Re: Perl/Tk WYSIWYG

Hi. My name is Phil, and I'm a recovering Visual Basic programmer. I was hooked on visual IDEs. But once I discovered Perl/Tk, I swore off WYSIWYG-style GUI designers for good, and at last I've got control back in my programming. It's just so much more precise to specify in code exactly how I want my windows to look. Plus, it's my code, not some cryptic boilerplate dropped into my script by a "visual" window designer. And besides, not all of Tk's rich feature set could easily be accomodated in a drag 'n' drop regimen. For example, can you imagine trying to drag a widget around a container managed by pack? It would require the jaws of life! Well, that's my story anyway. I hope, with the support of my fellow Monks, that I can remain clean of WYSIWYG -- one script at a time.

Comment on Re: Perl/Tk WYSIWYG

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Re^2: Perl/Tk WYSIWYG by dimar (Curate) on Jun 04, 2004 at 03:23 UTC
This statement calls attention to one of my long-standing irritations with software in general, and Code Delopment IDEs in particular. The irritation is what I call the all-or-nothing phenomenon. Although I can relate to the musings of Dr. Mu (aka Phil), I do not agree that the concept of WYSIWYG is all bad. The notion that all code should be painstakingly 'hand crafted' is tenuous at best. The problem is, WYSIWYG tools tend to be 'all or nothing' ... that is to say, there are a lot of tedious minor tasks that I would not mind having 'wizards' or 'drag and drop' options for code generation. The problem is most tools want you to do everything inside the WYSIWYG, or they assume too much. The bottom line: 'componentized' GUI interfaces are necessary. I should be able to use a GUI IDE the same way I use pipes and redirection in the shell. It's feasible, its doable, but certain people just don't seem to 'get it'. It doesn't have to be this difficult people!!	[reply]

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Re^2: Perl/Tk WYSIWYG
by dimar (Curate) on Jun 04, 2004 at 03:23 UTC

This statement calls attention to one of my long-standing irritations with software in general, and Code Delopment IDEs in particular. The irritation is what I call the all-or-nothing phenomenon.

Although I can relate to the musings of Dr. Mu (aka Phil), I do not agree that the concept of WYSIWYG is all bad. The notion that all code should be painstakingly 'hand crafted' is tenuous at best. The problem is, WYSIWYG tools tend to be 'all or nothing' ... that is to say, there are a lot of tedious minor tasks that I would not mind having 'wizards' or 'drag and drop' options for code generation. The problem is most tools want you to do *everything* inside the WYSIWYG, or they assume too much.

The bottom line: 'componentized' GUI interfaces are necessary. I should be able to use a GUI IDE the same way I use pipes and redirection in the shell. It's feasible, its doable, but certain people just don't seem to 'get it'.

It doesn't have to be this difficult people!!

[reply]