Linux download and software project information site Freshmeat.net has published a survey of Graphical User Interface (GUI) development toolkit of possible interest to embedded developers curious about the range and comparative capabilities of various offerings:

“This article is aimed at Unix developers who already have some experience with programming languages and want to start developing GUI applications (mainly for The X Window System, though portability is discussed). It may also come in handy if you have used a particular GUI toolkit for some time and want to know whether others might suit your needs better. The main focus is comparison and introduction, but it serves as a bit of tutorial, as well.

“Below, I offer a guide to various toolkits for POSIX-based systems which can be used free of charge: GTK+/gtkmm, Trolltech Qt, FOX Toolkit, FLTK, and wxWindows. It will start with some general information about the concepts of GUI programming, so beginners will have a better chance of understanding the code examples I provide. All toolkits will mainly be examined in terms of maturity (which means stability), popularity (which popular applications/how many applications use this toolkit?), accessibility and internationalization support, portability, language bindings, extensibility, licensing conditions, and documentation. The core of each toolkit's information is written in continuous English sentences, but a spotlight on the specific properties follows each section.

“Please note that I won't cover Motif/Lesstif in this article because it is similar to Xlib in terms of age and complexity. Tcl/Tk isn't much better. If you feel a specific toolkit should be mentioned here, drop me an email.”

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