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My name is Jeff
Franks. I'm a C++ programmer first, and a C programmer only when I have
to be. My discovery of Linux several years ago came at a time when I
was
fed up with that other operating system. Linux presented me
with a whole new programming experience and whole new learning curve.
I went looking for a C++ application framework and found the two
main ones QT, and GTK/GTK--. QT was good, comprehensive, and
reminded me a lot of Borland's OWL but then QT was still a proprietary
library, and not released under the GPL as it is now. I started trying
to write a program with Gtk-- but found too many bugs. I made an effort
to discuss the bugs and help fix them but my novice emails were
repeatedly ignored on the Gtk-- mailing list. I gave up and bought a
GTK+ programming book by Donna Martin, et al., and set about learning
GTK+. I
soon realized that GTK+ wasn't too difficult and decided too try and
write a C++ framework for it as I learned.
I
began writing the GCode library in early 2000, about the time that
GTK+ development version 1.3.1 was released. I had written a C++
application framework before, for that other operating
system, but was never able to complete it because the operating system
and its C API kept changing, and it was too expensive to keep up. Linux
gave me the opportunity to not only write and complete a C++
application framework but to learn GTK+ programming at the same time. I
chose GTK+ because I felt it gave me the best opportunity to make an
open source contribution.
I
wanted GCode to be a thin but comprehensive C++ wrapper around the
GTK+-2.0 library, but I didn't want it to be more than it should. It
was
just a C++ language binding. Throughout its development I have
tried to maintain a good balance between remaining faithful to GTK+ and
remaining faithful to C++. Hence the catchphrase in the
home page logo - the power of gtk+ . the power of c++.
Unfortunately for
GCode there was a CAD program by the same name so I had to find a new
name, not an easy task! I approached Havoc Pennington who kindly
agreed to let me use the name Inti, originally a set of C++ foundation
libraries written by him but no longer in active development. Thanks
Havoc!
Soon after the
original Inti project was abandoned, I decided to base future GCode
development on the Inti source code base, in the spirit of open source
development. That way, I could keep one of Havoc's ideas alive,
although
not quite in its original form.
Apart from a GUI toolkit, the original Inti project had expansive plans to include several other modules and was to be the official C++ platform for Red Hat Linux. Unfortunately Havoc had commitments to several other projects, including the development of GTK+ itself, and was unable to continue developing Inti. For historical interest, the original Inti web site is still online and can be viewed here. Inti today is a different project and has no current association with Havoc Pennington or Red Hat Linux. It carries the name of its forebear and has many of the same design goals but several of its key implementation details are different. This Inti library has a simple, fast and easy to use C++ interface that doesn't compromise on any essential C++ features. At the same time it doesn't hide the GTK+ programming paradigm too much so C programmers can use all the concepts they are already familiar with. There is nothing too complex about Inti's implementation so it should be easily understandable and usable by everyone. Give it a try and see what you think! The Inti Development
Team.
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