undefined | Better HN

0 pointsrunjake1y ago0 comments

  > This is fairly similar to how Interface Builder in Xcode works for macOS and iOS apps.

Having extensive experience with both: Hard, hard disagree. They might look similar in static screenshots but work completely differently.

Totally agree with your second point and I wish Microsoft would have addressed that. Maybe they have. The last time I messed with their stuff I was writing XAML.

Anyone know if they brought RAD back?

Edit: apparently they had/have layout managers.

0 comments

memsom1y ago

So - to answer you two points:

Interface Builder was a lot more like VB and Delphi in the past, but around the time of iOS 3, Apple completely broke the UI programming metaphor in it. It used to be all drag and drop (with quirks) but actions were like event handlers and outlets like events. Before it was "code first" you could do it all in the UI. I used it quite a bit before XCode existed (XCode used to be ProjectBuilder, even on like Jaguar/Panther IIRC) and it was very close to the version of the same on OpenStep.

Xaml designer - well, the designer is not really a thing because Xaml is usually not created as an absolute layout. There was a version of the Xaml designer early on that would attempt to build a UI that looked absolute, but it did a lot of horrible Xaml markup in the background and made maintaining the UI way harder than it should have been. We (Xaml users) all migrated to using it as pure markup and mos of us now use hot-reload over a designer.

runjakeOP1y ago

> Interface Builder was a lot more like VB and Delphi in the past, but around the time of iOS 3, Apple completely broke the UI programming metaphor in it.

I guess I can see your point. I started with IB on OPENSTEP, then onto macOS in the 10.1 days. But even back then, I still think the feel wasn't quite the same, from my subjective viewpoint.

I keep having these strong urges of using Windows again and creating WinForms apps. But then I go and use Windows for a day and the lack of polish is so jarring. But gosh, Microsoft development was almost always fun.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse