gtk-rs-core VS Relm4

nix-software-center> [1/6] Generating src/resources_gresource with a custom command nix-software-center> xml-stripblanks preprocessing requested, but XMLLINT is not set, and xmllint is not in PATH nix-software-center> [4/6] Generating data/dev.vlinkz.NixSoftwareCenter.metainfo.xml with a custom command nix-software-center> FAILED: src/nix-software-center nix-software-center> /nix/store/p643r4aczmzb0dhyrx3dj592f0s5v7xj-coreutils-9.0/bin/env CARGO_HOME=/build/r4npznxg986vxdl3gh7jhmqvv8jbvf02-source/build/cargo-home /nix/store/2gwhsd2jcz90zni0pwlhhfbmfbflixws-cargo-1.60.0/bin/cargo build --manifest-path /build/r4npznxg986vxdl3gh7jhmqvv8jbvf02-source/Cargo.toml --target-dir /build/r4npznxg986vxdl3gh7jhmqvv8jbvf02-source/build/src --release && cp src/release/nix-software-center src/nix-software-center nix-software-center> ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed. error: builder for '/nix/store/m9kf43zsr5hkq2igfdnag0phq154igks-nix-software-center-0.0.1.drv' failed with exit code 1; last 10 log lines: > building > build flags: -j8 -l8 > [0/6] Generating src/cargo-build with a custom command > error: package cairo-sys-rs v0.16.0 (https://github.com/gtk-rs/gtk-rs-core#9fe7e5ce) cannot be built because it requires rustc 1.63 or newer, while the currently active rustc version is 1.60.0 > [1/6] Generating src/resources_gresource with a custom command > xml-stripblanks preprocessing requested, but XMLLINT is not set, and xmllint is not in PATH > [4/6] Generating data/dev.vlinkz.NixSoftwareCenter.metainfo.xml with a custom command > FAILED: src/nix-software-center > /nix/store/p643r4aczmzb0dhyrx3dj592f0s5v7xj-coreutils-9.0/bin/env CARGO_HOME=/build/r4npznxg986vxdl3gh7jhmqvv8jbvf02-source/build/cargo-home /nix/store/2gwhsd2jcz90zni0pwlhhfbmfbflixws-cargo-1.60.0/bin/cargo build --manifest-path /build/r4npznxg986vxdl3gh7jhmqvv8jbvf02-source/Cargo.toml --target-dir /build/r4npznxg986vxdl3gh7jhmqvv8jbvf02-source/build/src --release && cp src/release/nix-software-center src/nix-software-center > ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed. For full logs, run 'nix log /nix/store/m9kf43zsr5hkq2igfdnag0phq154igks-nix-software-center-0.0.1.drv'. error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/clykb6wwpv08l2vxnvnx8br7fzpx2y63-system-path.drv' failed to build error: 1 dependencies of derivation '/nix/store/321q6c143bf5w7m8njzvqkhjillbssk5-nixos-system-nflx-erahhal-t490s-22.05.20220902.67e4507.drv' failed to build

"Automatically figuring out which parent objects the class you're subclassing derives from"

AFAIK this is a language limitation, there is no way in a Rust macro to take a type and get all the traits that are implemented for that type.

"Helpers for properties and signals"

There is an open issue for this: https://github.com/gtk-rs/gtk-rs-core/issues/27

"A flat list of methods, instead of the public/imp split"

You can already do this in your code and use "pub fn" and "fn" like normal.

"I feel like I had a difficult time figuring out how to share state between widgets. You end up with lots of OnceCell, Rc, and RefCell, and it quickly becomes confusing,"

I think you are supposed to use bind_property and the gtk::Expression objects to do data binding, though that part is not so convenient to use from C or Rust either.

Ideally this should be automated with a nice derive macro, see https://github.com/gtk-rs/gtk-rs-core/issues/27 . How that could look exactly is still up to discussion and not so easy while keeping it flexible. That derive macro would then likely also work with the id: usize parameter to the property setter/getter instead of the string name.

There is Relm (https://relm4.org/). Which is in Rust is just GTK (through it's Rust bindings) with a nice reactivity layer on top.

I’d recommend you checking out https://relm4.org if you know a little Rust. Relm4 is currently the easiest and most intuitive way to write GTK

Relm4 might make your migration easier. It has factories which make it easy to create lists (both sync and async) and recently added TypedListView as another useful abstraction over pure gtk-rs. There is a lot of potential in Rust + GTK, you just have to find idiomatic abstractions.

Did you try Relm? It's an implementation is the elm architecture (think react) on top of Gtk. Given your experience with Gtk it might suit you really well, as you can even take only parts of it and continue using bare Gtk for the rest. Give it a try!

What about relm4? Is it generally feature complete? Can one use relm4 for most things, and drop to gtk4 for the oddball task that is not supported?

https://relm4.org/

Using this example: https://github.com/Relm4/Relm4/blob/main/examples/simple.rs

What advantage would this Rust crate have over Relm4? It seems pretty similar to me, save for the property based syntax that Forte has, instead of the set_* ones used on Relm4.

If you like Rust I recommend Relm4, one of the best experiences I’ve had with a framework tbh, be sure to learn gtk-rs first.