rumslayout

Rumslayout is a hypothetical cross-platform layout system that renders user interfaces from a declarative description rather than imperative code. It organizes UI elements into a layout tree where containers define spatial relations, sizing rules, and alignment, aiming for a common vocabulary across web, mobile, and embedded platforms.

Developers compose interfaces by declaring rules rather than manually measuring elements. Core concepts include layout containers, intrinsic and constrained sizing, margins and padding, and alignment. The system supports responsive behavior through breakpoints and adaptive sizing, with an emphasis on composability so complex layouts arise from simple primitives.

The architecture typically includes a layout engine that traverses the tree, resolves constraints to compute size and position, and a renderer that paints visuals. A styling layer maps visuals to elements, and a data model binds content. Some implementations add virtualization for large lists and animation-friendly transitions.

Adoption is mainly experimental; rumslayout appears in academic discussions and small prototype libraries, not as a formal standard. It is discussed as an alternative to CSS layout models like Flexbox and Grid, or as a cross-platform native layout approach. Use cases include design-system prototyping and cross-platform dashboards.

Critics cite a learning curve and tooling gaps, while supporters argue it can improve consistency, testability, and accessibility by centralizing layout logic in a declarative model.