From: Phillip Gawlowski <pg@...>
Date: 2010-01-19T13:29:36+09:00
Subject: Re: Creating GUI applications with Ruby 1.9.1

On 19.01.2010 05:17, Alpha Blue wrote:
> I'm wanting to port over a GUI app I created into ruby so that it
> maintains cross platform functionality.
>
> Before I go into app specifications, I'm trying to gain an understanding
> of what item(s) I will need to work with GUI applications in Ruby, and
> more importantly, if there are any tutorials out there that can walk me
> through creating a simple GUI app in Ruby.

Well, usually just one item: the gem for the GUI library you pick to 
chose. :)

> I'm currently using Ruby 1.9.1, Ruby 1.8.7 EE, and Ruby 1.8.6 and can
> develop on windows or linux.  I have no idea what gem libraries I will
> require.  I'm willing to learn from any application before working on
> the porting of my own code.

Well, I know that wxRuby[0] is 1.9.1-safe. I'm not sure about the state 
of things with Ruby-GNOME2[1], or Qt for Ruby[2].

 From experience (with 1.8.6), I can say that Ruby-GNOME2 is quite easy 
to work with, but requires a lot of dependencies (bundled with the 
Windows installer, and resolved via package manager on Linux).

Both have good documentation, and useful tutorials, though wxRuby is in 
the state of re-writing its documentation to reflect the changes of the 
recent-ish 2.0 release, but the API documentation doesn't leave anything 
to be desired thus far (note: under Windows install wxRuby with "--no-ri 
--no-rdoc" options, as it'll slurp up all of your memory), and the state 
for Ruby-GNOME2 is about the same.

I can't say anything about the Qt bindings, however, but I expect the 
docs being up to the same level (all three projects are about the same age).

Then there's of course JRuby which allows access to SWING (made easier 
with Monkeybars), and IronRuby which allows access to WinForms, but I 
don't know if Mono supports IronRuby / enough of WinForms for your needs.

Lastly, there's Ruby's Tk bindings, but.. well, Tk is lacking in 
documentation and in eyecandy, but it should already be installed.

Links:
[0] http://wxruby.rubyforge.org/
[1] http://ruby-gnome2.sourceforge.jp/
[2] http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Languages/Ruby

--
Phillip Gawlowski