| General comments about the source Updated 14 Feb 2001 | Upper levels: - QuArK Information Base - 4. The Source Code

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Porting QuArK to C++ and/or Linux | Armin Rigo - 14 Feb 2001 | [ Top ]

A lot of attention has been given recently about the possibility of translating QuArK to the C/C++ lanaguage and/or porting it to another OS like Linux. The current state of the Linux port idea is that, unless we need for a C++ version that new programmers could handle without having to learn Delphi first, the Linux port will wait until Borland releases its Delphi-for-Linux project, scheduled for mid-2000. But the C++ translation could be needed just because it would let many new programmers with C++ knowledge enter the project. In this case we will have to be very careful about which OS-dependent the translated code uses and at which point the development of the Delphi version of the source has to be halted (because it is clear that we cannot indefinitely maintain concurrent C++ and a Delphi versions). The 3rd reason we might want to translate to C++ is performance. Raw C++ code can run a bit faster than raw Delphi code (mainly because Borland's Delphi compiler is not good enough at optimizing...). This is however a relatively minor issue, as the performance bottleneck are found in the Python code emulation (mainly noticeable when you open the map editor and have to wait a little bit), and in the speed of the 2D drivers and hardware (for drawing the wireframe maps). The latter could be addressed by using complex bitmap caches techniques but not by translating the code to another language. If we decide that the C++ translation is not done for portability reasons then the easiest solution is to switch to BCB (Borland C++ Builder), which can compile both Delphi and C++ source code and shares Delphi's VCL (Visual Component Library). This would let us translate QuArK module-by-module as needed. Before we do so however we must make sure that BCB will be available in a Linux version nearly as soon as Delphi. If on the other hand we decide we should make QuArK a real Free Software project, we have to see what solutions we have to translate it in such a way that it can be compiled by free compilers (GCC). This solution has the big advantage that QuArK would then be available on numerous platforms (e.g. the Mac) with little effort. Before we do so we must decide which widely-available GUI library we will target : Tk, Qt, others ? In any case, keep in mind that most parts of QuArK are tightly integrated with each other... I mean, if you want to make, say, first an independant C++ version of QuArK where the model editor would be developped, and hope to translate the map editor from the "official" QuArK later as a block when everything works well, then forget about it. If you wanted even just to reproduce the current model viewer, you would have to port so many things from the current QuArK that you will end up with something that can already run the map editor's Python code... this means that you will have ported the map editor just by trying to port the model viewer ;-) In conclusion, porting/translating has to be carefully prepared and it has to be done as fast as possible while the Delphi developpement is frozen. It cannot easily be done piece-by-piece. But for the time being (end 1999) I guess that Quake 3 support has got a higher priority than porting/translating :-)

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