[Mono-list] Re: Mono/Java interop?

[Robert Deviasse]

>We are building client/server apps that communicate through Java RMI.
>That's super efficient. The distributed garbage collection is a dream.
>It also makes development very easy, because the network layer is so
>transparent. But some of our customers don't like our Java GUIs. They
>prefer native windows front-ends. Wouldn't it be great if we could
>build the GUI in .NET and use the client side Java classes that talk
>to the server just as they are ?

Have you considered using Eclipse's SWT/JFace widget set? It has the 
following advantages:
* It uses the native widgets/controls of your OS (so your application looks 
like it was written by MFC programmers on Windows and Gtk+ programmers on 
Linux and Aqua programmers on Mac OSX)
* It's a Java widget set designed for speed (unlike Swing)
* It's portable (current ports include Windows, Linux, xBSD, MacOSX)
* The widget set is about as clean and powerful as Swing
* It allows you to compile your application to native code if needed (see 
this link for details
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-nativegui/?Open&t=grl,l=805,p=cgui
)
* It's well supported (IBM's WebSphere uses the SWT as it's base widget set)
* It has a thin lower layer that allows you to call native OS methods, so if 
you ever need non-portable calls, you can make them in Java.


Plus, Miguel pointed out:
>	Eclipse, written in Java, uses Swt.
>		Its pretty decent, and there is a simple
>		C# plugin available.
>
>		Recently Alex started porting it to C#
>		using Microsoft's JUMP

Assuming Alex's work gets done without any hitches, *in theory* you should 
be able to easily port your application to .NET (via JUMP) if you decide 
that .NET is the way to go or if you want to support both Java and .NET 
equally. I say *in theory* Because I don't know how extensively you use 
Java's capabilities beyond what JUMP provides.

Take care,
	Robert

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