[boost] Thoughts for a GUI (Primitives) Library

Subject: [boost] Thoughts for a GUI (Primitives) Library
From: Gwenio (urulokiurae_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-08-31 16:16:57

 As it stands, neither Boost nor C++ has any support for GUI applications.
Therefore I am suggesting a library that provides the bare minimum required
to create a GUI application.

My thoughts on what this library would contain are as follows:
- Types for controls (contexts bound to the extent of their parent) and
windows (contexts that remain separate from their parents).
- An event handler class that is passed when controls and windows are
created that contains all information needed to handle events for the new
context.
- Functions for generating events (if applicable) and (a) function(s) to
initiate message handling (unless the event loop is run in its own thread
like in Java).
- Functions to access and manipulate the data of the contexts (size,
position, z-order, ect).
- Miscellaneous other types used for support (such as for screen positions).
- A way to retrieve the native concept of a window/control.

As you can see, there are no controls/widgets/ect defined, either from the
library or using the native versions. Such things can be added later, if
people can ever agree on how they should be implemented.

It needs a lot of refining, but I believe this covers the *minimum* support
that is needed for a GUI.