cmr45797@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Charles Mark Remes) (01/26/91)
As a beginning Mac programmer I'm curious as to whether or not it is a good idea for me to use a product like Prototyper or some other code generation app. Would I be better off delving into Inside Mac and writing my own event loops and stuff, or should I use Prototyper to generate the code and then study it? cmr45797@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu .sig under construction!
das@Apple.COM (David Shayer) (01/27/91)
In article <1991Jan25.183520.17144@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> cmr45797@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Charles Mark Remes) writes: > > As a beginning Mac programmer I'm curious as to whether or >not it is a good idea for me to use a product like Prototyper >or some other code generation app. Would I be better off delving >into Inside Mac and writing my own event loops and stuff, or >should I use Prototyper to generate the code and then study it? IMHO the code generated by Prototyper is shit. It is not useful, for putting in a commercial app or for learning from. Also, the program is buggy and slow and tends to crash. However, I use it on and off because no one has written anything better. I use it for prototyping interfaces, not generating code. (Boy, I bet that paragraph gets some flames!) There is a similar program called AppMaker, I like Prototyper better. I have heard that the next version of AppMaker will actually generate pretty good code, but I haven't seen it myself. If you want something to save you from having to learn Inside Mac, try MacApp or the Think Class Library. It will save you some work, although you will still have to know a fair amount about Inside Mac. (MacApp or TCL may put up a window for you, but you have to know how to draw something in that window.) David
Lawson.English@p88.f15.n300.z1.fidonet.org (Lawson English) (02/01/91)
David Shayer writes in a message to All
DS> If you want something to save you from having to learn Inside
DS> Mac, try MacApp or the Think Class Library. It will save you
DS> some work, although you will still have to know a fair amount
DS> about Inside Mac. (MacApp or TCL may put up a window for you,
DS> but you have to know how to draw something in that window.)
If you call knowing how to use "LineTo," "know a fair amount about Inside Mac,"
then I agree. But, until you get heavily involved in regions, update events,
etc, the TCL's are no more difficult to use than the old AppleSloth BASIC drawing
commands.
Lawson
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Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!300!15.88!Lawson.English
Internet: Lawson.English@p88.f15.n300.z1.fidonet.orgeramos@bbn.com (Ernesto Ramos) (02/05/91)
In article <48528@apple.Apple.COM> das@Apple.COM (David Shayer) writes: >... >the program is buggy and slow and tends to crash. However, I use it >on and off because no one has written anything better. I use it >for prototyping interfaces, not generating code... I totally agree with David. Even for just prototyping interfaces Prototyper 3.0 is just too buggy (try defining hierarchical menus, for example). So my question is, are there other programs for MERELY prototyping interfaces which are more reliable? --Ernesto Ramos
eramos@bbn.com (Ernesto Ramos) (02/08/91)
Experts out there, I really need help on the following: Are there other programs besides Prototyper which can be used for prototyping interfaces only (as opposed to generating code as well) which are more reliable than said Prototyper? If the answer is NO, would you let me know so that I am put out of my misery. --Ernesto Ramos Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. eramos@bbn.com 150 CambridgePark Dr. (617)873-3374 Cambridge, MA 02140