User Interface Design for Programmers

Introduction

Most of the hard core C++ programmers I know hate user interface programming. This surprises me because I find UI programming to be quintessentially easy, straightforward, and fun.

It's easy because you usually don't need algorithms more sophisticated than how to center one rectangle in another. It's straightforward because when you make a mistake, you can see it right away and correct it. It's fun because the results of your work are immediately visible. You feel like you are sculpting the program directly.

I think most programmers' fear of UI programming comes from their fear of doing UI design. They think that UI design is like graphic design: that mysterious process by which creative, latte-drinking, all-dressed-in-black people ...