Ultimate++
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|
| Developer(s) | Ultimate++ team [1] |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 2004 |
| Stable release | 2015.2 (rev. 9251)
/ December 1, 2015 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C++ |
| Operating system | Unix/Linux/FreeBSD (X11), Windows, Windows CE |
| Type | Application framework |
| License | BSD license |
| Website | ultimatepp |
Ultimate++ [2][3][4][5] is a C++ cross-platform development framework which aims to reduce the code complexity of typical desktop applications by extensively exploiting C++ features.
Features
- currently supports Unix/Linux/FreeBSD (X11), Microsoft Windows and Windows CE.
- includes an IDE and a GUI designer.
- uses the open BSD license.
- uses heavily RAII and auto pointers-like mechanisms to avoid manual memory management and even to limit the use of pointers in the code [6]
- can emulate[7] native widgets look and feel. On X11 systems, Ultimate++ supports GTK+ widgets look and feel.
- numerous reference examples are provided.
- standard distribution comes with Ultimate++ sources included, even the IDE ones.
- uses NTL[8] as template system instead of STL.
Hello World
The following example creates a U++ application with "Hello world!" button:
#include <CtrlLib/CtrlLib.h>
using namespace Upp;
class MyApp : public TopWindow {
typedef MyApp CLASSNAME;
public:
MyApp() {
Title("Hello world");
button.SetLabel("Hello world!");
button.WhenAction = THISBACK(Click);
Add(button.HSizePos(100, 100).VSizePos(100, 100));
}
private:
void Click() {
if(PromptYesNo("Button was clicked. Do you want to quit?"))
Break();
}
Button button;
};
GUI_APP_MAIN
{
MyApp().Run();
}
Criticism
- it doesn't use the Standard Template Library (STL)
- NTL template system semantics are difficult to understand at first since assignment operator in reality gets overloaded to perform a move [9] operation and not a copy. This is done for performance reasons and to overcome some STL limitations, but new C++0x standard should enable even STL users to perform move operations with classes by introducing rvalue-references.
- since many C++ operators are overloaded to perform common tasks such as assigning callbacks, understanding the code can be difficult at first
- there are no layouts handlers for widgets, although Ultimate++ has a system of logic coordinates to maintain relative coordinates of objects when resizing windows. Having three buttons properly aligned and resized on a row without layout managers still remains difficult, though.
- Ultimate++ IDE support for languages other than C++ is very limited. It provides some syntax coloring for SQL and little else.
Software built on Ultimate++
- AWS Truewind openWind - an open-source wind farm design software
- Gastronomie Kontroll System, a point of sale system for restaurants
- WebMap, GIS application
See also
- Widget toolkit
- List of widget toolkits
- Qt (toolkit) - toolkit used by KDE applications
- GTK+ - The GIMP toolkit, a widget toolkit used by GNOME applications
- FLTK - A light, cross platform, non-native widget toolkit
- FOX toolkit - A fast, open source, cross-platform widget toolkit
- wxWidgets
References
- ^ "Ultimate++ team".
- ^ http://www.programmez.com/magazine_articles.php?id_article=981 Programmez! issue 104
- ^ http://www.programmez.com/magazine_articles.php?id_article=1150 Programmez! issue 114
- ^ Gouvernelle, Vincent (2009). C++: L'essentiel du code et des commandes. Pearson Education France. ISBN 2-7440-2281-0.
- ^ Getting started with Ultimate++ CodeProject article
- ^ U++ Overview
- ^ Chameleon examples
- ^ Guide to Ultimate++ containers
- ^ Pick transfer semantics