ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Nekhelesh Ramananthan <krnekhelesh@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi David,

Yes, I was referring to the lack of persistent storage apis as you
> perceived to being only two available from within the qt infrastructure.
> I was stating earlier there is a whole universe of persistent storage
> apis available from the non-qt ubuntu repos: boost serialization,
> mongodb and all the sql/odbc db's you feel comfortable with.
>

I now understand better what you were referring to. I think in my first
email, I did not provide the necessary motivation as to why I am limiting
myself to U1db-Qt storage option. As of recently, I have been using
QML+Javascript quite extensively. Over time I have come to realise how easy
it makes the life easier for a new developer to get into app development
compared to other options like c++, python Gtk apps etc etc. Hence it made
sense for me to evaluate current storage options which suited the
QML+Javascript development strategy and that's why I ended up with Qt
LocalStorage and U1db-Qt.

So while I am sure there are better alternative storage options as you
pointed out like mongodb, boot serialization that you pointed out, I like
to continue on this path as it turns to be quite intuitive and easy to
create applications.


> Just because the U1db-qt api based app won an ubuntu touch application
> competition doesn't make it the solution for you to use.  I don't know
> U1db-qt, but from what you have expressed here is it fails the
> documentation/ease of use test so don't use it.  The only reference
> point you have for U1db-qt is the source code if you can console
> yourself to use just that.  It's doable if you look at the unit test
> examples IF THEY EXIST.
>
> Choosing apis should be based on levels of documentation/ease of use,
> performance, reliability, quality in features provided, breadth of
> features provided.  My intention was simply to redirect you to other
> storage solutions that have vast amounts of documentation and that are
> reasonably popular.  qt/boost serialization is well-documented.  mongodb
> is well-documented. sql-based odbc-based db's are well-documented.  Try
> mongodb rather than sql-based stuff.
>
>
I agree that u1db-qt API isn't the only go to storage option. But as I
mentioned in my reasoning above, I would like to stick to the
QML+Javascript+U1db-Qt combo.


> I was just making a point about how versatile Ubuntu truly is.  It can
> spin on a dime if it needs to.  Qt is not the only ace Ubuntu has up its
> sleeve with respect to gui building options.  Qt just so happens to be
> the flavor of the month.  Next month could be Mir, Wayland, X, KDE,
> GNOME etc...
>

You are spot on about the versatility of Ubuntu when it comes to toolkits
like Qt, GNOME, and others. However one of the aspects of Ubuntu Touch I
really admire is the effort (Ubuntu SDK) to bring a unification of the
toolkit available that new application developers coming to Ubuntu can use.
This I believe would finally culminate in applications in Ubuntu behaving
uniformly in terms of toolbars, menus, etc which is good overall. Currently
if you look at Unity, there are several aspects like scrollbars, global
menu etc which are not respected by some applications using different
toolkits like JAVA resulting in a bad user experience. This further
encourages me to stick to the QML+Javascript+U1db combo :-).


> You presented the problem that you don't know how to use u1db-qt.
> I presented the solution to use another product/api.  The proposed
> solution of using another storage api is not a deviation from the topic.
>  It was a sincere suggestion for you to be more productive and to save
> your time.  I apologize if you feel I have wasted your time.
>

I think I might have come of a bit harsh there with my reply and I
apologize for that. Your input was valuable, but I hope you can understand
my own reasoning to stick to the options I mentioned above.


> Since you have show an initiative about something lacking documentation,
> you are most probably best positioned to be the one to provide it
> because you're the one with the most motivation/passion to look at the
> u1db-qt sources and to provide examples with your experience with it.
>

Seems like that might be the way :-). Let's see how much I can get done
with the time I got.

Cheers,
Nekhelesh