[plt-scheme] RE: Visual Studio .NET ...easier than PLT Scheme

Let me first say that I love PLT Scheme. I built my code generator in it, and I *wish* I could do
ALL my work in it.

I build "enterprise" applications which are rich in GUI (and users are very demanding these days
because they see some very interesting GUIs from the big vendors). Plus interop is critical since
these apps are distributed and integrate with our, and our client, "legacy" systems. Lots of RDBMS
too!

Now the problem. If you create your own "widgets" in PLT, productive as it is, you consume much of
the productivity gains, building these, that you would have developing in PLT Scheme in the first
place.

Take a look at:

http://www.northwoods.com/go/index.htm
(for a diagraming tool)

http://www.infragistics.com/products/lookandfeel.asp
(for grids, trees, drop-downs, calendars)

And add report design and generation, graphics editing, pdf manipulation, spell checking, ...

There are hundreds of "widgets" available, many of which would take dozens of programmer months --
even in PLT Scheme.

As for Cross-Platform (somewhat toungue-in-cheek) I ask "what exactly does that mean? I assume that
it *should* mean that it runs on *most* computers. Since 93% of desktops are now Windows (and 50% of
servers) then running only on Windows meets the "most" test? In the part of the enterprise systems
world that I play in, it is all Windows, so actually that is all I care about.

You hear lots of horror stories about Windows and .NET, but in (my) reality it actually works fairly
well. It is not that big a problem.

Now if I could do ALL my work in PLT Scheme - Nirvana!

Alex


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Sperber [mailto:sperber at informatik.uni-tuebingen.de]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 11:23 PM
> To: Alex Peake
> Cc: plt-scheme at po.cs.brown.edu
> Subject: Re: Visual Studio .NET ...easier than PLT Scheme
>
>
> >>>>> "Alex" == Alex Peake <alex.peake at comac.com> writes:
>
> Alex> I notice you asking Guenther. I too have come to a similar
> Alex> conclusion for *production* (although my code generator is in
> Alex> PLT Scheme).
>
> That's interesting.  I would have said almost exactly the opposite:
> the bigger your code gets, the more of a relative advantage I have
> using PLT Scheme.
>
> Alex> .NET facilitates excellent GUIs through Win Forms and the
> Alex> hundreds of .NET and COM "widgets" and "componenets" available
> Alex> (from powerful grids to diagramming components to reporting
> Alex> tools). PLT only gives a DHTML (AFAIK) "carrier" which is rather
> Alex> inelegant, or Mr. Ed which does not support the Widgets and the
> Alex> like.
>
> PLT gives me the nestable editor classes which are far more powerful
> most "Widgets" I've seen in other toolkits.  I suspect you simply
> haven't looked at what they can do.
>
> Also, don't forget that PLT is a cross-platform environment; if you're
> writing applications for that kind of setting, .NET isn't even an
> option.
>
> --
> Cheers =8-} Mike
> Friede, Völkerverständigung und überhaupt blabla