Hey cocoa-java, go $@%* yourself
When I first created the user interface (i.e. all the windows) for my game Lux I used the cocoa-java library that Apple provides. This allowed me to use all the native Mac OS X window components, to really act as a 100% mac application does. People who have macs really like it when their apps blend in to the scenery, and I am no exception.For a time it was good. OS X Lux grew in popularity until it became worthwhile for me to also write a java swing interface so that Lux could run on windows (and other java-boxes).
However, as of late the amount of strife that cocoa-java has been causing me has become unbearable. It used to be that sometimes there would be a rare crash from the bowels of the cocoa classes. The recent Mac OS X 10.3.5 update has amplified these by about 58 times. To such an extent that Lux is unusable.
I struggled for multiple days trying to figure out if I was doing something wrong so that I could fix it. No dice though. The crashes can be lessened, but not wiped out.
So I have decided to take the rather drastic step of ditching out on cocoa-java altogether, and modifying the java swing interface to be as nice on the mac as possible. It was a tough decision to make. The cocoa-java side of Lux is really very nice, at first I was filled with a significant amount of dread at the thought of replacing it with a shabbier look. Using swing means that I cannot use drop-down sheets anymore. The swing JTable is noticeably not-as-mac-like as the cocoa NSTableView. JComboBox is not a perfect match for a NSPopUpButton. There are many more little things like that, and they all add up.
However, to quote a user: "who cares what it looks like if you can't play it because of crashes?"
Goodbye cocoa-java. The time we had together was nice, but I have to move on. You've become too unstable for to deal with. Maybe if your parent gave you some more attention things would be different, but that is not the case, you seem abandoned from all sides. Well that's fine baby, Lux can survive just dandy without you. Just you watch.
| Posted by dustin on August 30, 2004 with category tags of java |
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Written by dustin
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