One thing I want to try is to compare and contrast some different ways to develop the same program. I originally wrote some pieces in Python using wxPython. I separated most of the control definition for the one window (essentially a glorified dialog box) in the program. This information now resides in a separate xrc resource file.

There is a hefty amount of runtime files needed with this method. Python and wxPython each require their own software install. I decided it might be fun to write the interface using Runtime Revolution as well. This isn’t free like the Python route, but I already own a copy and any source code I write for this can certainly be free. I think that the compiled end product will be significantly smaller than a binary distribution using Python. It will also be mostly self-contained. I say mostly, because there are still dependencies, but I think they will already be loaded on the OS.

I plan on writing this program for Windows. Both of the preceding two methods should be cross-platform with little if any changes needed to change between Linux, Mac OSX, or Windows. However, I’m thinking of trying a third method, writing the program using AutoHotkey. This would be limited to Windows as far as I know. From my experience though, these types of programs can be compiled into a relatively tiny binary, that I think only depends on the MSVC runtime.