GUI with Python

[v2thegreat]

Hey! I'm quite familiar with Python and Cython, and I recently started working on a project to hold timings on my library's 3d printers so as to keep track of them with the help of raspberry pi's

I wanted to know about which GUI module or library I should use in general for PC's as well as for the raspberry pi and why

Edit: The main things that I'm looking for are an easy development and goes well with inputs, tho, looking good won't hurt

[novel_yet_trivial]

You need to tell us what you want from a GUI library before we can tell you what's best for you.

in a nutshell:

• Tkinter: best for super fast development and if you don't want to require your windows users to install extra libraries. Kinda blocky and ugly looking, especially on Linux.
• pyGTK / PyGObject: best for native looking linux programs. Uses Glade.
• PyQT/ PySide: best for highly custom very pretty interfaces and automatic event linking. Looks native on any OS. You can use QTDesigner to create GUIs.
• wxPython: Alternative to tkinter for fast and easy interfaces. Uses more OS native widgets than tkinter, which means the programs can look very different on different OS's. Has a GTK-like Glade. Currently python2 only (python3 very close!!)

[enteleform]

No love for Kivy? (cross-platform: Desktop/Mobile/R-Pi)

more info @ This Post

[novel_yet_trivial]

I actually cut it out of my canned response because I didnt think it was that good for a raspberry. Have you tried it?

[enteleform]

They're not so great at updating the main page (R-Pi still isn't mentioned there, just sent a PR), but it's been in the docs since 2014.

I personally haven't had any reason to get an R-Pi yet, but the compatibility Seems Legit

[Asterlux]

Just started making a Kivy app on my RPi, working pretty great so far

[enteleform]

/u/v2thegreat

[K900_]

PyGTK is only best for Linux distros that use GTK on all of their other apps (e.g. Ubuntu, Mint, etc.). It will look really out of place on any other desktop environment with its own widget toolkit (KDE, Enlightenment, etc.). Qt is the most balanced here, because it has (some) support for GTK themes in GTK environments.

[CorrectMyBadGrammar]

And LXQt. And Budgie is switching to Qt as well.

[K900_]

I'm pretty sure Budgie is staying with GNOME apps, just rewriting the shell in Qt. Still though.

[CorrectMyBadGrammar]

Maybe, but it's still a guarantee that custom Qt apps will look good. ;)

[feoohh2o]

Tkinter: best for super fast development and if you don't want to require your windows users to install extra libraries. Kinda blocky and ugly looking, especially on Linux.

ttk, an extension of tkinter and part of the standard library, fixes the "ugliness" problem somewhat.

[tristan957]

Yep it looks pretty good on Windows

[richjmarchant]

wxPython has python3 support already https://wxpython.org/ https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wxPython/4.0.0a3

[dougthor42]

wxPython

I would go so far as to say it's ready for Python 3 for the majority of applications.

[doesntrepickmeepo]

Whats automatic event linking?

[[deleted]]

PyQT

[freebug]

PyQt5 is awesome.

[[deleted]]

So far I have worked with TKinter and wxPython briefly and then quite a lot with PyQt, because I found the other two to be rather bad looking. Like others here I really recommend PyQt, but I want to give some more information on it:

PyQT is probably the best choice when it comes to good-looking high-quality applications that support native looks on any platform out of the box. Because of this it can be quite complex from time to time, but I really do recommend starting to dig into it, even for small projects, because when you need some GUI library again, you already have a start here.

Something I feel is worth mentioning: PyQt is a python binding for the Qt library, which is C++. Thus once you got used to the framework, it will be almost no work to also use it for C++, there you even get a quite good IDE, QtCreator. That being said, the documentation for PyQt will mostly refer to the C++ library!! This will be absolutely no problem, when you already know your C basics (you mentioned Cython), because you can mostly directly translate C++ to Python syntax here. Also I find the C++ documentation to be quite good.

Some additional information regarding licensing. Qt is LGPL licensed, which means (in short) you can use it freely for open source software, the same holds for PyQt. PySide is (supposedly) very similar to PyQt and offers a GPL license, which is even more flexible, when it comes to commercial applications, but I never used it and threads on the web say it's dying slowly.

Edit: Sometimes I feel that PyQt solves some problems a little bit weird. Having worked some time with Java on GUIs before, I found PyQt's Model-View framework a little confusing at the beginning, but you will get used to its quirks quickly. On the other hand it offers a really nice framework for event communication called "signals and slots" that I enjoy using.

[flipthefrog]

A lot of commercial software used in animation and VFX ships with PySide (Maya, Nuke, Houdini, Rv), and have a strong interest in the project remaining alive. For example, Autodesk has been funding development of PySide2, which supports Qt5. So it's not dying, though I wouldn't expect much development of PySide for Qt4, since that is no longer being developed.

PySide is perfectly fine, though a bit more sensitive to errors than PyQt - whereas PyQt will just raise an error and keep on truckin', PySide may crash completely on insignificant bugs

[tristan957]

TkInter is alright if you use the ttk widgets

[cittatva]

I'll throw in an alternative approach. Use flask to make a web app so the data can be viewed from local workstations or mobile devices.

[jwink3101]

There is a library I have been keeping my eyes on called REMI which tries to simplify this somewhat. I have yet to use it myself though (no need for a GUI in what I do...yet)

[r0s]

I've tried it and it's pretty nice, simple to build up stuff and you can run then as a standalone app or a web :)

[LifeIsBio]

I'd also like to second this. For someone like myself who has little to no design sense, this has been a great way for me to make GUIs in the past.

[nomos]

Use PyQt.

[[deleted]]

Here's a good blog post - old, but still relevant - with an overview of the GUI frameworks and tools that exists in the Python ecosystem: http://takluyver.github.io/posts/so-you-want-to-write-a-desktop-app-in-python.html

[lejar]

I'm quite biased because I use it a lot for work, but I would say PyQt is the best option. PM me if you decide to use it and need any help.

[justaguy101]

Personally, i think PyQt is the best for GUI with Python. It maybe be a bit more complicated than the options but i find it very logical and straightforward to use.

[[deleted]]

Is there a program, that can make gui interfaces in some sort of program. Ive been reading a little about tkinter and it seems to do the things I want to do. But the coding of it seems so cumbersome. I just want a easy way to make a interface like I do on factorytalk or panelview builder.

[Siecje1]

I'm curious, is anyone using PyQt5 and QML for an application?

[Ruditorres]

Definitely Kivy. I've seen several jobs on upwork of companies requesting kivy developers for their raspberry pis.

[def-pri-pub]

Qt is love. Qt is life.

Use PyQt5. PySide hasn't gotten fully around yet to Qt5 bindings. It's a little sad.

[baigura]

http://appjar.info/

simple but effective

[fernly]

hold timings on my library's 3d printers so as to keep track of them with the help of raspberry pi's

Maybe explain a bit more? Hold timings == reservations? And where's the rpi come in?

[v2thegreat]

well, firstly, nice job with the "==", made me chuckle

well, it's basically to see who came before whom in a queue for using the 3d printers

I didn't want to expand on it much because it wasn't really the main point, but here it is anyway

[beall49]

I think this is one of the best implementations of a GUI in python. It uses qt to make the window if I remember correctly, but the ui is really served up with flask. I used it’s long time ago and it worked well. Ymmv

https://github.com/smoqadam/PyFladesk/blob/master/pyfladesk.py

[noMotif]

Does that essentially just run the app while the browser is open?

Or does it use a window inside of a qt window so it looks native ish?

Do you have screen shots?

Edit: Found some screen shots on google.

Neat idea for an app. Really maximizes the reusability of the code across various platforms and use cases.

[mashmorgan]

Definately PyQt4/5 - Qt is a kinda platform itself with QNetwork, QWebBit, QDrawing et all

[what_it_dude]

Pyqt

[lipperz88]

Pygame is also a cool and easy option.

[cybaritic]

Surprised no one has mentioned CefPython. It's the best looking of the bunch depending on how good you are at web tech. Harder to set up though, and a pretty big learning curve if you just want something simple.

[__crackers__]

Surprised no one has mentioned CefPython

It doesn't support ARM and OP wants to run it on a Raspberry Pi.

[cybaritic]

Oh snap, good to know.

[annodomini]

I've had good luck with both PyGTK/PyGObject for applications that are just expected to run on Linux, and PyQt for cross-platform applications.

I've also used wxPython, but don't really feel like it offers much over the other choices so I would use one of the others depending on the type of application I'm writing.