When comparing Qt / C++ vs Lobster, the Slant community recommends Qt / C++ for most people. In the question“What are the best languages to write a desktop Linux application in?” Qt / C++ is ranked 3rd while Lobster is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Qt / C++ is:
Professional, thorough documentation with examples, available either in a web browser or in the stand-alone desktop client called assistant.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Good documentation
Professional, thorough documentation with examples, available either in a web browser or in the stand-alone desktop client called assistant.
Pro Portable
Linux, BSD, Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Blackberry ... Qt has 'em all.
Pro Global community
The community behind Qt is both massive and approachable. Digia (also owners) are joined by the likes of Intel, KDAB, ICS, Canonical and numerous others in sponsoring development, while communities such as KDE also contribute significantly. Forums are active, mailing lists are open, irc channels chatting, git repositories well managed. Answers to questions are usually minutes away.
Pro QML
QML is "HTML5 done right": a declarative language that integrates beautifully with C++ code when necessary and exposes the power of the GPU ... simply the best way to create a modern GUI in terms of effort and results.
Pro LGPL license
Pro Open Source
Qt is licensed under a OSS license through a dual-license policy.
Pro Compile time reference counting
Unlike Rust doesn't make the programmer jump through hoops, mainly automatic. Does an analysis similar to the Rust borrow checker to infer lifetimes, but makes life easier on the programmer.
Pro Python-esque syntax
There's an audience who loves that.
Pro WebAssembly backend
More options for users.
Pro Inline structs
Structs are allocated in their parent, and come at zero overhead.
Pro Automatic memory management
Better than Rust. No sadism.
Pro Type inference algorithm
Just works. Goes further than most languages in terms of allowing code without types.
Cons
Con Not free/expensive
Free version is limited and prohibitive.
Con Small community
Lead doesn't appear to be so ambitious or has a vision to push making more popular.
Con Compile time reference counting not 100%
Around 5% of time, need to escape to runtime reference counting. Working to get the percentage as low as possible.
Con Lobster not yet totally written in Lobster
Core written in C++. Plans to change that, but has been a long time.
Con Python-like syntax, but different use case and domain
Not Python compatible and often significantly different in purpose and use cases.