JRuby GUI Options

Ruby JRuby
1

I’m thinking about writing a desktop app using JRuby and I was wondering
what the current options are for writing a Swing app using JRuby? I
know
about Monkeybars but it seems like it hasn’t been updated in quite a
while.
Is anything considered the best available?

Joe

2

Joseph A. wrote:

I’m thinking about writing a desktop app using JRuby and I was wondering
what the current options are for writing a Swing app using JRuby? I know
about Monkeybars but it seems like it hasn’t been updated in quite a while.

Actually, I added some things within the last month or two. Not sure if
I updated any gems or not (I had problems updating rawr gems on
gemcutter), but the github code should now make use of
Neurogami::SwingSet for easier pure-code constructed GUIs (i.e. it
offers a nicer API for manipulating Swing objects).

But, for the most part, Monkeybars is stable and doesn’t need updating.

Looking at when a library was last updated is not a reliable indication
of “freshness” or usability. Sometimes things are just finished

James B.

–

Neurogami - Smart application development

[email protected]

3

I would suggest using limelight. (limelight.8thlight.com). It is a
rich framework with testing built into it.

Paul

4

Good to know that Monkeybars is not abandoned. I think where I went
wrong
was looking at http://monkeybars.rubyforge.org/ which was the first hit
when
I googled for it. Also it looks like the http://monkeybars.org/ domain
registration has lapsed. But as long as the code is still being
maintained
that’s good enough for me.

I don’t think I’ve heard of limelight yet, I will definitely check it
out.
Thanks!

Joe

5

Joseph A. wrote:

Good to know that Monkeybars is not abandoned. I think where I went wrong
was looking at http://monkeybars.rubyforge.org/ which was the first hit when
I googled for it. Also it looks like the http://monkeybars.org/ domain
registration has lapsed.

Yikes.

Looks like a DNS thing. I still have the domain, but I need to fix the
name server.

But as long as the code is still being maintained
that’s good enough for me.

I don’t think I’ve heard of limelight yet, I will definitely check it out.

You should. It’s interesting. My take has been that it makes certain
things pretty easy, but lacks the range of development you get from
complete use of Swing + an MVC framework such as Monkeybars.

One reason I added SwingSet to Monkeybars, though, was to make it super
easy to toss up basic frames, forms, and controls with plain Ruby.

It needs some examples and documentation though.

James

6

Is anything considered the best available?

Joe

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ruby_Programming/GUI_Toolkit_Modules
Lists all the ones I know of.
-r

7

I am developing Swiby and saw on the page
Ruby Programming/GUI Toolkit Modules - Wikibooks, open books for an open world that
Swiby
‘looks a bit unstable’. I thought the project was last or lost in the
empty
space…

From: Roger P. [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Fri, October 22, 2010 6:01:51 PM
Subject: [jruby-user] Re: JRuby GUI Options

Is anything considered the best available?

Joe

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ruby_Programming/GUI_Toolkit_Modules
Lists all the ones I know of.
-r

–
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

8

You may have a look at something I wrote:

http://github.com/rogergl/input_form

It is still beta and documentation is still sparse. It has a different
approach than the other available frameworks as it tries to provide some
higher level of abstractions than Swing does.

Regards
Roger

Am 18.10.2010 um 15:59 schrieb Joseph A.:

9

We have been using SWT in 4 production applications for 3 years now, and
we are very happy with it.

SWT is used transparently from JRuby with several advantages over Java,
like adding blocks as listeners on GUI widgets.

We have made our own convenient helper module to simplify routine tasks,
but we feel that SWT is easy enough to use as it is, and no 3rd party
framework or glue layer is necessary.

We would like to have more JRuby projects use SWT so we can share our
experiences. We would definitely be able and willing to help you get
started with JRuby + SWT.

On 2010-10-31, at 10:10, Roger G. wrote:

Am 18.10.2010 um 15:59 schrieb Joseph A.:

–
With kind regards
Uwe K.
Kubosch Consulting
[email protected]

10

We’re using JRuby and SWT in Redcar. Pretty good integration, we’ve been
building extensions to SWT using JRuby, like vertical tabs and such,
too.

Just my 2c.

-Tim

11

Uwe K. wrote:

We have been using SWT in 4 production applications for 3 years now, and we are
very happy with it.

SWT is used transparently from JRuby with several advantages over Java, like
adding blocks as listeners on GUI widgets.

Very cool.

We have made our own convenient helper module to simplify routine tasks, but we
feel that SWT is easy enough to use as it is, and no 3rd party framework or glue
layer is necessary.

Interesting.

Monkeybars was created to help with using Swing with JRuby, but a key
idea was not that so much that it made calling Swing any easier. It does
to the extent you can use a compiled UI object designed using
appropriate tools, but in-lining Swing was not any easier), but more
important was that it made designing, testing, and maintaining GUI apps
easier.

In principle Monkeybars could be adapted so that it could use pluggable
UI layers, and one could swap a Swing UI for an SWT UI with (ideally) no
changes to the application logic. (However, I am not the person to do
that.)

When evaluating UI tools, it’s important to make note of what widgets,
etc. it affords you, but also how well it helps separate concerns and
not box you in.

BTW, I’m mentioning this not for Monkeybars advocacy, but encourage
everyone to think about the broader implications of any framework you
design or use.

James

–

Neurogami - Smart application development

[email protected]