About GTK + and X Window

About GTK +:

GTK + (The GIMP Toolkit) was originally designed for a software called the GIMP Bitmap Image editor, by Peter Mattis,spencer Kimball and Josh MacDonald was completed in 1997 at the University of California, Berkeley, experimental Computing facility. GTK + was later used as the default image development package for both the GNOME and Xfce mainstream Linux desktop environments. Started GTK + for Linux operating systems, and later extended to support other class Unxi systems like Microsoft's Windows,beos,solaris,mac OS x wait.

GTK + is in the second stable release cycle, gtk+2. Because there are new features to add and its developers want to get rid of their dependency on the API, the first release of GTK has been drastically modified. Because these two versions of GTK + are incompatible, you can install them two at a time. When you build your app, you'll have to let the compiler know that you're using gtk+2.0 instead of 1.0.

Gtk+2.0 adds a lot of new features, including the Pango font rendering engine and a new enhanced theme engine. At the same time ATK (accessibility Toolkit) greatly enhances the accessibility of the system.

X Window System:

In 1984, Jim Gettys and Bob Scheifler developed the X Window System (X11) as a cross-platform debugging environment for Argus Systems at MIT. Through the further development of the X.Org Foundation, X11 has become the standard display manager on Linux and Unix-like systems. For example, in some basic aspects, X11 provides a window function for bitmap display.

Although the X window is used on Linux, other operating systems such as Microsoft window are not used. So another advantage of GTK + is that it can communicate with the underlying rendering system without having to control what the specific system is. Your code is identical, whether you write for linux,windows or Mac OS x.

Now back on Linux, X11 manages windows in its most basic and abstract way. It draws windows on the screen and handles their actions. X11 also controls input devices such as mice and keyboards in an image environment. X11 's basic programming interface, Xlib provides a basic tool for writing graphical interfaces. Although it is possible to develop with xlib, most programmers prefer to use the GTK + Graphics toolkit because all the underlying calls are managed or hidden by the library.

One important feature that distinguishes X11 from other display managers is that X11 assumes that users and servers are treated independently. This allows the user to exist on the remote side independently of the server. Another advantage of X window is that it does not enforce the authorization of the user interface and allows the window manager's graphical interface to be highly customizable. That's why window manager can provide such a different interface and theme. It ensures that Linux users have the right to choose freely.

Ironically, this freedom is also one of the biggest criticisms of X11. Many people worry that this will lead to the division of Linux community developers. But until now we are still free to choose the window Manager we need. Because of the existence of GTK +, as a programmer, you don't have to communicate directly with the X Window System. You can create windows and artifacts, or you can handle communication between these artifacts and users. However, all direct screen rendering and xlib function calls are done automatically. So we're not going to go into more things about the X Window System and focus more on GTK + 's library of functions.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               ----------------Foundations of GTK + Development "

About GTK + and X Window