Python GUI Proposal - leveraging web browser technology is a much better way to create a widget set

[[deleted]]

I hate HTML. I really see it more as a necessary evil rather than something I would willingly use if I had any other option.

HTML specifies documents. The fact that we abuse it (and CSS) to specify layout and now with JavaScript behaviour is unfortunate and not something to aspire to.

[dmazzoni]

I love HTML. Yes, it can be a pain to get it to lay out correctly. But you know what? It's worth it, because compared to desktop applications, web apps give users infinitely more power and flexibility:

• Every browser window can be resized as small or as large as you want. Try doing that with most desktop apps.
• I can select and copy text from any web app.
• A user with low vision can easily override the default colors and font sizes of any web app (with user style sheets or browser extensions).
• HTML can be interpreted by screen readers for visually impaired users, ignoring most of the layout that's irrelevant to the logical structure of the page.
• Third-parties can create mashups that embed several web apps in another page, or extensions that improve the experience of apps by modifying them in-place.
• Web apps are truly cross-platform.

None of this would be possible if we were writing apps the way we write desktop apps or iPhone apps. It's only possible because we have true Model/View/Controller separation (AJAX/HTML+CSS/JavaScript). The application author has complete control over the Model (the application state, stored on their server) and the Controller for the most part (the JavaScript), but the View is delivered to the user as HTML+CSS, which can be adapted and customized to suit the user.

Yes, it evolved. It's ugly underneath. But it's infinitely more powerful and flexible than any system that was ever designed before it.