Reasons to convert from gtk

wxPython Users
1

HI -- I have a Python app written using pygtk. I'm just learning
about wx and want to know the pros and cons for a new app, so I have a
few questions:

1. Since wx uses gtk on linux, what is the main advantage to use
wxpython over pygtk?

2. Does wx use QT for KDE users? (That would be nice!)

3. Does wx use gtk on Windows or native Windows APIs?

4. My new app must (so I'm told) run on python 3.x and support both
32- and 64-bit systems (Windows and Linux, maybe (big maybe!) Mac at
some point). Does wx support python3.x and 64-bit OSes? If not, is
it planned and is there a timeframe? Currently pygtk doesn't support
Python 3.0 either (thought it has had 64-bit support for a while now)
but I want to go with the libraries that will get there first.

5. Has anyone converted from pygtk to wxpython? If so, what is the
effort required and...is it worth it?

2

HI -- I have a Python app written using pygtk. I'm just learning
about wx and want to know the pros and cons for a new app, so I have a
few questions:

1. Since wx uses gtk on linux, what is the main advantage to use
wxpython over pygtk?

The main advantage is that wx uses the native widgets of the target OS
as much as possible. In other words, wx shouldn't look any different
than the pyGTK application, but the same code will look "right" on
Windows.

2. Does wx use QT for KDE users? (That would be nice!)

I don't think that's the case at the moment, but I'm not sure...

3. Does wx use gtk on Windows or native Windows APIs?

wx uses the native widgets on Windows. I don't think it exposes the
Windows API directly, but does use it underneath the covers.

4. My new app must (so I'm told) run on python 3.x and support both
32- and 64-bit systems (Windows and Linux, maybe (big maybe!) Mac at
some point). Does wx support python3.x and 64-bit OSes? If not, is
it planned and is there a timeframe? Currently pygtk doesn't support
Python 3.0 either (thought it has had 64-bit support for a while now)
but I want to go with the libraries that will get there first.

There is no Python 3.0 support right now. There has been talk of
trying to get that done over the summer using the Google Summer of
Code program, but I haven't heard if anyone's interested in doing
that. If you had looked at the wxPython downloads page, you would have
noticed that there is a 64-bit build.

5. Has anyone converted from pygtk to wxpython? If so, what is the
effort required and...is it worth it?

I went from Tkinter to wx and I think that was definitely worth it. I
couldn't get pyGTK to run on my Windows box, so I can't say how much
they differ in methodologies. I can say that this mailing list is the
best Python related mailing list I've ever been on though. If you need
help with wx, then this is the place to be.

···

On Mar 14, 10:54 pm, GotGTKWantWx <gerald.brit...@gmail.com> wrote:

-------------------
Mike Driscoll

Blog: http://blog.pythonlibrary.org

3
  1. Since wx uses gtk on linux, what is the main advantage to use

wxpython over pygtk?

It will run natively on Windows and Mac.

  1. Does wx use QT for KDE users? (That would be nice!)

No.

  1. Does wx use gtk on Windows or native Windows APIs?

Native.

  1. My new app must (so I’m told) run on python 3.x and support both

32- and 64-bit systems (Windows and Linux, maybe (big maybe!) Mac at

some point). Does wx support python3.x and 64-bit OSes? If not, is

it planned and is there a timeframe? Currently pygtk doesn’t support

Python 3.0 either (thought it has had 64-bit support for a while now)

but I want to go with the libraries that will get there first.

I’m guessing the person who told you that it must run on Python 3.x doesn’t actually program in Python, otherwise he/she would be aware that many other modules are not supported on Python 3. (I suspect that this is more due to the difficulty of maintaining two incompatible branches in order to continue Python 2.x support, rather than the effort required to port to and test on Python 3.)

As far as 64-bit support goes, the main problem that I’m aware of is that wx wraps the Carbon library on Mac, and Apple refuses to make Carbon 64-bit. Once the Cocoa bindings are stable enough to become the default, this will stop being a problem, but it isn’t clear when this will happen.

  1. Has anyone converted from pygtk to wxpython? If so, what is the

effort required and…is it worth it?

I have not tried converting, but I can tell you that GTK on Mac is broken in several ways (mostly due to Apple’s broken X11 server), and I would not do any development in GTK if Mac support was important. The attempt to create a truly native port of GTK on Mac (i.e. one that doesn’t require X11) appears to have died some time ago. Other than that, I haven’t used pygtk enough to offer an objective comparison with wxpython, but I suspect that wxPython has a richer set of generic widgets.

Nat

···

On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 7:54 PM, GotGTKWantWx gerald.britton@gmail.com wrote:

4

> HI -- I have a Python app written using pygtk. I'm just learning
> about wx and want to know the pros and cons for a new app, so I have a
> few questions:

> 1. Since wx uses gtk on linux, what is the main advantage to use
> wxpython over pygtk?

The main advantage is that wx uses the native widgets of the target OS
as much as possible. In other words, wx shouldn't look any different
than the pyGTK application, but the same code will look "right" on
Windows.

> 2. Does wx use QT for KDE users? (That would be nice!)

I don't think that's the case at the moment, but I'm not sure...

> 3. Does wx use gtk on Windows or native Windows APIs?

wx uses the native widgets on Windows. I don't think it exposes the
Windows API directly, but does use it underneath the covers.

> 4. My new app must (so I'm told) run on python 3.x and support both
> 32- and 64-bit systems (Windows and Linux, maybe (big maybe!) Mac at
> some point). Does wx support python3.x and 64-bit OSes? If not, is
> it planned and is there a timeframe? Currently pygtk doesn't support
> Python 3.0 either (thought it has had 64-bit support for a while now)
> but I want to go with the libraries that will get there first.

There is no Python 3.0 support right now. There has been talk of
trying to get that done over the summer using the Google Summer of
Code program, but I haven't heard if anyone's interested in doing
that. If you had looked at the wxPython downloads page, you would have
noticed that there is a 64-bit build.

> 5. Has anyone converted from pygtk to wxpython? If so, what is the
> effort required and...is it worth it?

I went from Tkinter to wx and I think that was definitely worth it. I
couldn't get pyGTK to run on my Windows box, so I can't say how much
they differ in methodologies. I can say that this mailing list is the
best Python related mailing list I've ever been on though. If you need
help with wx, then this is the place to be.

Thanks for taking the time to answer! I don't know how I missed the
64-bit build, but I see it now.

···

Mar 15, 12:19 pm, Mike Driscoll <kyoso...@gmail.com> wrote:

On Mar 14, 10:54 pm, GotGTKWantWx <gerald.brit...@gmail.com> wrote:

-------------------
Mike Driscoll

Blog: http://blog.pythonlibrary.org

5

HI -- I have a Python app written using pygtk. I'm just learning
about wx and want to know the pros and cons for a new app, so I have a
few questions:

1. Since wx uses gtk on linux, what is the main advantage to use
wxpython over pygtk?

The main advantage is that wx uses the native widgets of the target OS
as much as possible. In other words, wx shouldn't look any different
than the pyGTK application, but the same code will look "right" on
Windows.

...and Mac. And since wx is using native widgets and not just emulating their look then they will "feel" right too.

2. Does wx use QT for KDE users? (That would be nice!)

I don't think that's the case at the moment, but I'm not sure...

Creating a Qt port of wx has been discussed off and on over the years, and now that the license is less of an issue has even been started on a couple times. No usable results yet, but it's possible that it may happen in the future.

···

On 3/15/10 9:19 AM, Mike Driscoll wrote:

On Mar 14, 10:54 pm, GotGTKWantWx<gerald.brit...@gmail.com> wrote:

--
Robin Dunn
Software Craftsman

6

It should happen in the 2.9.x release series.

···

On 3/15/10 10:12 AM, Nathaniel Echols wrote:

As far as 64-bit support goes, the main problem that I'm aware of is
that wx wraps the Carbon library on Mac, and Apple refuses to make
Carbon 64-bit. Once the Cocoa bindings are stable enough to become the
default, this will stop being a problem, but it isn't clear when this
will happen.

--
Robin Dunn
Software Craftsman