

Wt: A C++ web toolkit  - silkodyssey
http://www.webtoolkit.eu

======
FraaJad
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.

+1

~~~
joe_the_user
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.

~~~
FraaJad
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

~~~
rikthevik
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.

~~~
tomjen2
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.

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

~~~
tomjen2
But that would be the upscale embedded market - your ordinary remote control,
microwave oven, light sensor, etc would not need an embedded web server.

------
allenbrunson
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.

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

~~~
allenbrunson
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.

~~~
alnayyir
You make my resume look like a small shivering Chihuahua.

~~~
mahmud
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.

------
pohl
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.

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

------
monos
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>

------
awolf
How is Wt pronounced "Witty"?

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

~~~
awolf
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.

~~~
gloob
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.

------
ilyak
Yet another C++ web library.

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

~~~
alnayyir
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.

~~~
rikthevik
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.

~~~
alnayyir
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. ;)

