Ask HN: Is it worth it to learn desktop GUI frameworks anymore?
I also spend a lot of time out-side of work on self-improvement, i.e. trying to become a better developer, learn more patterns, better ways of doing things, more practice, etc.
For a little while now, it has seemed like Software is in many ways converging in to the Web. Even big names like MSFT are beginning to offer a lot of "Cloud" based software. (I consider myself at least semi-competent in Web development, I've been a key contributor on a couple big projects for the SaaS company I work for).
Last week though, I thought it would be a good idea to try building a C++ application using Qt for the presentation layer. I've used WPF, .NET, ObjC/Cocoa, and JavaFX/Java Swing to build graphical programs. After a week though, I'm not really very close to getting Qt linked together correctly with CMake.
I'm just wondering if I should even bother? Web seems like it's dominating so much right now, that eventually desktop applications will be a thing of the past?
What are your personal thoughts on this, and should I even continue trying to improve my desktop GUI skills?