best GUI toolkit for python: tkinter, wxPython or what?

[Leo]

hi there

for somebody who wants tostart small/medium GUI apps with python:

what's the best toolkit: tkinter, wxPython or what? stability, ease of use
and portability between mac and windows are the main criteria.

thanks, leo

 

[Alex Martelli]

for somebody who wants tostart small/medium GUI apps with python:

what's the best toolkit: tkinter, wxPython or what? stability, ease of use
and portability between mac and windows are the main criteria.

Portability is fine with all the main xplatform toolkits afaik, so NP there.

In terms of ease of use and stability it's hard to beat tkinter, which
is barely changed since YEARS (can't get much stabler than that) -- and
quite easy for elementary tasks, too.

If you'd asked for looks, speed, screenpainters & suchlike tools, or
functional richness (particularly in terms of variety of widgets), the
answer might be different (and Qt, wx or GTK might then be preferred).


Alex

 

[Simon Foster]

Portability is fine with all the main xplatform toolkits afaik, so NP there.

In terms of ease of use and stability it's hard to beat tkinter, which
is barely changed since YEARS (can't get much stabler than that) -- and
quite easy for elementary tasks, too.

If you'd asked for looks, speed, screenpainters & suchlike tools, or
functional richness (particularly in terms of variety of widgets), the
answer might be different (and Qt, wx or GTK might then be preferred).


Alex

I would have to say that although Tkinter is easy to use, the look and
feel of the finished product is a little agricultural, particularly on
the Windows platform. If you can stretch a little, then I would go
for wxPython which has a richer set of widgets and looks much more
professional. I have written a couple of apps with Tkinter and moved
on to wx. I have been much more satisfied with the final appearance
of the wx apps.

 

[Mark Roseman]

I would have to say that although Tkinter is easy to use, the look and

feel of the finished product is a little agricultural, particularly on
the Windows platform. If you can stretch a little, then I would go
for wxPython which has a richer set of widgets and looks much more
professional. I have written a couple of apps with Tkinter and moved
on to wx. I have been much more satisfied with the final appearance
of the wx apps.

Simon (and others),

If you have particular examples of where the look&feel of Tkinter
was causing you problems, it would be great to hear about them.
As you may know, there is an effort underway to modernize Tk (which
underlies Tkinter), both in terms of updating the appearance of
the existing widgets, and adding additional widgets.

More info here: http://tcl.projectforum.com/tk/

Mark

 

[email9898989]

for somebody who wants tostart small/medium GUI apps with python:

what's the best toolkit: tkinter, wxPython or what? stability, ease of use
and portability between mac and windows are the main criteria.

wxPython is not the easiest to use, but it is one of the most powerful
GUI options. Run the demo.py file in the wxPython demo folder to see.

If you are using Linux though, you might also try PyGTK.

Some people have started projects to make easier-to-use interfaces to
wxPython:
http://wiki.wxpython.org/index.cgi/Wax - barely started
http://www.anygui.org/ - barely started, not updated in a long time

 

[John Hall]

Some people have started projects to make easier-to-use interfaces to
wxPython:
http://wiki.wxpython.org/index.cgi/Wax - barely started
http://www.anygui.org/ - barely started, not updated in a long time

And PythonCard:-

http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/

 

[Leo]

well thanks for the answers. i might start with wxPython. is that a layer
about qt or what?

cheers, leo

 

[Simon Foster]

Simon (and others),

If you have particular examples of where the look&feel of Tkinter
was causing you problems, it would be great to hear about them.
As you may know, there is an effort underway to modernize Tk (which
underlies Tkinter), both in terms of updating the appearance of
the existing widgets, and adding additional widgets.

More info here: http://tcl.projectforum.com/tk/

Mark

Not problems, it's just that wx is more shiny I'm not intending
this comment as a criticism of Tk, but wx is rather than nice. I've
used them both, and they both have their merits.

 

[Alex Martelli]

well thanks for the answers. i might start with wxPython. is that a layer
about qt or what?

"or what". wxPython interfaces to wxWindows which implements widgets
as layers above some kind of "native" widgets (e.g. GTK on Linux). Qt
(which you can use from Python via PyQt) is less layered (makes its own
widgets) with all the attendants pro's and con's. Personally I prefer
Qt in terms of looks and power (and Tkinter if your original specs had
been true -- you did say that stability, ease and portability were the
main criteria!), but wx is quite popular too (for example because you'll
never need to pay for it, while for Qt you may need a license if you want
to make/distribute non-GPL apps or Windows apps).


Alex

 

[Frithiof Andreas Jensen]

If you have particular examples of where the look&feel of Tkinter
was causing you problems, it would be great to hear about them.

Actually, *I* didn't have any trouble with Tkinter look&feel - The reason I
do not use it is beacuse there are no - well none that I could find anyway -
tools available to design Tkinter GUI's with!

Many applications that I need use wxWindows as well - SciPy f.ex. - so I
chose wxWindows as the lowest common denominator ;-)

To the OP: Right now I use Boa Constructor with wxWindows - I am happy with
it so far.

 

[Tim Lavoie]

Frithiof> Actually, *I* didn't have any trouble with Tkinter
Frithiof> look&feel - The reason I do not use it is beacuse there
Frithiof> are no - well none that I could find anyway - tools
Frithiof> available to design Tkinter GUI's with!

Perhaps this might help:
http://vtcl.sourceforge.net/

 

[Eric Brunel]

Frithiof> Actually, *I* didn't have any trouble with Tkinter
Frithiof> look&feel - The reason I do not use it is beacuse there
Frithiof> are no - well none that I could find anyway - tools
Frithiof> available to design Tkinter GUI's with!

Perhaps this might help:
http://vtcl.sourceforge.net/

Does it generate Python/Tkinter code? AFAICT, at least from the web page, it
doesn't...

Another pointer:
http://starship.python.net/crew/mike/src/Spectix/Spectix.html
SpecTix does generate code for Python/Tkinter, even if it's still a bit
experimental.

HTH

 

[Frithiof Andreas Jensen]

Perhaps this might help:
http://vtcl.sourceforge.net/

Yeah it might, Thanks!

PS;

Q: Why does Mike Tyson cry while making love?

A: It's the pepper spray!