I looked at Slint a couple years ago when I was evaluating UI toolkits. Looks slick! The only thing that turned me off was needing an additional DSL to define UIs. Trying to learn fewer languages, more deeply, these days. Is it possible to use Slint without the DSL?
Slint does require using its DSL to define UIs, but I'd argue it's not really like learning a whole new language. It's not harder than learning the API surface of any other GUI framework.
I don't think the DSL is any good. It looks weird (like a mix of CSS and classes), and it has a side effect of locking the user to a specific product.
In your article, you mention that an imperative code in Rust looks more complicated, but this can be fixed by adding an "object tree" syntax to Rust, that allows creating trees of objects and link them like this:
This syntax could be used not only for UI, but for describing configuration, database tables and many other things. I think it would be better solution than a proprietary language.
Also I think it would be better if GUI could be drawn in the editor, it would allow to use lower paid developers without expensive computer science education for making UI.
I appreciate the answer, and you taking time to write up your thoughts on it. Your point about the GUI builder working with the DSL is noted. In the egui RAD builder, I am manipulating structs which describe the UI (and which can be exported / imported as JSON) prior to code generation, which amounts to something similar. I still feel I have to context switch less, the back-and-forth is of more concern to me than learning an additional language.
That said, great work! There's plenty of room in the language for more than one solution!
That’s a compelling post. You drew me in by calling SQL a DSL. You’re right, but if you asked me to list the DSLs I use regularly I never would have thought of SQL until now. My thinking was too uptight because I didn’t consider the “domain” in DSL could be something as big as querying structured data. That makes me wonder if Rust is a DSL for the domain of general computing (obviously not in the usual intended meaning of DSL).
Like the person you’re replying to, I am generally averse to DSLs where the domain is a single project because I associate them with previous bad experiences where I spent time learning only to find it totally misses the mark. There’s also the issue of software where I’m the sole maintainer and look at it rarely. If it’s the only place I use Slint, then I’m going to be worried that I need to relearn the DSL in three months when I want to tweak the UI. Although you can probably say the same about any non-trivial framework’s API whether or not it uses a DSL.
All that said, I’ll be a bit more open to DSLs after reading your post, and if I ever need to write a GUI in Rust I’ll give Slint a shot (although that seems unlikely since I don’t typically write Rust or GUIs).
