jwilling/gist:4186817

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    Is AppKit causing you frustration? Instead of just complaining about it, lets try to make it better by compiling a list of specific problems with AppKit. Leave a comment below, and I'll include it in the list.

##NSView##

NSView does not have the ability to set an affine transform (rdar://15608609)
Controls that have cells (such as NSTextField) do not respond properly when layer-backed. Take NSButton as an example. When not layer-backed, it will animate properly using the animator proxy. When layer-backed, using the animator proxy breaks focus rings (they jump to destination immediately). Currently, directly manipulating the layer of a cell-based control is not supported (and will lead to a broken interface), but is much needed. (rdar://15608822)

##NSViewController##

NSViewController could be more useful. It has -loadView but no other lifecycle methods. (rdar://15608948)

##NSClipView##

NSClipView has performance issues. Improved under 10.9.

RBLClipView attempts to fix this.


NSClipView has a poor animation when using -scrollRectToVisible:. (rdar://15609175)

JNWClipView attempts to fix this.


##NSTableView##

NSTableView has odd animation artifacts when scrolling with the keyboard with a fast key repeat.

Due to the clip view issue mentioned above. (rdar://15609175)


NSTableView does not fully support sections – all rows in the table are numbered sequentially, rather than as (section #, row #) as UITableView does. This makes it difficult to alter sections independently. (rdar://15609306)

##NSCollectionView##

NSCollectionView is not performant. It loads every single cell all at once, and it keeps them all in memory. It does not reuse cells. (rdar://15609666)

##NSBrowser##

NSBrowser is not view-based like NSTableView and NSOutlineView.

##NSSlider##

NSSlider requires use of private method -_usesCustomTrackImage in order to completely customize appearance.
NSSlider needs a "rounded textured" style for use in window frames (like in Finder).

##NSSearchField##

NSSearchField does not support tokens.

##NSTextField##

NSTextField does not support a custom context menu when the text is selectable and/or editable. It requires hacking around with the field editor to implement this functionality.

##NSSplitView##

NSSplitView makes simple customization like setting priorities and min/max sizes for views is unnecessarily complex.

##NSProgressIndicator##

NSProgressIndicator still draws the original progress bar even if drawing is overridden. (rdar://15609817)
NSProgressIndicator's color cannot be changed without workarounds such as Core Image filters. (rdar://15609817)

##NSPopover##

NSPopover does not offer a way to customize its appearance apart from the two default styles.

RBLPopover attempts to fix this.


NSPopover steals keyboard focus.

##NSWindow##

NSWindow animation is poor without the use of some not-so-nice hacks.
Borderless NSWindows (NSBorderlessWindowMask) do not have the ability to round their corners.
Borderless NSWindows with a layer-backed content view do not get a shadow.
NSWindow is really difficult to customize.

INAppStoreWindow attempts to fix this.


##NSDocument##

NSDocument has very bad support for documents that aren't fully loaded into memory. Nearly all of the API assumes that you can generate a singular NSData object to store your document in, which isn't true if half of your document is on disk only and the other half in memory only.
NSPersistentDocument doesn't support file wrappers (bundles), even though that's a requirement for the sqlite data storage with sandboxing enabled. All workarounds at this point are huge hacks.

##NSObjectController##

While NSObjectController and its subclasses (e.g. NSArrayController) support retrieving objects from a Core Data managed object context, they do not offer a way to receive per-change notifications. This means that you need to reload your entire view vs. inserting/removing/moving the cells that were updated. Ideally, we would want a port of NSFetchedResultsController.

##NSDrawer##

NSDrawer should either be deprecated or have its API fully updated to support customization.

##NSImage##

NSImage does not support drawing stretchable images with caps.

RBLResizableImage attempts to fix this.


##Field Editors##

Field editors are conceptually unusual and confusing.

##Cells & Controls##

The use of cells in specific controls such as NSTextField and NSButton make them difficult to customize.
NSButtonCell is poorly thought out. bezelStyle, gradientType, buttonType, isHighlighted, state and a few more make for a really really confusing subclassing experience.
NSTextFieldCell does not have vertically-centered text. A subclass is required.
Template images and window-style engraved text should be useable without the use of captive cells.
AppKit controls need image-based customization properties like their UIKit counterparts.
AppKit does not provide HUD-styled controls.

SNRHUDKit attempts to fix this.


Interface Builder does not support bindings for custom controls.

##Misc. (not necessarily AppKit)###

There is no Cocoa wrapper for the Carbon hotkeys API.

DGGHotKey attempts to fix this.


There is no Cocoa wrapper for FSEvents. The Spotlight stuff doesn't really work for sandboxed Applications.
There is no API for AirPlay.
Class	Ideal Backing	Reason	Radar
NSATSTypesetter	CTTypesetterRef	Instances are cached internally	-
NSColorSpace	CGColorSpaceRef	Instances are basically immortal	rdar://16669956
NSFont	CTFontRef	Manually controls its own retain count	rdar://16669960
NSParagraphStyle	CTParagraphStyleRef	Manually controls its own retain count (is actually one of its flags)	rdar://16669966
NSMutableParagraphStyle	(See Above)	(See Above)	rdar://16669966
NSTextView	None	Goes to great pains to manually manage its own retain count	-