Mandrake: переводы

→Luca: Why did you choose Qt and the KDE Platform for KTiKZ?

→So I decided that I needed a program which has an editor for the TikZ code and a preview of the output and which recompiles automatically whenever I change something in the editor. A few weeks after deciding that I needed such a program and a few weeks before creating it myself (deciding that spending much time to create a program from scratch is really worth the effort takes some time), Florian posted KtikZ version 0.1 on kde-look.org, so I happily downloaded it and I started using it. Of course, I wanted to make my TikZ-editing life as easy as possible, so I started to add features and I submitted the patches to Florian. Choosing the KDE Platform

→Glad: When I started with LaTeX in 1998 (I was strongly fed up with the bugginess and user-unfriendliness of Word 98), I made my pictures in XFig. Unfortunately, I hit the limitations of XFig quite early, so since then I had been looking for a user-friendly and powerful way of making pictures for LaTeX. Throughout the years, I tried PSTricks and MetaPost, and ultimately I found TikZ, which is part of the pgf package for LaTeX. I was very happy to have finally found a relatively easy and very powerful means of making pictures for LaTeX (which also works with pdflatex). Unfortunately, using TikZ required recompiling the whole LaTeX document, and I got bored with waiting for these recompilations to finish (especially because I recompile each time that I change something and my documents are not always small; I have thoroughly rewritten two courses of around 200 pages and added all the pictures in both of them).

→In order to speed up the edit/compile/test cycle, I put my figures in their own files (separate from the document) and wrote a little script which copied the TikZ figure into a LaTeX template, compiled it and refreshed the PDF viewer. As I am a bit of a perfectionist, I found that ad hoc approach still a little too inefficient and thought that I might as well invest a few days to create an easy-to-use program which I could share with other TikZ users, especially as it took me very little effort compared to the time other TikZ users without programming skills could save. I kept improving the first prototype until I was ready to release it on kde-apps.org. After finishing my studies and starting working for my own company, I found that I had very little time to work on my little gem. But then Glad came along, implemented the missing parts and made KtikZ what it is today, a tool aligned with the Unix philosophy of doing one thing, but doing it well.

→Florian: KtikZ originated as a means to an end for making me productive while I was working on my diploma thesis. The thesis involved studying and explaining the properties of dynamic equation systems based on coupled, non-linear oscillators. Creating good-looking figures for the thesis was crucial and after evaluating a few systems (XFig, Inkscape, gnuplot and Asymptote), I settled on TikZ.

→Luca: What was the motivation for developing KTiKZ? How does it compare to other similar applications?

→The Application

→Unfortunately, since switching to Java as the language of choice, I have not yet found the time to work on another KDE-related project, but I have tried QtJambi and found it quite pleasant to work with. Maybe I'll use that for my next KDE app.

→Florian: Yes, related to a commercial project of my company, I created the opensoftphone, a Java SIP client based on pjsip-jni, another project of mine. Just recently, I released the first version of reinCRUD, an annotation-based framework for creating database applications in Java with Vaadin (which is based on the Google Web Toolkit), Hibernate and Spring. I created it as I found Vaadin to be very productive to work with, but it was lacking a CRUD/RAD part.

→Glad: Occasionally (when I find time) I submit a bug report for KDE software or a small patch. I also develop Qonjugator, which is supposed to become a free conjugator for all European languages (it works with plugins for each language), but the development is very slow because of lack of time and because no one helps me. Currently, there is a Qt-only library with Qt-only plugins, a Qt-only app and a Plasmoid (which is of course kdelibs-based). I plan to make also a QML-version. Maybe, when the QML-version is finished, I will transform the Qt-only app into a KDE-only app.

→Luca: Are you working with any other free software or KDE projects?

→Florian: My name is Florian Hackenberger. I am a Master of Computer Science and I'm currently running my own company. As a professional, I'm fluent in Java, C++ and various dynamic languages. I spend my (precious) spare time with my girlfriend, my friends, my family, a few books (mostly for entertainment), a bit of theatre and a lot of windsurfing in the Spring. As opposed to Glad, I do have a Facebook account, but only share a minimal amount of information, for the same reasons as Glad does not have an account at all. In the end you have to realize that Facebook is a company, and you just happen to pay for their services with your data, instead of your money. So keep an eye on what you share with them.

→Glad: I am Glad Deschrijver, I am a mathematician with some programming skills. In my free time, I read books (usually, but not limited to, fantasy, science fiction and classical authors), I write software, I watch the news, movies, American sci-fi series, documentaries on National Geographic, BBC, Arte, ... I do not have a Facebook account since I don't like the idea of my personal data becoming the property of a private company and being available to everyone, and I hate not being able to control my own data. I do not use Twitter since I do not have time for that.

→Luca: Hello, and thanks for taking part in this interview. Can you tell us something about yourselves?

→As part of the KDE Science series, Luca Beltrame interviewed KtikZ's developers: Florian Hackenberger and Glad Deschrijver. The Developers

→Many scientists use the LaTeX typesetting system as the preferred way to write publications. Among the various widely used add-ons, one special mention is the TikZ language, a powerful extension which is used to create publication-quality figures. Of course, like LaTeX, it takes its time to learn. The good news is that, like with LaTeX there is KDE software to fill in this gap: KTikZ, a graphical front-end to TikZ.

→By: Luca Beltrame

→Science and the KDE Platform - An Interview with the KtikZ Developers