[graphic-forms-cvs] r282 - trunk/docs/website
junrue at common-lisp.net
junrue at common-lisp.net
Sun Oct 1 21:17:16 UTC 2006
Author: junrue
Date: Sun Oct 1 17:17:15 2006
New Revision: 282
Added:
trunk/docs/website/faq.html
Modified:
trunk/docs/website/docs.html
Log:
added project FAQ
Modified: trunk/docs/website/docs.html
==============================================================================
--- trunk/docs/website/docs.html (original)
+++ trunk/docs/website/docs.html Sun Oct 1 17:17:15 2006
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
<h3><a href="reference/index.html">Programming Reference</a></h3>
- <h3>FAQ</h3>
+ <h3><a href="faq.html">FAQ</a></h3>
<h3>Articles</h3>
Added: trunk/docs/website/faq.html
==============================================================================
--- (empty file)
+++ trunk/docs/website/faq.html Sun Oct 1 17:17:15 2006
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+
+<head>
+ <title>Graphic-Forms Frequently Asked Questions</title>
+ <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"/>
+ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+ <div class="header">
+ <h3>Graphic-Forms Frequently Asked Questions</h3>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ_INDEX">Index</a></h5>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ1">Why implement another user interface library?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ2">Common Lisp is obscure, shouldn't we stick with popular programming languages?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ3">Why focus solely on Windows at the expense of portability?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ4">What is the status of Graphic-Forms?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ5">Please compare Graphic-Forms to libraries X, Y, and Z.</a></li>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ6">How can I contribute?</a></li>
+ <li><a href="faq.html#FAQ7">That's an unusual project name.</a></li>
+ </ol>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ1">1. Why implement another user interface library?</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>I don't think the space of GUI development has yet been explored adequately,
+ particularly where declarative and dynamic approaches are concerned. I also
+ don't think Windows-based Common Lisp developers have enough options for GUI programming.
+ Finally, I think more open-source code is better than less, arguments about
+ balkanization and limited resources notwithstanding.</p>
+
+ <p>The argument could be made (and I believe has been, although right now I can't
+ find the link to <a href="http://ometer.com/">Havoc Pennington's</a> blog
+ entry where I think I remember him doing so) that the industry doesn't need
+ another GUI API; who am I to think people will adopt my API, and why should
+ they be bothered to try?</p>
+
+ <p>First of all, there always will be people willing try new things -- and they are
+ great people from whom to get feedback. Secondly, there is no physical law of
+ the universe saying innovation in the GUI API space is at an end, especially
+ if you consider how many dynamically-typed, code-is-data libraries there are
+ compared to the statically-typed, Algol-based so-called <i>popular</i> choices.
+ Third, every one of the existing incumbents started with 0 fans (or 1 if you
+ count the original designer). Fourth, I wanted (and still want) to provide
+ Windows developers more options -- less reason to give up on Common Lisp. I'll
+ spare you reasons 5, 6, and 7 since I think (and hope) you've gotten the gist.
+ If not, oh well I tried.</p>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ2">2. Common Lisp is obscure, shouldn't we stick with popular programming languages?</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>I got interested in Common Lisp initially after reading Paul Graham's
+ <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/lisp.html">essays on Lisp</a>,
+ then grew more serious after buying a copy of
+ <i><a href="http://gigamonkeys.com/book/">Practical Common Lisp</a></i> by
+ Peter Seibel. I have grown to appreciate Common Lisp as a superior programming
+ language for the kind of development I want to do in the long-term.</p>
+
+ <p>Compared to current popular languages and their associated frameworks,
+ it's tempting to think of Common Lisp as being obscure. In reality, it has a long
+ <a href="http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/lisp/lisp.html">history</a>,
+ and there are
+ <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/carl.html">well-known</a>
+ <a href="http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/paulgraham/bbnexcerpts.txt">success</a>
+ <a href="http://www.franz.com/success/customer_apps/animation_graphics/naughtydog.lhtml">stories</a>.
+ One of the attributes of Lisp making GUI programming a real joy is the ability
+ to easily define powerful domain-specific languages, such as the <code>DEFMENU</code>
+ language in Graphic-Forms. I don't regret shifting my focus to Common Lisp at all.</p>
+
+ <p>You can find more information about Common Lisp on the web
+ <a href="http://www.cliki.net/">here</a>,
+ <a href="http://cl-user.net/">here</a>, and
+ <a href="http://common-lisp.net/">here</a>. Or just read
+ <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/iflisp.html">this essay</a> and think about
+ it for a while. In any case, if you're comfortable and productive using the tools
+ you already have available, more power to you.</p>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ3">3. Why focus solely on Windows at the expense of portability?</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>This is a hard question to answer in a satisfactory manner, because the premise
+ is absolutely valid: developers prefer to support multiple platforms or
+ at least have the freedom to change their focus. There is quite a bit of
+ well-deserved ambivalence, if not hostility, towards Windows and the
+ <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/">company</a> that produces it.</p>
+
+ <p>Having worked for the company once known as <i>XVT Software, Inc.</i>
+ in the early 1990's, I gained an appreciation for both the value of and the
+ incredible demands imposed by software portability. There are existing
+ Lisp-based GUI portability libraries, which I respect for their good
+ intentions, not to mention the huge effort they require. Relatively few Lisp-based
+ GUI libraries target Windows specifically, hence this is a niche I wanted to
+ try to fill.</p>
+
+ <p>The bottom line is this: I want more people to write GUI applications for
+ Windows in Common Lisp, and I hope you use Graphic-Forms to do it. As for
+ the ABM crowd, if you don't like Windows, then you're welcome to ignore this
+ project. Don't bother flaming me about it, as I will ignore you.</p>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ4">4. What is the status of Graphic-Forms?</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>Graphic-Forms is in alpha and will be for the forseeable future -- a user interface
+ library of this kind entails a large feature set. The code and documentation is
+ under constant development, with new features being added at a rapid pace. Public
+ interfaces have not yet stabilized, thus I cannot yet commit to backwards compatibility.
+ This is a project with which (I hope) early adopters can experiment.</p>
+
+ <p>I will nevertheless point out how this project has gotten past the initial hurdle
+ where other projects often die out. There are key aspects of the
+ design (if not the implementation) of Graphic-Forms that I'm getting pretty happy
+ with, and most of all, I've proven to my satisfaction the feasibility of building
+ a user interface library in Common Lisp for Windows. I think a solid foundation
+ is forming.</p>
+
+ <p>I expect to transition to beta when the majority of features are in place and
+ what remains is essentially testing -- but it's a grey area and none of us can
+ predict the future with any certainty.</p>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ5">5. Please compare Graphic-Forms to libraries X, Y, and Z.</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>I'm generally not inclined to do so. Writing an accurate and thorough
+ comparison is a lot of work, whereas I'd rather spend the time and energy
+ directly on Graphic-Forms. Also, there is a risk of my making inaccurate
+ statements which might result in nasty email filling my in-box that I
+ could live without, and perhaps even legal troubles.</p>
+ <p>Also, as far as my personal attitude regarding criticism of other people's
+ work is concerned, I prefer to do so in the proper venue with more likelihood
+ of such feedback resulting in improvements. See
+ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity">The Golden Rule</a>.</p>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ6">6. How can I contribute?</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>Constructive criticism, bug reports, and patches are always appreciated and
+ thoughtfully considered. Here are the main channels for participation:<br/>
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="http://www.common-lisp.net/mailman/listinfo/graphic-forms-devel">
+ Developer mailing list</a></li>
+ <li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=163034&atid=826145">
+ Bug tracking system</a></li>
+ <li><a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=163034&atid=826147">
+ Patch uploads</a></li>
+ </ul></p>
+
+ <p>Bug reports should be accompanied by self-contained test cases whenever possible.
+ A quick note about your environment (Windows version, CL implementation, etc)
+ is also very important.
+
+ <p>Graphic-Forms is <a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~jdunrue/license.html">BSD licensed</a>.
+ As project founder/lead developer, <b>I reserve the right to reject or modify patches
+ as I see fit</b>. But rest assured I am grateful to receive patches and will make every
+ effort to understand and preserve the intent of any contributions. Finally, for
+ any patch consisting of more than 2-3 lines of code, I will include your copyright
+ statement in the relevant source file(s) along with my own.</p>
+
+ <div class="faq_header">
+ <h5><a name="FAQ7">7. That's an unusual project name.</a></h5>
+ </div>
+ <p>I'm glad you think so! It's difficult to identify project names that are
+ meaningful and relevant, yet are free of trademark concerns. The name
+ Graphic-Forms is meant to be a play on words, since the library focuses
+ on <b>graphic</b>al features and <b>forms</b> is a term referring to
+ fragments of Lisp code.</P
+
+ <div class="footer">
+ <a class="footerleft" href="http://common-lisp.net">common-lisp.net home</a>
+ Copyright © 2006 by <a href="http://home.earthlink.net/~jdunrue/">Jack D. Unrue</a>
+ </div>
+
+</body>
+</html>
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