Scripting languages and KDE

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:23:26 +0000

Up to now, the main language in which KDE applications are developed is C++. This is a perfectly valid choice: however, at least for users that don’t have a computing background (I include myself in the list: I do science) C++ can be a rather steep requirement (although Hans, fellow staff member at the KDE Community forums, is doing a nice job in explaining his learning experience).

Scripted language bindings (that have a lower barrier of entry) for KDE exist: on top of my memory I can list Python, Ruby, and C# (and I’ve probably missed a few). Despite that, the only official non-C++ programs that are in KDE’s SVN currently, including only what’s in the official modules, are system-config-printer-kde and printer-applet, which are written in PyKDE. This is quite striking to me, because the language bindings allow full access to the API in kdelibs, and thus allow the creation of applications with (theoretically) less effort on part of the writer. Yet, such applications, despite the bindings being rather mature, are lacking.

Scripting on dennogumi.org

Scripting languages and KDE