This Year in Conrod – An Update from the Rust GUI Library

It's worth noting that Conrod doesn't use any unsafe code [1].

In light of the "Why I'm dropping Rust" post, it's nice to see a proof point that it's possible, and easy, to write heterogeneous trees in Rust without using unsafe code. It looks like Conrod uses petgraph via the daggy crate [2].

[1]: https://github.com/PistonDevelopers/conrod/search?utf8=%E2%9... [2]: https://github.com/mitchmindtree/daggy

Couple of minor nitpicks re naming:

1. `Oval` should really be `Ellipse` given that its sizing assumes symmetry on two axes.

2. Can't decide which side of the Atlantic it's on - it has `color` and variants (US English) but also `centre` and variants (British English). Much as it pains me, programming has generally standardized on USian spellings.

3. The use of `kid` in names feels slightly odd, especially when the documentation for those names consistently uses the more common `child`.

The current theme support looks kinda limited - is it ever likely to expand to support things like gradient fills, rounded corners, drop shadows etc? Or would that be pushing too much complexity into the rendering backends?

I'm sure this is great from the perspective of a Rust developer who wants a Rust GUI library, and the post is basically written from that perspective. If I'm not using Rust, are there compelling reasons for me to switch from Qt? Does conrod have the equivalent of QOpenGLWidget so that I can mix 2D widgets with 3D visuals?

Is there support for antialiasing? Some of the shapes and text look jagged.

I am looking to use Rust to write Delphi and C# type of (business) apps. Can Conrod be used and how would it be painful? I am interested in getting things done, and I don't care much about looks. Note I much prefer a spartan GUI, as Conrod apparently proposes, over some Java-style widgets.