Handcoded GUI application Design & Visualization

Question

We've tools like Netbeans/Visual studio to do the GUI app for our project in java/C#. But when we're creating apps by writing code on Text-editor/IDE without using components. then how to visualize the GUI app project ? I mean let's say i want to build a contact manager app in C#/java. now with GUI builder tools i can manage multiple files but with hardcoding i've to think about every file seperatley.

Now How one should visualize the project and go working on it ? What design programmer need to keep in mind ?

Answer 1

In the past there were no RAD tools like Delphi and VB (and later C#), so there were object oriented or non-OO frameworks to build screens only using code.

I specifically remember Borland Turbo Pascal's object based text UI, where to create a dialog you had to inherit from TDialog and fill its OnDraw manually with which components to create and where to place them, and give them their callbacks to OnClick etc in runtime.

I'm not sure why you ask your question, because I would certainly recommend using a RAD tool. However if you must create everything manually, you can certainly do so.

In this case I would recommend creating a separate file and class for each dialog, and holding a logic manager to create all the screens as you wish. You will probably also need a "main screen" that will contain all the rest, which would probably be the first one to be created by that logical manager.

I hope that helps.

Answer 2

This depends on the library you're using, and the widgets provided... Some provide layout classes that allow putting other control in them in an ordered manner, while others don't.

You need a convention in naming your files/classes/methods/functions, so that they are consistent across files. This will ease using something from one file in another file.