Wt: A C++ web toolkit | Hacker News Reader

Wt: A C++ web toolkit

webtoolkit.eu

31 pointssilkodyssey26 comments

In light of the recent articles criticizing C++, it is actually nice to see a framework which uses C++ without being ugly or scary. Perhaps Wt is a good example of people using a "Subset" of C++ to good effect.

The framework, code and the website itself look very nice. If I ever have to use C++ to develop web apps, I will definitely evaluate this framework.

I'm using and liking a subset of C++ myself...

But for web development, it seems like quibbling to even mention all the reasons it generally isn't used in normal web development - lack of portability, need for compiling and the real and perceived danger of a binary that might run on a server you rent from someone else. Then that said, I have worked on C++ web backend stuff but it was kept well away from the realm that Ruby/Python/jsp/asp inhabit for all these reasons.

I agree with C++ being a sledgehammer/chainsaw for web development.

However, I was looking at emweb.de, the website of the creators of this toolkit and they seem to be oriented towards web app development for embedded devices.

It does make sense to use C++ embedded devices because:

  * You control the environment completely
  * CPU cycles are not cheap
  * "embedded" developers are already comfortable with C/C++
  * One less "framework" to ship-out/maintain.

edit: formatting

I guess it's a testament to how powerful small hardware is getting that C++ is actually an option in the embedded space. I can see some of the greybeard asm programmers having a stroke right now.

It is properly targeting the high-end embedded market, since there are only a few places I can imagine that you would want an embedded webserver.

Hey, every smart refrigerator needs an embedded web server...

But that would be the upscale embedded market - your ordinary remote control, microwave oven, light sensor, etc would not need an embedded web server.

about a year ago, i made a half-hearted attempt to pick up web programming. i spent some time futzing with rails, but it didn't really appeal to me. none of the other options caught my fancy either. so my attempt just dribbled off into nothing.

but looking at the code on this site actually has me intrigued. i'm already good at c++, and the examples are clear. if i had a burning need to write a web app, this would be the first thing i'd investigate.

http://www.platinumball.net/resume.html holy crap you have a lot of experience.

It is unfortunate that you are the only guy who thinks so. Heh! I am a little too experienced to be comfortable as a buzzword-compliant enterprise-dwelling cubicle drone, but not experienced enough to get into the big-league rockstar companies I'd prefer.

Well, actually, I did get into the big leagues once, when I worked at Be. But the company was dying, so it wasn't a really great time to be there. I still could have made the best of it, but I didn't. I squandered that opportunity pretty badly, and I regret it. I've been trying to claw my way back in ever since.

Seriously though, thanks. That's a very nice thing to hear.

You make my resume look like a small shivering Chihuahua.

Do not define yourself by a resume. For the last 5 years I have been working without even having one. Consulting with more than 15 companies or so, and being there to launch about 5 of them.

The few times I had to submit a resume was when I did it out of courtesy to the HR folks.

Resumes are for specialists. If you can do most everything with software, don't mind rolling up your sleeves and cleaning house while having a defined job description, then you shouldn't worry about a piece of paper (i.e. "Not everything I am to do for the company could be captured in paper; I am here to write backend code, yes, but I will volunteer to do the system admin, front-end, communication, documentation, in-house training, tech-support, make reports and clean up data, and I am willing and able to source funding, makes sales calls, or even pitch in my own pennies to bootstrap us" ..)

Drop the formality and I might just give you my all.

This sounds like GWT with a different choice of statically-typed source language. I wonder if they have ImageBundle magic and a pay-as-you go design too.

There's also a Java version (I haven't tried either). http://www.webtoolkit.eu/jwt#/

very ambitious.

from what i get from the examples (see e.g. hello world [1]) and the wiki, it abstracts away all html, javascript and css. you can stay in C++ if you want.

i can imagine the html interface could work for a desktopy-application on a portable device, where the server is localhost.

but i can't image doing a web20-y app with this. the CSS/JS is hidden away so deep and both are moving targets with current browser affairs.

[1] http://www.webtoolkit.eu/wt#/src/hello

How is Wt pronounced "Witty"?

I think it's a reference to Qt which is pronounced "cutie."

Yes... but Qt sounds like cutie when you say it.

Its a huge nitpick, sure- but witty just doesn't make any sense. A person has no chance of correctly pronouncing the name when reading "Wt" for the first time.

To be honest, a literate person with English as their first language will almost certainly mispronounce GNU the first time, particularly if they see the logo as well. Not that this in any way actually contradicts your point, admittedly; it's more that I don't really understand the significance of pronounceability in the grand scheme of things.

Clojure, too, for that matter. I got the reference, but thought the j was pronounced as a j the first time I saw it.

Nokia/Trolltech pronounce it "cute."

Yet another C++ web library.

There's, like, one per month on NH.

The web page puts more emphasis on a different paradigm than the programming language, in fact it says you can use a version of Wt with Java, Ruby or Clojure.

I work in python at my day-to-day but I have to say that python is far more guilty of announcing a library that does X, web or no, than any other language.

That's just due to python's batteries-included mentality. Those guys are proud that there's libraries to do damn near anything. If you pick your libraries well, it's astonishing how little python you actually need to write sometimes.

I wrote a rather robust screenscraper in 65 lines when I first started at my company.

So yes, I know that the batteries-included mentality is there, I'm just saying that they don't need to announce it constantly on all my news aggregators. I can just google it if/when I need it.

And if you don't google for a library to solve a problem you're working on before you start coding, you're being a little more than silly.

Edit: Woof, somebody went on a code crusade and later found out a library existed methinks from the downvoting. ;)

Yeah, but this one isn't a joke.

It does remind me of Cobol on Cogs though.

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