CS 349 Resources
- Tutorials:
-
The XLib
Manual: An HTML version of the documentation from the
X Consortium. The
HTML version is also available for download here (to your
personal computer, please). The equivalent document,
for X11R6.7, is available as a PDF here. The document was
automatically converted from Postscript; the table of
contents is at the END of the document for some reason.
-
The X Window
System, by Robert W. Scheifler and Jim Gettys, in
ACM Transactions on Graphics, Vol. 5, No. 2, April
1986, pages 79-109, outlines the basic design goals of the
X window system and gives an overview of its
implementation.
- Sample Programs:
-
xdemo_draw.cpp:
Demonstrates a display list, keyboard input, mouse
input, handling a damaged window. C++ code base.
-
xdemo_clip.c:
Demonstrates the clipping region.
- To get time to a fairly high degree of resolution, use
gettimeofday(struct timeval * tv , struct timezone *
tz). Header is <sys/time.h>
- To sleep with fairly high resolution, you can use
usleep(useconds_t useconds). Header is
<unistd.h>.
-
The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman
(Basic Books, 1988 and 2002). Norman explores the design of
everyday things -- light switches, doors, telephones, cars,
and some computers. Along the way he delves into principles
useful to user interfaces as well as trying to develop a
better understanding of users.
-
The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing
Interactive Systems, by Jef Raskin (Addison-Wesley,
2000). Jef was the chief designer of the Apple Macintosh
and ushered in the current desktop metaphor.
-
The GUI Design Handbook, Susan Fowler and Victor
Stanwick.
This book is now out of print but is available on the web
at http://www.fast-consulting.com/desktop.htm.
It gives an overview of many different kinds of user
interface components with guidance on what they are good
for, how they are commonly misused, and helpful design
guidelines. Not tied to any particular api.
-
Designing from both sides of the screen, by Ellen
Isaacs and Alan Walendowski (New Riders Publishing, 2002).
Ellen is an interaction designer and Alan is a software
engineer. They team up to explain in very clear and
readable language how they designed a instant messaging
system. They illustrate basic principles very concretely.
-
GUI Bloopers: The Don'ts and Do's for Software
Developers and Web Designers, by Jeff Johnson (Morgan
Kauffman, 2000). This book compiles a lot of wisdom in an
easily accessible format. It's illustrated with both
positive and negative examples