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Add a FAQ item about the UI toolkit used by Godot

(cherry picked from commit 23ecee304b666dd356362f57d247a72915b8f4e2)
Hugo Locurcio 4 years ago
parent
commit
51c814f0cc
1 changed files with 24 additions and 0 deletions
  1. 24 0
      about/faq.rst

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about/faq.rst

@@ -355,6 +355,8 @@ developer experiences as a whole.
 Bonus points for bringing screenshots, concrete numbers, test cases, or example
 Bonus points for bringing screenshots, concrete numbers, test cases, or example
 projects (if applicable).
 projects (if applicable).
 
 
+.. _doc_faq_non_game_applications:
+
 Is it possible to use Godot to create non-game applications?
 Is it possible to use Godot to create non-game applications?
 ------------------------------------------------------------
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@@ -372,6 +374,8 @@ Check out `Material Maker <https://github.com/RodZill4/material-maker>`__ and
 `Pixelorama <https://github.com/Orama-Interactive/Pixelorama>`__ for examples of
 `Pixelorama <https://github.com/Orama-Interactive/Pixelorama>`__ for examples of
 open source applications made with Godot.
 open source applications made with Godot.
 
 
+.. _doc_faq_use_godot_as_library:
+
 Is it possible to use Godot as a library?
 Is it possible to use Godot as a library?
 -----------------------------------------
 -----------------------------------------
 
 
@@ -385,6 +389,26 @@ engine instead. Keep in mind rendering engines usually have smaller communities
 compared to Godot. This will make it more difficult to find answers to your
 compared to Godot. This will make it more difficult to find answers to your
 questions.
 questions.
 
 
+What user interface toolkit does Godot use?
+-------------------------------------------
+
+Godot does not use a standard :abbr:`GUI (Graphical User Interface)` toolkit
+like GTK, Qt or wxWidgets. Instead, Godot uses its own user interface toolkit,
+rendered using OpenGL ES or Vulkan. This toolkit is exposed in the form of
+Control nodes, which are used to render the editor (which is written in C++).
+These Control nodes can also be used in projects from any scripting language
+supported by Godot.
+
+This custom toolkit makes it possible to benefit from hardware acceleration and
+have a consistent appearance across all platforms. On top of that, it doesn't
+have to deal with the LGPL licensing caveats that come with GTK or Qt. Lastly,
+this means Godot is "eating its own dog food" since the editor itself is one of
+the most complex users of Godot's UI system.
+
+This custom UI toolkit :ref:`can't be used as a library <doc_faq_use_godot_as_library>`,
+but you can still
+:ref:`use Godot to create non-game applications by using the editor <doc_faq_non_game_applications>`.
+
 Why does Godot not use STL (Standard Template Library)
 Why does Godot not use STL (Standard Template Library)
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