JRuby && Swing || SWT?

Ruby
1

Hello, list.

I’m looking for advice on GUI toolkits for cross-platform development /
deployment, especially in the context of JRuby[0].

Now, that having worked with JRuby yet, I’d like to know how your
experiences are with using JRuby in larger non-Rails projects,
especially when developing GUI applications.

What are your experiences in that regard? How does that influence
deployment across different operating systems (I’m mostly concerned
about Mac OS X deployment. The currently used GUI toolkit (GTK2) is,
from what I have gathered not trivially available on Macs, and I’d
prefer to distribute the application I’m working on[1] in one neat
package for everybody, especially Mac OS X end-users.

So, the long and short of it?
Have you developed Ruby applications using JRuby with Swing[2]? With
SWT[3]? Both?
What’s your experience when using these toolkits?
How easy (or painful) is deployment to the Mac?

In an ideal world, we’d distribute RSRCG as an all-in-one installer,
with no external dependencies. How easy is that to achieve using Java?

Regards,
Phillip

Footnotes:
[0] http://jruby.codehaus.org/
[1] http://rubyforge.org/projects/rsrcg/
[2] JDK 6 Swing (Java Foundation Classes (JFC))-related APIs and Developer Guides
[3] SWT: The Standard Widget Toolkit | The Eclipse Foundation

2

I have used jruby to build a medium sized swing app. I found it very
easy to
write and deploy. You can wrap it up into a single jar file and wrap
that
in a .app file for mac os x. For everyone else, you can simply give
them
the executable jar.

/Shawn

On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 11:52 AM, Phillip G. <

3

Phillip G. wrote:

Hello, list.

I’m looking for advice on GUI toolkits for cross-platform development /
deployment, especially in the context of JRuby[0].

Now, that having worked with JRuby yet, I’d like to know how your
experiences are with using JRuby in larger non-Rails projects,
especially when developing GUI applications.

Please take a look at Monkeybars.

http://monkeybars.rubyforge.org/

While it is still under development and pre-1.0, I do not think there is
a better library to help you build sophisticated cross-platform Swing
apps with JRuby.

I’m working on a fairly complex desktop app now, and with Monkeybars I
am nearly oblivious that there is Java or Swing lurking underneath.

–
James B.

http://www.rubyaz.org - Hacking in the Desert
http://www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys

4

James B. wrote:

Please take a look at Monkeybars.

http://monkeybars.rubyforge.org/

I already found at, and I’m looking at.

While it is still under development and pre-1.0, I do not think there
is a better library to help you build sophisticated cross-platform
Swing apps with JRuby.

I’m working on a fairly complex desktop app now, and with Monkeybars I
am nearly oblivious that there is Java or Swing lurking underneath.

Yeah, it looks like it will do the job.

Thanks. :slight_smile:

  • Phillip G.