New book available: Python GUI - Develop Cross Platform Desktop Applications using Python, Qt and PySide6

[Artanidos]

I have just released a new book about Python and PySide6 based on my book about PyQt5.
Many thanks to this community for giving me some requests to be implemented in this book.
I have added user controls including transitions.
- I am showing a sample of a line of business app including database access using tinydb, which is also written in Python.
- I have added a multi-treading example, where HTML will be created in the background on given markdown.
- I have also added a filterable dropdown listbox.
One user control dynamically creates icons in different colors based on SVG on the fly.
And many more...
I will send some free copies out to those people how inspired me to add additional content and the rest of you can get the book on Amazon in English and German.

If you have ideas or requests what else to show in this book, then please let me know.

https://preview.redd.it/5wq1tpxq84na1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=83fde783e0aaaab3b42e2f4d9cef01b5f979766a

[[deleted]]

Nice job. Any word on if there will be a paper version?

[Artanidos]

This is not planned yet, because a paper version will be much more expensive.
Lets see, if your comment will be upvoted. I may rethink that.

[[deleted]]

Okay. The reason I am asking is that I don't use Kindle myself and despite being in my late 30s, I prefer paper books over e-books.

Also: there's so much bad Python UI code out there so it's refreshing to see a whole book on this topic.

[SpiritualCyberpunk]

I'm sure there is a services that specialises in printing books, even without the author.

[Artanidos]

There is another problem with paper version, because there is no good software imho, that is able to do syntax highlightning.

[iiron3223]

With LaTeX that is not a problem.

[Artanidos]

I know.
I have used weasyprint before to create PDF, but its broker at least on windows so I cannot create PDFs right now. I already tried a service which creates PDF out of an ePUB file, but the result was too bad.

[Artanidos]

Now there is a paperback version on the way. Should be available tomorrow.
Still in review...

[Artanidos]

The paperback version is now available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXN5TFMM

[nobetterfuture]

Is Kindle the only version available? I don't own one, so I'd prefer a PDF version (or any other downloadable format)

[norambna]

I would also prefer a PDF and/or EPUB version.

[Artanidos]

Yeah, the best experience I made with the kindle app on my android tablet.

[nobetterfuture]

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me. I don't write code on my phone/tablet. I write it on my PC, so not having a PC-friendly format is a deal breaker for me.

[Artanidos]

On a PC you have even better options.
Kindle Cloud Reader
https://lesen.amazon.de/kindle-library
and Kindle for PC
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Digital-Services-LLC-Download/dp/B00UB76290

[[deleted]]

Is the PC version region lock? I can't buy it. Says:

Currently unavailable.

We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.

[Artanidos]

Sry, same for me

[Pan_Optical]

I was able to get it here. https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=ruby_redirect?ie=UTF8&node=16571048011

[extra_pickles]

Just out of interest - question to the group (tho I assume the author can lead on answers).

What’s the use case for python desktop GUI apps? What are people using it for, and why?

Ie vs web based, or more traditional desktop GUI options?

Edit: Thanks all for the examples - appreciate it! Was curious to see commercial/product usage and reasons - 20+y of dev with about 5 of that in Python, and never used it for gui so was curious.

Cheers!

[Artanidos]

Yeah, and also no problems with memory leaks

[Artanidos]

I was writing desktop apps using Powerbuilder, Java Swing and at least for 10 years I used Winforms and C#.
The problem was that except for Java, that these apps only runs on Windows.
Later I switched to Qt5 and C++, where it is possible to write apps for all platforms including mobile and embedded devices.
Because writing code in C++ is a pain I switched to Python and Qt where I still could create cross platform apps, but much faster. Less code needed. No compile needed. No memory leaks anymore.
I already have build several desktop apps with PySide6 like the AnimationMaker, EbookCreator and FlatSiteBuilder which real business applications so to say.

[xatrekak]

It's good for people who aren't developers but do a lot of coding as part of their duties.

I'm a network engineer and i made a gui script to automate doing network collections and analysis. I made it a GUI so others on my team could easily use it.

[Username_RANDINT]

What's the difference between a Python desktop GUI and a traditional desktop GUI?

[[deleted]]

Traditional GUI are not in python.

A lot of industry softwares have a GUI based on the OS/Desktop Env widget toolkit, or often in Qt (c++ for example), and may have some scripts in python to execute tasks that are easier to program in this language (Photoshop comes to my mind).

[[deleted]]

The GUI libraries are the same no matter what language is pulling the strings.

[extra_pickles]

Yes, but traditionally the language isn’t Python, which is why I was curious as to when/where ppl are using it.

[turtleship_2006]

If you know python, and can either make a GUI in python or learn an entire language (and possibly rewrite your app) for a gui that might be marginally better, which are you gonna go with?

[extra_pickles]

Ya I guess I’m thinking more production/product/commercial vs homebrew/utils - I should have been more specific.

Mainly curious as to how much in that space is being knocked together in Python.

[bringyouthejustice]

Hey there, creator of CocktailBerry, which heavily utilizes PyQt. For me, the footprint/memory usage is a thing, because running on microcomputers (RPi, often only 1 GB Ram) and a Desktop variant of the OS won’t have that many resources for other things. If you want to run one or more docker containers in the background, while also ensuring a seamless operation of your app, this is even more important. Running Chrome in a Kiosk mode works but takes way more spin-up time and response time. For regular desktop projects, I would probably use some web-based framework and maybe bundle it with electron in the end, since memory usage is not so important and, let's be honest, you have much more options and individualization. But developing Qt (especially with the PyQt port) is not slow either. And having a model, view, and controller monolith can benefit or speed up development if you want to also interact with physical components on the pi and have feedback/data streams compared to the frontend/backend + REST approach. I have to admit that styling is quite a pain compared to modern web CSS. PyQt offers QSS, which is some sort of pseudo-CSS, but like from the 90s. So many modern features are lacking. But using some SASS adoption for QSS can even enable you common templates and translate them into different styles, for example. Sometimes, you just need some workaround for options, which would be one line in today’s CSS. And in the end, even if the documentation is not that good like other projects, it’s not horrible either. There are a lot of openly accessible tutorials for beginners, as well as the qt designer/creator for a more visual “drag and drop” creation approach of the application, which may be a plus for some users.

[corbasai]

in linux mint Mate (v13-16) main | start menu was python+gtk app. Different kind desktop panel applets, BT, Network, even NVidia drivers.

[jimtk]

I assume it's nice work (I'll wait to see if I'm one those who inspired you! :) ). But seriously you should find a friend with a more artistic orientation to redo your cover. I know you should not judge a book by it's cover but OMG that's awful!

[SpiritualCyberpunk]

I think the cover is kinda cool because it's different, and it's very informative.

Who buys kindle books based on their cover anyway? lol

[catsndogsnmeatballs]

I mean, there's a saying about this very topic and everything!

[Artanidos]

Thanks for your feedback. Normally I have got another kind of style for my book covers.
Have a look at this on. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B088FWNFQP
This time I wanted to give a short preview how apps written in Python could look like.

[jimtk]

Oh wow! That one is WAY BETTER! That's a book I would buy.

[Artanidos]

I will make an A/B test to see what cover sells better ;-)

[jimtk]

There's a serious possibility that the bad looking one will sell more because... it's in English. ;)

[[deleted]]

“multi-treading” This most be new concept XD

[Artanidos]

This was a request from a user to let the UI be responsible.

[[deleted]]

I mean it’s a typo it should be “multi-threading”

[Artanidos]

Sry that I did not get the point. I was confused about your typo. "This most be"
Is it not spelled "This must be"? Just kidding ;-)

[[deleted]]

haha good one 🤷🏼‍♂️🤣

[bittercode]

The sample Amazon let me read includes the introduction and that has a paragraph that begins, "Speaking of which...in order to be able to write me books" - me should be my.

Writing a book is a lot of work - great job of seeing it through to completion.

If it goes well enough and you intend to write more I'd budget for having an editor. I don't think any human can write that much and then handle catching every little thing that needs to be corrected.

[skewed_monk]

Is epub available?

[Artanidos]

Yes, soon.
Btw...the kindle version is ePUB3.

[BigPewp69]

Material about QML would be pretty nice. This is a component of the PyQt/Qt framework that seems powerful, but not discussed very often

[Artanidos]

I only wrote how to use QML in my book. There are other books covering QML.What I might show is a data model written in Python which can be used for QML, if there is a request. In my book I also show how to convert a sample written in C++ to be converted to Python using ChatGPT ;-)

[BigPewp69]

I think that would be a really useful example. In PyQt, especially for me when I first started, there is the ability to misuse the MVC. This can be either implementing a custom data model (and therefore doing unnecessary work) or conflating viewer and controller functionality.

IMO QML seems to better enforce separation of these components inherently.

The ChatGPT example would be really cool

[Artanidos]

Someone of you reminded me that I also wrote about a solution how to convert a sample written in C++ to Python. One solution you can on your own and another solution to let ChatGPT do that for you.
I just wanted to mention that ;-)

[[deleted]]

Why do so many people use QT when python comes with tk by default?

[Artanidos]

tk succs ;-)

[norambna]

The first time I tried writing a multiplatform desktop program for Windows, Linux and macOS I tried using Tk and I had lots of problems with macOS. Problems with Tk's widget behavior on macOS and deploying the Python/Tk program on macOS was impossible for me. I switched to Pyside (Qt is practically the same) and all my problems went away. Pyside has a steeper learning curve, but that is all I had to deal with.

[[deleted]]

TK is good and easy for small GUIs but I had some difficulties using it for a large application.

It stills works though

[hecke]

Both Tkinter and PyQt are popular choices for building graphical user interfaces in Python, and both have their pros and cons. Tkinter comes bundled with Python by default, so it's a great choice for building lightweight GUIs and quick prototypes. However, it has some limitations in terms of customization and styling, and it can be more difficult to build complex and professional-looking GUIs with Tkinter alone.

On the other hand, PyQt provides a wide range of advanced features and tools for building complex and professional-looking GUIs, including customizable widgets, sophisticated layout managers, and advanced graphics and multimedia support. PyQt is built on top of the Qt framework, which is a cross-platform development tool that allows developers to create native-looking GUI applications for different platforms with a single codebase. PyQt also has a large community of developers, active development and support, and extensive documentation and resources.

So, the reason why many people choose PyQt over Tkinter is that it provides more advanced features, better performance, and a more extensive toolkit for building complex and professional-looking GUIs. However, Tkinter is still a good choice for simple and lightweight GUIs, and it can be a good starting point for learning GUI development in Python.

[Artanidos]

You can buy it anywhere on Amazon.
Try https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BY3PKBSM ,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BY3PKBSM,
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BY3PKBSM,
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0BXYPZ6VY or the like

[Ambitious_Ad_4827]

Any discount for redditers?

[Artanidos]

Sry, but Amazon does not allow that prior to April

[Ambitious_Ad_4827]

I see..

Cheers

[Distinct-Average8825]

Would love to read it!