Tool for wxpython: boa-constructor
wxGlade
wxFormBuilder
Tool for pyQT: QT Designer
Please recommend the best tool for UI development
IMHO for almost all non trivial user interfaces it is best to code them by hand, so one of the most important factors when I'm choosing a designer is the ease of interoperability between hand coded and generated UI (because there are usually plenty of "simple" UI elements that would be bothersome to code by hand). I have been using wxFormBuilder this way for a few years now and I'm quite satisfied with it.
For Qt there is much less of a choice, as you know. Fortunately, the only obvious choice is a good one.
and if I use wxpython, can I make some pretty UI using skin?
or pyQT is better than wxpython for pretty UI?
You can make "pretty UI" with wx but you don't have a standard skin format as you do with Qt, you have to hack everything together yourself. This may or may not be a problem depending on the kind and amount of modifying you intend to do.
Cheers,
Toni
···
On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:17:09 +0200, Wonjun, Choi <wonjunchoi001@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you for your comment
Do you recommend wxPython than pyQT?
and I installed wxFormbuilder but I couldn’t find manual or movie tutorial on it’s web site.
Could you let me know some tutorial?
As you said, If I use wxPython, I cannot make more beautiful UI than QT?
IMHO for almost all non trivial user interfaces it is best to code them by hand, so one of the most important factors when I’m choosing a designer is the ease of interoperability between hand coded and generated UI (because there are usually plenty of “simple” UI elements that would be bothersome to code by hand). I have been using wxFormBuilder this way for a few years now and I’m quite satisfied with it.
For Qt there is much less of a choice, as you know. Fortunately, the only obvious choice is a good one.
and if I use wxpython, can I make some pretty UI using skin?
or pyQT is better than wxpython for pretty UI?
You can make “pretty UI” with wx but you don’t have a standard skin format as you do with Qt, you have to hack everything together yourself. This may or may not be a problem depending on the kind and amount of modifying you intend to do.
As you said, If I use wxPython, I cannot make more beautiful UI than QT?
In theory, it doesn't matter. You can make your UI look like whatever you want in both toolkits. You should choose the one you feel more comfortable working in. If you are starting from scratch make a little experimental app in both of them and see which suits you better personally.
Cheers,
Toni
···
On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:11:52 +0200, 최원준 <wonjunchoi001@gmail.com> wrote:
As you said, If I use wxPython, I cannot make more beautiful UI than QT?
In theory, it doesn’t matter. You can make your UI look like whatever you want in both toolkits. You should choose the one you feel more comfortable working in. If you are starting from scratch make a little experimental app in both of them and see which suits you better personally.
=> I have looked the sample screenshot both of them. and QT is more nicer than wxPython, I think.
I would also STRONGLY recommend reading the licence terms of both in the
context of your project - if you are writing a freeware application then
it will make little difference which you use but if you are aiming at a
commercial application it makes a vast difference which you use and what
you may have to pay.
If you are writing a large application/suite that may be used in
multiple distribution methods you could always abstract all your GUI
operations into a separate layer and have the option to use either, (and
possibly some other/future GUI library).
Gadget/Steve
···
On 21/06/2011 10:06 AM, Toni Ruža wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:11:52 +0200, 최원준 <wonjunchoi001@gmail.com> > wrote:
Thank you for your comment
Do you recommend wxPython than pyQT?
Yes, but keep in mind where you ask the question... there might be a
slight bias here
and I installed wxFormbuilder but I couldn't find manual or movie
tutorial
on it's web site.
Could you let me know some tutorial?
I'm afraid not, I never used any. What you really need for it is
knowledge about wx, if you have that wxFormBuilder is straightforward
and obvious.
As you said, If I use wxPython, I cannot make more beautiful UI than QT?
In theory, it doesn't matter. You can make your UI look like whatever
you want in both toolkits. You should choose the one you feel more
comfortable working in. If you are starting from scratch make a little
experimental app in both of them and see which suits you better
personally.
Yes. As I've said earlier, IMHO it is best to know how to hand code UI and use a designer for the tedious parts. This requires more learning and experience unfortunately. But of course what is right for me does not have to be right for you. Play around a little with both toolkits and make an informed decision on you own.
···
On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:12:17 +0200, 최원준 <wonjunchoi001@gmail.com> wrote:
and I installed wxFormbuilder but I couldn't find manual or movie tutorial
on it's web site.
Could you let me know some tutorial?
I'm afraid not, I never used any. What you really need for it is knowledge
about wx, if you have that wxFormBuilder is straightforward and obvious.
Give them all a good try, to see which works best for your way of working, and ask questions on the relevant list if you run into problems while trying them out.
I use Boa for a long time and like it not only because of its UI designer but really really like its debugger and some other IDE type features, e.g. ctrl-h to get help for Python/wxPython and other defined help books. Unfortunately it is a bit dated, i.e. hasn't had a new version for a long time.
If you don't go with wxPython then you should also look at pySlide (a more permissive license then pyQT, but still pretty new) and pyGTK.
Werner
···
On 06/21/2011 09:17 AM, Wonjun, Choi wrote:
Tool for wxpython: boa-constructor
wxGlade
wxFormBuilder
Tool for pyQT: QT Designer
Please recommend the best tool for UI development
and if I use wxpython, can I make some pretty UI using skin?
or pyQT is better than wxpython for pretty UI?
I have looked the sample screenshot both of them. and QT is more nicer than wxPython, I think.
What were the wxPython screenshots you looked at? Can you post a link please?
wxPython is intended to look “native”, which means its widgets should look like what the platform wants widgets to look like. There are some exceptions to this, but generally it looks on Windows like applications look on Windows; on Mac as they do on Mac; on Linux as they do on Linux. I believe pyQT also uses native widgets, mostly.
I think one can make nice looking apps with either toolkit.
wxPython is intended to look "native", which means its widgets should look like what the platform wants widgets to look like. There are some exceptions to this, but generally it looks on Windows like applications look on Windows; on Mac as they do on Mac; on Linux as they do on Linux. I believe pyQT also uses native widgets, mostly.
It sure didn't used to -- it did it's own drawing of all the widgets -- then they had themes that more-or-less matched the native ones, but Ive never seen a QT app that looks or acts native on the Mac -- they generally don't even use the native file selector dialogs, and the like.
(pyGTK is even worse, from a native-look-and-feel-perspective, on the Mac)
The OP mentioned "skinning" -- the QT approach should be better suited to skinned apps -- I think "nice" or "pretty" is meaningless, but if you goal is to have all the widgets look like what you want, rather than like the ordinarily platform widgets, then wx is not a great choice, it simply is not designed for that.
I can't tell you from experience if QT is any better in that regard, but I suspect it is.
and look into PySide for a more flexible license -- I don't know how robust it is yet, but if it meets your needs, it's a more flexible license.
-Chris
···
--
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer
Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax
Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception
It sure didn’t used to – it did it’s own drawing of all the widgets – then they had themes that more-or-less matched the native ones, but Ive never seen a QT app that looks or acts native on the Mac
I know essentially nothing about this firsthand, but it seems like that has changed:
"Use of native UI-rendering APIs
Qt used to emulate the native look of its intended platforms, which occasionally led to slight discrepancies where that emulation was imperfect. Recent versions of Qt use the native style APIs of the different platforms to query the platform for the desired appearance of the Qt controls, and so do not suffer from such issues as much.
One should note that, on some platforms (such as MeeGo and KDE), Qt is the native API."
I'm a happy wxPython user, ...
... but I think PyQt is better for the future,
(although I'm afraid of the influence of MS
I didn't do much with PyQt, other than adapting my wrapper for a number of PySide / QT-components,
so I can change my wxPython programs to PyQt programs with a single button click. From this
experience, I come to the following conclusions:
- PyQT is far more consistent (every component has properties with the same name, event handling is
equal for all, chaining events is very easy)
- PyQT can easily be skinned through a CSS-like approach
- PyQT has at least the ability to run on mobiles
- PyQt is supported by a large team
The only drawback I could find is that creating you own components might more difficult, but I
didn't try (why should I
cheers,
Stef
···
On 21-06-2011 20:17, Christopher Barker wrote:
C M wrote:
wxPython is intended to look "native", which means its widgets should look like what the platform
wants widgets to look like. There are some exceptions to this, but generally it looks on Windows
like applications look on Windows; on Mac as they do on Mac; on Linux as they do on Linux. I
believe pyQT also uses native widgets, mostly.
It sure didn't used to -- it did it's own drawing of all the widgets -- then they had themes that
more-or-less matched the native ones, but Ive never seen a QT app that looks or acts native on the
Mac -- they generally don't even use the native file selector dialogs, and the like.
(pyGTK is even worse, from a native-look-and-feel-perspective, on the Mac)
The OP mentioned "skinning" -- the QT approach should be better suited to skinned apps -- I think
"nice" or "pretty" is meaningless, but if you goal is to have all the widgets look like what you
want, rather than like the ordinarily platform widgets, then wx is not a great choice, it simply
is not designed for that.
I can't tell you from experience if QT is any better in that regard, but I suspect it is.
and look into PySide for a more flexible license -- I don't know how robust it is yet, but if it
meets your needs, it's a more flexible license.
I'm a happy wxPython user, ...
... but I think PyQt is better for the future,
(although I'm afraid of the influence of MS
I didn't do much with PyQt, other than adapting my wrapper for a number of PySide / QT-components,
so I can change my wxPython programs to PyQt programs with a single button click. From this
experience, I come to the following conclusions:
- PyQT is far more consistent (every component has properties with the same name, event handling is
equal for all, chaining events is very easy)
- PyQT can easily be skinned through a CSS-like approach
- PyQT has at least the ability to run on mobiles
- PyQt is supported by a large team
The only drawback I could find is that creating you own components might more difficult, but I
didn't try (why should I
I'm always interested in comparisons like this. I have limited
(although non-zero) experience with Qt, and my experience led me to the
impression that Qt is HUGE. Do you find that a PyQt-based application
is significantly larger than a wxPython application?
···
--
Tim Roberts, timr@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
I don't know, I've never build an executable with PyQT.
And I'm not really interested in the size (computers are large enough),
Even my smallest application ( a window with 1 button) is about 50 MB,
because the builder I use includes everything I ever might need (including libs like Numpy, Scipy,
MatPlotLib, PIL, etc).
The reason is that most of my programs are dynamical,
i.e. by distributing a small functional python file, I can extend my applications.
cheers,
Stef
···
On 22-06-2011 00:49, Tim Roberts wrote:
Stef Mientki wrote:
I'm a happy wxPython user, ...
... but I think PyQt is better for the future,
(although I'm afraid of the influence of MS
I didn't do much with PyQt, other than adapting my wrapper for a number of PySide / QT-components,
so I can change my wxPython programs to PyQt programs with a single button click. From this
experience, I come to the following conclusions:
- PyQT is far more consistent (every component has properties with the same name, event handling is
equal for all, chaining events is very easy)
- PyQT can easily be skinned through a CSS-like approach
- PyQT has at least the ability to run on mobiles
- PyQt is supported by a large team
The only drawback I could find is that creating you own components might more difficult, but I
didn't try (why should I
I'm always interested in comparisons like this. I have limited
(although non-zero) experience with Qt, and my experience led me to the
impression that Qt is HUGE. Do you find that a PyQt-based application
is significantly larger than a wxPython application?
It sure didn't used to -- it did it's own drawing of all the widgets
-- then they had themes that more-or-less matched the native ones,
but Ive never seen a QT app that looks or acts native on the Mac
"Use of native UI-rendering APIs
Qt used to emulate the native look of its intended platforms, which occasionally led to slight discrepancies where that emulation was imperfect. Recent versions of Qt use the native style APIs of the different platforms to query the platform for the desired appearance of the Qt controls, and so do not suffer from such issues as much.
This sounds like it is matching the theme of the native UI, but still not using it directly. If it's done well, I suppose that the user won't notice the difference.
Though Mac apps still don't seem to do anything as basic as using the native file picker -- which is a surprisingly big deal!
-CHB
···
--
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer
Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax
Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception
I spent a few minutes last week playing with someone else’s Qt (C++, not Python) application on Mac, and while it was very attractive and worked well, it was definitely not native Mac appearance, even if some of the fonts and controls looked the same. I don’t know what version of Qt it used but it was written in the last 6-12 months, so it couldn’t be too out of date. My preference is still for the 100% native look, but I suspect that Qt minimizes some of the cross-platform quirks that arise from using the native controls on each platform. (I’m very lucky that I don’t have to support Windows…)
This sounds like it is matching the theme of the native UI, but still not using it directly. If it’s done well, I suppose that the user won’t notice the difference.
Though Mac apps still don’t seem to do anything as basic as using the native file picker – which is a surprisingly big deal!
Yes. As I’ve said earlier, IMHO it is best to know how to hand code UI and use a designer for the tedious parts. This requires more learning and experience unfortunately. But of course what is right for me does not have to be right for you. Play around a little with both toolkits and make an informed decision on you own.
On 6월21일, 오후6시23분, Toni Ruža <gmr....@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:12:17 +0200, 최원준 <wonjunchoi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> and I installed wxFormbuilder but I couldn't find manual or movie tutorial
>>> on it's web site.
>>> Could you let me know some tutorial?
>> I'm afraid not, I never used any. What you really need for it is knowledge
>> about wx, if you have that wxFormBuilder is straightforward and obvious.
>> Try browsing aroundhttp://wiki.wxpython.org/
> => you mean that what I need to know is the wx?
Yes. As I've said earlier, IMHO it is best to know how to hand code UI and use a designer for the tedious parts. This requires more learning and experience unfortunately. But of course what is right for me does not have to be right for you. Play around a little with both toolkits and make an informed decision on you own.
Yes. As I’ve said earlier, IMHO it is best to know how to hand code UI and use a designer for the tedious parts. This requires more learning and experience unfortunately. But of course what is right for me does not have to be right for you. Play around a little with both toolkits and make an informed decision on you own.
Yes. As I’ve said earlier, IMHO it is best to know how to hand code UI and use a designer for the tedious parts. This requires more learning and experience unfortunately. But of course what is right for me does not have to be right for you. Play around a little with both toolkits and make an informed decision on you own.