10/02/05 - UDP and TCP classes now work with Unix, IPv4 and IPv6 address families. Also, the Buffer and Directory classes have been tested. The File class is being re- written.
06/15/05 - The Slick Application Framework is a set of classes that attempt to simplify developing Unix, and more specifically, Linux applications. The classes in the library wrap APIs for process creation, threads, and network communication. The library does not attempt to replace the STL, or re-define all C++ types. Instead, it works with the STL and standard C++ types. In addition, an effort was made to avoid relying on pre- processor macros. The code should look like C++ code, with recognizable types, and a well known standard library. Nor was there any effort to copy the Java class libraries.
Why write applications in C++? Numerical code, especially when using trig or exponential functions, runs faster under C/C++. However, not all applications require floating point arithmetic or advanced math. C/C++ applications tend to be more memory efficient, however, this is not always important in a world where a gig of ram is commonplace. Perhaps a more compelling reason is that the Java APIs lag what is available in the kernel. For example, IPv6 was available on Windows, Unix and Linux long before the Java API became standard. However, not all applications require the latest and greatest network protocols or IPC mechanism. However, if you are writing a numerically intensive applications, taxing the existing system resources, and require advanced APIs, C/C++ are your best options.
As I test and debug portions of Slick I will post the updated code on the site. As I have time, I will create a BSD build script and a Mac OSX framework.