Cross-Platform Development in C++: Building Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows Applications

9. Developing a Cross-Platform GUI Toolkit in C++

Of the issues facing developers of cross-platform desktop software, perhaps none is greater than the user interface (UI), as the considerable amount of space I have devoted so far in this book to the subject attests. Netscape, at the time 4.x transitioned from being a flagship product into a sustaining one, and efforts turned toward the development of the Netscape 6/7 and Mozilla codebase, the following three platforms—UNIX, Windows (95/98 and NT), and Mac OS (System 8)—were identified as being “tier-1,” meaning these platforms were highest in priority when it came to shipping product. In the new codebase, the way in which these three platform UIs were supported was to undergo a dramatic change. ...