[Kstars-devel] KStars Lite - GSoC 2016 Project

[Jasem Mutlaq]

Hi Artem,

Glad you are interested in this important KStars project!

My name is Artem Fedoskin and I'm a first year master's student studying
> Software Engineering in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. KStars is a first FOSS I'm
> contributing to and I'm pretty excited about it :)
>
> KStars Lite is a great idea because:
>
>    1.
>
>    Mobile/Tablet version offers mobility and access to KStars for almost
>    everyone as smartphones and tablets are very widespread nowadays. There are
>    already requests for KStars Android version [1].
>    2.
>
>    Lite version can be also useful for owners of slow machines like
>    budget netbooks or old PCs.
>    3.
>
>    Lite version can become a starting point for KStars developers to port
>    the whole project to QML.
>
>
> Currently I’m investigating the ways of creating Sky Map in QML and have
> found 2 ways:
>
>    1.
>
>    Use QPainter based SkyQPainter class. This way I can save time by
>    using existing components, but there will be performance penalty as the
>    rendering will be divided into two steps[2].
>    2.
>
>    Implement painter for use with QML. This can take more time, but it’s
>    indeed possible, especially because the painting logic already exists in
>    SkyQPainter class and I would need only to port it to use with QML.
>
>
>
#2 is definitely the way to go. The Lite version not only needs to be
usable on a smaller form factor, but its performance needs to be acceptable
given the limited hardware resources typically available on such form
factors. It will take a long time, but it is a step in the right direction.
Also, you must consider the "data" part as well. All the logic behind
loading of catalogs, stars, DSOs might have to updated to be more memory
efficient. While we might have to make some special cases and exceptions
for the lite version, the goal is to have the same code for ALL form
factors.


> I’m also studying the source code of KStars and have made a small fix to
> “What’s Interesting” tool by finishing it’s porting to QML 2 (though it
> hasn’t been included into master branch yet as one of the classes of KF5 is
> not available on all distros)
>
> In addition to the list of features published on KStars GSoC ideas page
> [3] I think it would be great to include in KStars Lite some of the tools
> available in desktop version. One of them, “What’s Interesting” tool, is
> written in QML and would require only changing of C++ part of it. However,
> such tools as “Alt. vs Time” and “What’s up Tonight” would be also of great
> use in KStars Lite. Is this something that KStars Lite needs?
>

I would still consider these items "Optional" and it would be great to have
them eventually, but for now the primary task is quite time-consuming and
should not be under-estimated. If the primary task is completed, then you
can work on those additional items!


> I would be also very grateful for any suggestions and ideas regarding Lite
> version of KStars.
>

Another aspect is that some users are expecting to use Ekos on tablets.
This is going to be quite challenging, but it is something to think about.

Regards,
Jasem
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