Cascades Development

[lilin]

Cascades is advertised as a breakthrough technology, something astonishing etc.

But with this first release (alpha I think), I dont see anything different from what we can find in other modern gui systems.

Where are all the fancy things largely demonstrated on videos (for ex scrapbook app, BB10 picture viewer app, or http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/10/cascades-blackberry/).

TAT seems to have done an amazing work on THEIR version of cascades.

Will we have access to this ?

Thanks 

[ignites]

Cascades is just a framework on how to build things. Creativity and ingenuity depends on the developer. If it it was all so 'easy' everyone would be a 'millionaire-app developer' . By learning the tools and applying some creative thinking, i think we can make some awesome apps. Thats what TAT demonstrated, Im sure they are just using these exact same tools!

[lilin]

Hi ignites,

During this afternoon's webinar, it was said that TAT version of cascades was not the same as BB10 one.

Their apps have many 3D effects and eye-candyness. I cant see any of this in the framework (exept raw Opengl access).

I agree with you, all of this sugar does not make a great app.
But BB is advertising BB10 cascades with these apps, telling its easy to achieve.

[janetsa]

You are mixing up TAT demo ware vs. TAT's actual apps.  NONE of the TAT's actual apps have these 3D effects and eye-candyness.  H.e.l.l., none of TAT's paying customers like Google paying TAT to consult for the original Android UI --- used anything closed to those eye-candy demo videos that you see on youtube.

It has NOTHING to do with whether those cool 3D efficts are easy to achieve or not --- it has to do with the fact that it  would be very stupid to make an actual email app to have tracking email with a bunch of squiggly lines.  ACTUAL TAT apps like the Playbook's photo viewer apps have VERY subtle 3D transition effects that you would have missed the special effects if you don't look at it closely.

[marioboikov]

Well, I have to agree to some extent with the original author.

For example, you can't do simple 2.5D transforms which you find in eg. QtQuick. This means that you can't create a "flip" card effect out of the box. You can only do z-rotate, or have I missed out something?

The next thing is that you can't have http:// url in the source tag for ImageView. This requires you to do C++ code for such simple thing. In QtQuick this is also supported and the fetching etc is done in another thread.

We haven't seen the Multimedia package yet but I really hope they support streaming media so you can build player capabable of playing media from the internet.

On the other side, the components that are available are great and have sweet default animation, such as the radio group

[lilin]

I dont want to be misunderstood, Cascades is a great framework, with great features ( separate thread for UI, QML/C++, hardware accelerated).

My disapointment is how Cascades is advertised, and what it realy is.

I mean, take a look a this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b2crqROfHY

Here are some quotes:

• "Incredibly easy for developers to achieve this kind of user experience"

• About the picture viewer application:
• "3D Fxs, drop shadows, animations, .. this is only built on cascades"

• "The cascades fwk makes it incredibly easy for developpers to achieve this kind of FXs with very little code"

• The 3D view
• "This is a standard list in cascades (3D FXs, annimation, shaders, physics, all is in the framework). So as a developper you are just settings properties"

• "These UI components have been designed by TAT, and imported into the basic BBX framework, so all dev. can take advantage of it."

• Nobody else has this level of capabilities in a framework the dev. have access

Where can we find these "built-in" "eye-candy" "first-grade" component ?

[ignites]

those examples are up on github if i m not mistaken.

[lilin]

The only samples I can find are these onces:
https://github.com/blackberry/Cascades-Samples/

https://github.com/blackberry/Cascades-Community-Samples

Its all about generic components (basic lists, controls, ...), or native features (NFC, openGl ..).

Maybe we will have access to advanced UI in the future, but there is no information about it.

[janetsa]

(1) You are talking about a demo that was presented by a former CEO from a previous administration.

(2) It's a demo.  TAT made a zillion cool videos available on youtube --- guess what?  None of their paying customers ever use that stuff in their final product.

(3) It's a demo that has zero real world usage value --- tracking emails and contacts with a bunch of squiggly lines.

(4) It's a demo in a keynote speech --- it's a sales pitch that is supposed to be somewhat misleading. 

[BeroboInc]

Have to agree. Disappointed. So far you want to do anything really at all, you have to go to C++. Cascades+javascript is not going to get you far.

Considering completely abandoning this for possibly qtquick or air. Anything to avoid having to do C++ coding and having to search for libraries to do basic things.