Line Benchmarks - Tkinter vs. wxPython

[Fredrik Lundh]

Gordon Williams wrote:
> In November of 1999 I did some benchmark tests to gauge the performance
> difference between Tkinter and wxPython when large numbers of lines are
> plotted.

As most Tk/Tkinter users know, the Canvas widget isn't the best
thing to use for widgets like this.  There are several Tk extensions
that provide better support for rapidly changing data, including
BLT.

And then there's Tkinter 3000.

As some of you know, I've been involved in a commercial UI library
called uiToolkit (see www.pythonware.com for more info). Tkinter
3000 is a reimplementation of some uiToolkit concepts, on top of
Tkinter (and/or Tk).

One such concept is something called the "Widget Construction
Kit", which is a small interface that allows you to implement new
Tkinter widgets in pure Python.

Using my current "proof of concept" implementation of the WCK,
I implemented a simple PlotWidget, and used it to run Gordon's
benchmark.

Here are the results on my Win2K box:

    Python/Tkinter 1.5.2: 0.4356 seconds
    Python/Tkinter 2.0: 0.0832
    Tkinter 3000, Tk driver, floating point coordinates: 0.0018
    Tkinter 3000, Tk driver, integer coordinates: 0.0016

I don't have a working wxPython on this computer, but it should
be clear that Tkinter can match wxPython also on a benchmark
like this, if you use the right widget...

(in either case, 625 fps should be enough for anyone ;-)

For more info on Tkinter 3000, see

    http://tkinter.effbot.org (the project)
    http://online.effbot.org#1811114 (benchmarks)
    http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/tkinter3000 (mailing list)

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