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Things I've learned building a modern TUI Framework (2022)

(www.textualize.io)
331 points willm | 4 comments | 11 Aug 24 12:22 UTC | HN request time: 0.629s | source
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mikkelam ◴[11 Aug 24 16:47 UTC] No.41217448[source]▶
Why do software engineers care so much about TUI? I really don't get it. I love a good command line program. But TUI just doesn't appeal to me.
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1. pjmlp ◴[11 Aug 24 16:56 UTC] No.41217542[source]▶
I guess, mainly because of nostalgia, back from the days TUIs were the only way to interact with computers.

Turbo Vision, curses and dialog were cool back in the 1990's.

Having started with computers in 1986, I really don't get the TUI fetisch, not even remote access is an issue, given X Windows, VNC, RDP, Citrix,... exist for decades.

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2. nine_k ◴[11 Aug 24 19:53 UTC] No.41218877[source]▶
Having run X programs over network connections quite a bit, I'd say that they make sense for graphics stuff, and textual interfaces over SSH are significantly more responsive.

But once a fixed-width text grid stops being the right tool for the job, it's likely better to have a web UI.

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3. pjmlp ◴[11 Aug 24 20:15 UTC] No.41219030[source]▶
I used xterm for such purposes.

Yes, I do agree the browser is the new X Windows / RDP client, on the modern timesharing systems.

4. consteval ◴[12 Aug 24 13:58 UTC] No.41224416[source]▶
> X Windows, VNC, RDP, Citrix,... exist for decades.

Yeah but those are all awful. I mean, okay, they work almost okay with a wired network connection and on the same network.

But as soon as you hit the WAN and you throw wifi in there it's painful. Having noticeable latency and graphical artifacts does, in my opinion, hurt productivity. For those pieces of software where completing tasks as fast and accurately as possible is the most important goal, TUIs are great. Especially when you have comprehensive keyboard shortcuts. If you've ever seen an office worker rip through a TUI underwriting a loan, you'll know what I mean.