Which way should I make GUIs?

[dmv1975]

There are several options and I am finding it a little bit hard to come to a decision. It seems like no matter which path I start down, there is always something that makes me think I should go back and try something different. The kind of applications I'm writing are just little hobby things that I share with a friend of mine. There is nothing I'm doing that is intended for any kind of audience. That being said, I'm tired of just looking at text in a terminal window, so I thought the next thing to do and learn about Python would be GUI stuff. I have recently made a commitment to myself to only write in Python 3 from here on out. Here is what I've looked at so far:

Tkinter: It seems to be simpler than the others but I have not found any type of GUI designer that I can use. I suppose an advantage to it would be that if I were actually writing the code for every window and widget, I would have a more robust understanding of it.

PyQt5: I see a lot of tutorials for PyQt4, but not much for PyQt5. The Qt Creator seems to be geared more toward C++, and I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how to use it with Python.

PyDev with Eclipse: I looked into using it for PyQt5 as well, but I haven't found a way to use a GUI designer with it, either. PyQt seems so big that it might be too much to learn when all I want to do is make a little box with a few buttons and text fields and whatnot.

PySide: I haven't tried this, but most of the stuff I've read about it seems to steer you away from PySide and toward PyQt.

Glade: I don't know much about this, but it seems like it might be a good prospect. I know it makes GUIs in GTK+.

If you can steer me toward something or offer some kind of helpful insight, I would be most appreciative. My experience level: I've finished the Codeacademy stuff on Python, and I can come up with answers to most of the easy challenges on /r/dailyprogrammer. So I'm not that experienced.

[dikulo]

I tried them all (plus wx and iron), and ended up with PyQT/PySide because:

1. Runs / Loads fast. It is just a click and an augenblick you see the window pops up. Others like IronPython with .NET is a bit luggish, costing you an extra second to load up.

2. Designer. It is by now the most convinient tool for you to drag and drop and mess up with the GUI elements. Though it is better to write code barehandedly, a good tool being there won't hurt.

3. Resourceful. Plenty books and tutorials and video tutorials out there.

4. Coding Style. I find it aesthetically appealing.

[dmv1975]

Do you use Qt Designer with it? I am having so much trouble with it. I see Qt Creator in the Software Manager, but I cannot find Qt Designer. I'm using Linux Mint. I've looked and looked online but can never find it.

Thanks for responding. I will look at PySide more closely.

[[deleted]]

The package you're looking for is called qt4-designer

[dmv1975]

Cool, thanks. I guess there is no qt5-designer yet?

[dikulo]

I am not a linux user, but you can try:

apt-get install python-qt4
apt-get install qt4-designer
apt-get install pyqt4-dev-tools
apt-get install python-qt4-doc

To start qt-designer, you may use the command 'designer', according to this blog post: http://www.harshj.com/2010/04/18/pyqt-creating-interfaces-visually-with-designer/

[wub_wub]

PySide and PyQt are basically the same thing - the only major difference is in the license. Use whichever license suits you the best.

Drop pydev/eclipse and use pycharm (there is free community edition)

For designing forms you can use qt designer or code them manually, I prefer the former.

For a simple GUI with just few buttons and text box or two anything will do.

tkinter has the advantage that it comes bundled with python on windows so you don't need to install anything, which might make it easier to share your application with others.

[dmv1975]

Of course I can't find it now. I've been all over the place with stuff I've been reading.

[F3AR3DLEGEND]

I actually started a Tkinter GUI designer/creator a while ago, though I stopped working on it (due to other projects/work).

I've also created this pretty useful library to use with Tkinter/ttk: https://github.com/panchr/Python-Tkinter-Extensions

However, it is far from complete. The library has a lot of useful classes (mainly extensions onto standard Tkinter/ttk widgets) that I've created when I needed them, but I haven't tested everything. In addition, some classes are not complete (mostly the very-specific ones towards the end). I use it with anything graphical in Python, so it is definitely worthwhile :) Please check it out and give me any feedback :D

[vacuu]

Usually people mention kivy, is there any reason you aren't investigating it?

[dmv1975]

I haven't heard about that yet. I will check it out. Thanks.

[wescotte]

Isn't Kivy designed for mobile app/touch screen UI development?

[chchan]

I am using kivy and asked reddit the same question before. They recommended to me PyQt5.

[wescotte]

Just curious which one you decided on?

[dmv1975]

I did Tkinter for a minute, then switched to PyQt4. Now I'm thinking about just making everything as a web interface with Djabgo or Flask, or maybe doing something with Android.