State of the WX Topic is solved

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samofvt
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Re: State of the WX

Post by samofvt »

utelle wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 11:36 am
doublemax wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:34 am TBH, i don't think there are so many projects that we need a database backend or anything fancy.
I fully agree. A carefully maintained list with some grouping (like components, applications, wrappers, tutorials etc) would certainly serve the purpose well.
doublemax wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:34 am I'd be struggling to get 10 together, but maybe i'm just living under a rock and there are many more.
doublemax wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:34 am For now i'll start with a sticky thread where we just link to the projects and maybe a short description. This could easily become a single page on the official wxWidgets website, which is part of the GitHub repo, so people can make pull requests if they want to add or edit an entry.
IMHO grouping links in certain categories (components, snippets, tutorials, applications ...) and adding a short description would be very important.
That sounds like a great thing to do in the short term: A sticky post in the wxCode category with a list of the most well tested and used add on projects, and links to the project page (wherever they are). Since wxCode at sourceforge is dead, maybe rename the wxCode forum category? I'd also recommend removing the link on the forum description that goes to the old sourceforge site.
utelle wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 11:36 am I just took a quick look at GitHub. Searching for projects which are somehow related to wxWidgets delivers a list of 1540 repositories. I checked for the dates of last commit:

Last update in
  • 2018: ~150 repositories
  • 2019: 175 repositories
  • 2020: 300 repositories
  • 2021: 372 repositories
That is, roughly 65% of the repositories were updated within the last 4 years. Of course, this doesn't say anything about the quality and the usefulness of those repositories. Therefore it would need a detailed survey, before including any project in some sort of catalog.
The number of repositories of donated code is higher than I thought. To me, this high number lends itself to the use of some sort of database in order to track them. The search tool on GitHub is an example that works, however it does not give any indication of the repositories level of maturity or its acceptance by the community (in other words has it been reviewed and used by anyone other than the original developer?). Also, there may be other great packages not hosted on google's site.

Certainly not all packages would need to be listed. But then again, one man's trash is another mans treasure.

Which leads me to another concern: What about all those legacy contributions that the original author put so much time and effort into packaging for distribution? I feel that even though some are outdated, and maybe even had limited applicability to begin with, the authors deserve credit for making the effort. The wxIEWindow is a good example: even though it is outdated and has been replaced by wxWebView, I'm guessing the work that went into it was used as the basis for several other packages (if not WebView itself). I feel that legacy packages don't need to be maintained, but a list would be a nice gesture for those that have contributed.

What I'd like to do is make a mock-up of a repository/list site using some of the suggestions posted in this thread. At the moment, I happen to be up to speed on my website development skills, and have access to a server to set it up on for testing and evaluation. If there is acceptance, perhaps there could be a "repository.wxwidgets.org" or "contributions.wxwidgets.org" subdomain set up to host it.

As far as administering it and maintaining it, I'd be happy to do the initial setup and perhaps there would be volunteers to help down the road? The main two issues I foresee are making sure posts don't contain illicit material, and periodic user management. I Totally understand that the core developers don't want to have that extra time draining responsibility.
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Re: State of the WX

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samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm The number of repositories of donated code is higher than I thought.
Are these not just the projects having "wxWidgets" as a keyword? I actually browsed such a list on GitHub not long ago, and IIRC the number og repos that contain code or information for other programmers to use (i.e., similar to what wxCode was) is MUCH smaller.

I believe that a simple curated structured list (similar to the "Awesome" ones), unaffiliated with the official wxWidgets develoeprs, is more than enough.
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Re: State of the WX

Post by utelle »

samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm That sounds like a great thing to do in the short term: A sticky post in the wxCode category with a list of the most well tested and used add on projects, and links to the project page (wherever they are). Since wxCode at sourceforge is dead, maybe rename the wxCode forum category? I'd also recommend removing the link on the forum description that goes to the old sourceforge site.
Although the wxCode project at SourceForge is essentially dead, I don't see the need for dropping the name. Obviously the forum users know where to look for the components that are discussed in the wxCode category, otherwise there would have been plenty of complaints over the last 5 years or so ... Of course, the link should be changed to something more suitable.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm The number of repositories of donated code is higher than I thought.
Yes, I agree the number is higher than expected. However, if you take a closer look, many repositories are of questionable quality and usability, in my opinion.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm To me, this high number lends itself to the use of some sort of database in order to track them.
Well, I would recommend to start with a single page as doublemax proposed. Moving on to a database can be done at a later stage if necessary.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm The search tool on GitHub is an example that works, however it does not give any indication of the repositories level of maturity or its acceptance by the community (in other words has it been reviewed and used by anyone other than the original developer?).
That's a valid point. Just a link list pointing to some repositories is not enough to justify the effort.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm Also, there may be other great packages not hosted on google's site.
Very likely. However, looking at the GitHub repositories is at least a good start.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm Which leads me to another concern: What about all those legacy contributions that the original author put so much time and effort into packaging for distribution? I feel that even though some are outdated, and maybe even had limited applicability to begin with, the authors deserve credit for making the effort.
The wxCode project at SourceForge is retired (that is, unmaintained), but it's not gone. That is, the new wxCode list/site/whatever could mention that old project and provide a backlink to it. However, that is all I would do. The new site should not be bloated with really outdated components. If users give feedback telling you that a certain old wxCode component is worth to be listed in the new catalog, it can be added to the new list at any time.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm What I'd like to do is make a mock-up of a repository/list site using some of the suggestions posted in this thread. At the moment, I happen to be up to speed on my website development skills, and have access to a server to set it up on for testing and evaluation. If there is acceptance, perhaps there could be a "repository.wxwidgets.org" or "contributions.wxwidgets.org" subdomain set up to host it.
For establishing a wxWidgets subdomain it will be necessary to contact the wxWidgets core developers. However, if the new component list is in good shape and useful, I see no reason why they should object to create such a subdomain.
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm As far as administering it and maintaining it, I'd be happy to do the initial setup and perhaps there would be volunteers to help down the road? The main two issues I foresee are making sure posts don't contain illicit material, and periodic user management. I Totally understand that the core developers don't want to have that extra time draining responsibility.
Administration and maintenance will be the critical issues. As much automation as possible should be considered in the planning phase. The less effort needed to maintain the site, the easier it will be to find volunteers.
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Re: State of the WX

Post by utelle »

PB wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:40 am
samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm The number of repositories of donated code is higher than I thought.
Are these not just the projects having "wxWidgets" as a keyword?
Searching on GitHub with the keyword "wxWidgets" results in a list of repositories which have either the tag wxWidgets or contain the word wxWidgets in their description.
PB wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:40 am I actually browsed such a list on GitHub not long ago, and IIRC the number og repos that contain code or information for other programmers to use (i.e., similar to what wxCode was) is MUCH smaller.
Yes, the number of wxWidgets-based components (like those listed in wxCode) is rather small, although I don't know how small, because I haven't had the time to browse through the whole list. However, there are certainly project repositories that are worth mentioning, even if they are not components, but applications or wxWidgets wrappers.
PB wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:40 am I believe that a simple curated structured list (similar to the "Awesome" ones), unaffiliated with the official wxWidgets develoeprs, is more than enough.
Fair comment.
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Re: State of the WX

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samofvt wrote: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:37 pm What I'd like to do is make a mock-up of a repository/list site using some of the suggestions posted in this thread. At the moment, I happen to be up to speed on my website development skills, and have access to a server to set it up on for testing and evaluation. If there is acceptance, perhaps there could be a "repository.wxwidgets.org" or "contributions.wxwidgets.org" subdomain set up to host it.

As far as administering it and maintaining it, I'd be happy to do the initial setup and perhaps there would be volunteers to help down the road? The main two issues I foresee are making sure posts don't contain illicit material, and periodic user management. I Totally understand that the core developers don't want to have that extra time draining responsibility.
I'd like to keep it small for now, i don't expect this list to be so big that we need a database backend with fancy filtering.

I've started the initial thread: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=48673

Let's start with this and see how it goes.
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Re: State of the WX

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doublemax wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:24 pm I'd like to keep it small for now, i don't expect this list to be so big that we need a database backend with fancy filtering.

I've started the initial thread: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=48673

Let's start with this and see how it goes.
That's awesome. Thanks so much! It makes sense to do a list that way since, like you and others have pointed out, the list of critical components isn't that long. And having you (or other moderators) maintain it will help ensure integrity.

I'm still thinking about doing a separate site for a few reasons: there may be some components (or applications) that are not well maintained but are of interest to some. Also, it might make it easier for those who might contribute their work but are reluctant to do so if it means having to do too much work to get it published (like create a git account and jump through those hoops). Who knows what sort of innovation might pop out? I envision a place community members can post a description and either a link to their work, if it's hosted someplace like git, or even upload a compressed archive. Then other community members could rate the packages. This concept seems to work well at the packagist.org, for php developers who use composer. I suspect it would not be nearly as extensive of a collection, but I wonder if it might help many people?

Just some ideas to add to the other suggestions earlier. I'll see if I can make a start on something later this week and post for comments in separate thread here in open discussion forum when I've got something to look at.

Have a good one!
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Re: State of the WX

Post by utelle »

samofvt wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:10 am
doublemax wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:24 pm I've started the initial thread: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=48673
That's awesome. Thanks so much! It makes sense to do a list that way since, like you and others have pointed out, the list of critical components isn't that long. And having you (or other moderators) maintain it will help ensure integrity.
For a start this sticky post is certainly better than nothing. However, formatting and layout options for forum posts are limited, and this may lead to a rather confusing list in the long run.

IMHO establishing a separate GitHub repository in the style of other "Awesome" projects may be a more suitable approach.
samofvt wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:10 am I'm still thinking about doing a separate site for a few reasons: there may be some components (or applications) that are not well maintained but are of interest to some.
For sure, out there are several components that are no longer actively maintained, but are still very useful like for example wxShapeFramework. For other components like wxFreeChart or wxMathPlot there exist more or less maintained forks.
samofvt wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:10 am Also, it might make it easier for those who might contribute their work but are reluctant to do so if it means having to do too much work to get it published (like create a git account and jump through those hoops).
This was always a problem with wxCode at SourceForge. However, in the end someone has to carry the burden to publish and maintain a component.
samofvt wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:10 am Who knows what sort of innovation might pop out? I envision a place community members can post a description and either a link to their work, if it's hosted someplace like git, or even upload a compressed archive. Then other community members could rate the packages. This concept seems to work well at the packagist.org, for php developers who use composer.
Speaking of packaging: this is not directly related to creating a list of useful components, but it would certainly increase the usability of components, if they can be made available via a packaging tool like vcpkg. (I plan to do it for my own components, but I haven't found the time yet to learn how to set up a vcpkg package and to sort out the subtleties of vcpkg.)
samofvt wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:10 am Just some ideas to add to the other suggestions earlier. I'll see if I can make a start on something later this week and post for comments in separate thread here in open discussion forum when I've got something to look at.
Good luck. And let us know when you have a first version online.
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