkboard, the first full-featured 
application I'd written for my own amusement in nearly 20 years, 
and so I just let it slip away.

Last year, when I decided to update my knowledge to GTK 3.x, the 
resources I found were few. Each had a handful of examples and 
most went overboard, cramming dozens of GTK features into 
single-app demos. Prying relevant code from such crowded demos 
isn't my cup of tea, so I decided to write my own.

So, using D as my newly-adopted favourite language, I wrote 
single-purpose GTK demos for every feature I thought I might find 
useful for creating cross-platform desktop applications. The idea 
was to make single-file demos that incorporated no more than 
absolutely necessary to demonstrate the feature of the day. While 
I was at it, I made notes as a memory aid so I could re-grasp the 
details as quickly as possible because I knew it might be months 
before I got around to using this resource, the idea being to 
preemptively cut down on wasted time when I did get back to 
serious coding.

And that's what ended up becoming the GtkD Coding Blog. I was 
sure I wasn't the only person who would benefit from this, so I 
bought a domain and set up a schedule to post twice per week.

Coming up on the end of 2019 and quickly approaching the 100th 
posting, I'm contemplating the future of this blog. Will I 
continue to post? And if so, will those posts still go up twice 
per week? Or maybe I'll move on and write the killer screenplay 
outlining utility I've been mulling over for the last few years. 
Or maybe I'll finally retire and go power-watch old episodes of 
Star Trek or something. So many choice!

But the small audience I have managed to attract has given me 
encouragement, suggestions, and more than a little moral support. 
I can't tell you how grateful I am for that. And even if I don't 
continue to post or only post from time to time, I'd like to keep 
it easy to find (i.e. continue to use the https://gtkdcoding.com 
domain name).

So if you like the blog and would like it to be available for 
future reference, please sign up as a sponsor. I've revamped the 
sponsor tiers so they aren't so scary. (I don't know what I would 
have done with a $500 sponsor anyway!) You'll be helping me cover 
costs as well as give me the feeling that it's all been 
worthwhile.

Thanks,
Ron Tarrant
Nov 19 2019
next sibling parent reply angel <andrey.gelman gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 November 2019 at 19:37:41 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:

 In 2006, I started a blog on PHP-GTK 2.x that ran for 40 posts 
 before the blog site I was using closed its door. By then, I 
 was caught up in writing Corkboard, the first full-featured 
 application I'd written for my own amusement in nearly 20 
 years, and so I just let it slip away.


I think you should set up a "Donate" page on your site, so that 
an occasional visitor can say thank you.
Nov 21 2019
next sibling parent reply mipri <mipri minimaltype.com> writes:
On Thursday, 21 November 2019 at 16:14:48 UTC, angel wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 November 2019 at 19:37:41 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:

 In 2006, I started a blog on PHP-GTK 2.x that ran for 40 posts 
 before the blog site I was using closed its door. By then, I 
 was caught up in writing Corkboard, the first full-featured 
 application I'd written for my own amusement in nearly 20 
 years, and so I just let it slip away.


 I think you should set up a "Donate" page on your site, so that 
 an occasional visitor can say thank you.


Github sponsorship is very good right now though, since Github
matches the donations, but what I'd suggest is a "Desktop
Applications in D" booklet similar to:

https://www.amazon.com/Ray-Tracing-Weekend-Minibooks-Book-ebook/dp/B01B5AODD8/

A 47-page book about raytracing with examples in very simple C++.
And after more blog posts you can add another book, like the
sequels to this one. A longer book like this is:

https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Interpreter-Go-Thorsten-Ball/dp/3982016118/
Nov 21 2019
parent Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
On Friday, 22 November 2019 at 01:33:22 UTC, mipri wrote:

 On Thursday, 21 November 2019 at 16:14:48 UTC, angel wrote:



 Github sponsorship is very good right now though, since Github
 matches the donations, but what I'd suggest is a "Desktop
 Applications in D" booklet similar to:


I do have something like that in mind. It's still in the early 
stages, though. Finding the time is the main stumbling block, but 
I've got a plan to get around that.
Nov 22 2019
prev sibling parent Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
On Thursday, 21 November 2019 at 16:14:48 UTC, angel wrote:


 I think you should set up a "Donate" page on your site, so that 
 an occasional visitor can say thank you.


Hi angel,

I actually do have a link at the bottom of every post. Just look 
for the big red heart. :)
Nov 22 2019
prev sibling next sibling parent reply SashaGreat <s g.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 November 2019 at 19:37:41 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:

 ...


I think you have 2 problems:

First and unfortunately this community is very very small, it'll 
be hard to make money over here, I think with Rust you could get 
more attraction.

Second the timing, at least today "everything is WEB APP", and 
I'm not saying desktop is dead applications is dead, but most of 
my current work is converting to WEB.

Sasha.
Nov 21 2019
parent reply Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
On Thursday, 21 November 2019 at 18:56:25 UTC, SashaGreat wrote:


 I think you have 2 problems:

 First and unfortunately this community is very very small, 
 it'll be hard to make money over here, I think with Rust you 
 could get more attraction.


Yup, it's a small community. I've been keeping an eye on the 
numbers and, in fact, I've noticed a bit of an increase in 
'population' (if I can use that word) since I started this blog 
almost a year ago. D showed up on a Top 20 list (can't seem to 
find it ATM) earlier this month and this gives me hope that the D 
community is growing.


 Second the timing, at least today "everything is WEB APP", and 
 I'm not saying desktop is dead applications is dead, but most 
 of my current work is converting to WEB.


I've also been keeping an eye on this trend, too, and even though 
development is currently centred around web apps, scuttlebutt has 
it that the desktop is making a comeback. Even if it doesn't, it 
certainly won't disappear during my lifetime.

So, yes, your points are well taken, but I've always believed in 
bucking trends and if I can help drive more interest toward D, 
then I'll feel like I've done something worthwhile.
Nov 22 2019
parent reply Antonio Corbi <antonio ggmail.ca> writes:
On Friday, 22 November 2019 at 10:42:33 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:

 On Thursday, 21 November 2019 at 18:56:25 UTC, SashaGreat wrote:



 Second the timing, at least today "everything is WEB APP", and 
 I'm not saying desktop is dead applications is dead, but most 
 of my current work is converting to WEB.


 I've also been keeping an eye on this trend, too, and even 
 though development is currently centred around web apps, 
 scuttlebutt has it that the desktop is making a comeback. Even 
 if it doesn't, it certainly won't disappear during my lifetime.


Hi Ron:

I suppose you know about Gtk's Broadway backend, it seems to do 
its job so a Gtk desktop-app can be a web-app in a very simple 
way:

https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/gtk-broadway.html

Antonio
Nov 22 2019
parent reply Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
On Friday, 22 November 2019 at 11:05:24 UTC, Antonio Corbi wrote:


 I suppose you know about Gtk's Broadway backend, it seems to do 
 its job so a Gtk desktop-app can be a web-app in a very simple 
 way:


Yup, I know about it, but I strive for simplicity in the demos I 
post and talk about. It may seem like a narrow focus, but one of 
the reasons I went this way was because I'm terrible at juggling 
multiple languages/paradigms. It's the reason I decided against 
using Electron and went for D instead. It's the reason I resist 
using dub (at least until it's either fixed or replaced). And 
it's the reason I stick to OOP as much as possible, even though I 
have yet to learn enough about D's take on OOP for my code to be 
considered a true application of the paradigm.

My goal is to write X-plat apps in the simplest way possible, 
using one language  (D) and one toolkit (GTK). The world is 
complicated enough these days in very many ways and this is how I 
fight back.

Also, Electron is—to my way of thinking—an indicator that desktop 
apps are coming back, or at least, holding strong. Why else would 
they have come up with a way to harness web tools to build them? 
Electron's very popularity seems like an obvious indicator to me.

But I do appreciate you bringing this up, Antonio, even if I only 
used it to clarify my stance on all this. :)
Nov 22 2019
parent reply Ferhat =?UTF-8?B?S3VydHVsbXXFnw==?= <aferust gmail.com> writes:
On Friday, 22 November 2019 at 12:14:58 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:

 On Friday, 22 November 2019 at 11:05:24 UTC, Antonio Corbi 
 wrote:



 My goal is to write X-plat apps in the simplest way possible, 
 using one language  (D) and one toolkit (GTK). The world is 
 complicated enough these days in very many ways and this is how 
 I fight back.


I've just tried broadwayd with a very simple window (only a few 
widgets in it). Actually it is very straghtforward.

- compile your gtkd program as normally you do.
- run broadwayd in your terminal (broadwayd comes with gtk 
installation) and keep it open like "broadwayd :2".
- ":2" represents display number, I don't know the things under 
the hood though.
- run your gtkd program with some extra environment variables:
   GDK_BACKEND=broadway BROADWAY_DISPLAY=:2 ./mygtkdprogram
- open your browser window http://127.0.0.1:9090

I have tested it on Ubuntu 16.04. It is amazing, there is a D 
program running on my browser and no webassembly involved :D
Jan 13 2020
next sibling parent Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
On Monday, 13 January 2020 at 13:17:53 UTC, Ferhat Kurtulmuş 
wrote:


 I've just tried broadwayd with a very simple window (only a few 
 widgets in it). Actually it is very straghtforward.


Well, that's pretty cool, Ferhat.
Jan 13 2020
prev sibling parent reply Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com> writes:
On Monday, 13 January 2020 at 13:17:53 UTC, Ferhat Kurtulmuş 
wrote:


 I've just tried broadwayd with a very simple window (only a few 
 widgets in it). Actually it is very straghtforward.


After further pondering on the implications of this, I'm getting 
rather excited about where it could go. Have you tried this with 
a D-app on a remote site? Is that even possible?
Jan 14 2020
parent Ferhat =?UTF-8?B?S3VydHVsbXXFnw==?= <aferust gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 14 January 2020 at 10:09:39 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:

 On Monday, 13 January 2020 at 13:17:53 UTC, Ferhat Kurtulmuş 
 wrote:


 I've just tried broadwayd with a very simple window (only a 
 few widgets in it). Actually it is very straghtforward.


 After further pondering on the implications of this, I'm 
 getting rather excited about where it could go. Have you tried 
 this with a D-app on a remote site? Is that even possible?


No, I did it on my local computer. I also wonder if it can do it 
on remote. But I read something that it could do it (don't 
remember where). But I guess one has to deal with some 
boilerplate code like cookies, local storage etc.
Jan 14 2020
prev sibling parent reply Doc Andrew <x x.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 November 2019 at 19:37:41 UTC, Ron Tarrant wrote:


Ron, for what it's worth, I was doing some work using GtkAda 
recently, and your blog was one of the better references for just 
understanding the Gtk libs. I don't use Gtk all that often, but I 
appreciated the reference!

-Doc



 Nov 21 2019



  parent  Ron Tarrant <rontarrant gmail.com>  writes:


On Friday, 22 November 2019 at 00:17:33 UTC, Doc Andrew wrote:


 Ron, for what it's worth, I was doing some work using GtkAda 
 recently, and your blog was one of the better references for 
 just understanding the Gtk libs. I don't use Gtk all that 
 often, but I appreciated the reference!


Well, it's worth a lot to me. I'm glad I could help.



 Nov 22 2019