Hand Coding versus Designer Tool

[Cuboidz]

I like to hand code my GUI for several reasons, but the most important one is the lack of object oriented design with the Designer Tool. Ok, you do work with classes but essentially you have the same kind of design method as in VB6. Some will probably disagree but I think that approach is suited only for small programs and leads to bloated code in larger projects. You just approach the problem from a different perspective when hand coding everything yourself.

[pareshgh]

if you have 1000 GUI screens then would you preffer to write the code by hand

just doesn't make any sense to this philosphy!!!

do you have infinite time available for your product.

[Cuboidz]

If you have 1000 screens in your application and you create a seperate class(form) for each of them, there is something seriously wrong with your design I think.

As for the time it takes to hand code, what does the Designer Tool really do to help you code faster ? It provides you with Controls and Properties at sight, but any good IDE would support that kind of information by pop-ups appearing when typing code. So the only thing you gain from working with a Designer Tool is the direct visual feedback.

[pareshgh]

no I was just giving an example. personely i will preffer to use USercontrols and making use of ability of re-usability.
develop once and use everywhere.



another thing of benifit of IDE is placing the controls on UI. its pain while writing hand written code.

-Paresh

[Cuboidz]

I guess it is just what you're used to doing. VB6 programmers will probably like the Designer RAD approach, but Java programmers like myself will most likely prefer to hand code their GUI. When you use a Layout Manager hand coding is even easier and faster to do than drag-dropping your GUI, but I do realise this isn't always possible. Experienced hand coders on the other hand wouldn't have any problems visualizing their GUI in their head when typing the code.

[pareshgh]

yes , for java programmers (including me in past) its true.
love that gridbag ! isn't it.

anyway