[Mono-list] layout managers

[Jon Gilkison]

Considering the design of the form's "api" is based on Windows and the
way Windows does the management of UI controls, I'm not sure you're
going to see the layout manager concept implemented in anything but
wrapper classes.

Interestingly, Borland Delphi/Kylix sort of meet halfway through the
Align and Anchors properties of the basic control that all controls in
their framework inherit from.  And various controls also publish an
Autosize property and the forms feature a Scale property which controls
scaling of the form and it's controls based on the user's chosen font
size and monitor resolution.  I'm sure to keep compatibility with the
VCL (their framework) they will be writing a wrapper against the current
.NET UI framework (or simply skipping that and wrapping the win32 system
directly).  Either way, I think their solution is about as good as your
going to get in terms of approaching your perceived value in Sun's
design.

But not many Windows programmers using .NET for desktop apps (the bulk
of .net's initial developers, after the server and enterprise folks)
would believe that Sun's design is all that great in comparison to their
current modus operandi.  But that's the subject for an op-ed piece best
left somewhere else.

The point being, plan for localization.  If accessibility is a concern,
then make sure you adhere to the established interface guidelines of the
OS(es) you are targeting, and they "should" take care of the rest.  

If all else fails, roll your own!

Jon Gilkison
//interfacelab.com/