python QT and windows

[Boudewijn Rempt]

Cameron Laird <claird at starbase.neosoft.com> wrote:
> In article <39C95DE7.F47A6A32 at home.com>,
> bo Vandenberg  <famvandenberg at home.com> wrote:
>>It seems the world is getting more complex :)
>>
>>Being as how work has tied me to a windows universe but I still want to
>>use python I'm contemplating GUI toolkits:
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> 			.
> 			.
>>Are there people out there who can represent the merits of these various
>>packages from a WINDOWS perspective. I'd love to hear people's views.
> 			.
> 			.
> 			.
> <URL:http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/comp.lang.python/python_GUI.html>


This list is getting a bit old, I feel. I think that there are four
realistic options for Windows development: tkInter, wxWindows, PyQt and
Pythonwin + COM. Is Active Python already more than mere vapour?

Pythonwin is the only Windows-only solution. The most impressive
application I've seen is the Pythonwin IDE. I don't know about the Python
2.0 support.

tkInter is more-or-less standard. It doesn't offer a wide selection
of widgets - you might have to write things like a treeview yourself.
However, it's very well documented in Grayson's book, Python and
tkInter programming, and supported by the PythonWorks IDE. I still can't
believe an application that's as smooth as PythonWorks is written using
tkInter... tkInter _comes_ with Python 2.0.

wxPython is a wrapper around a wrapper around the native Windows toolkit
and offers a lot of good widgets and a sensible API. It's portable, but
might be a bit difficult to install (at least, I am perpetually having
problems installing it on Linux). Because it uses native Windows widgets,
you are assured of a good, native look and feel. That might not be the
case with tkInter. I don't know about the Python 2.0 support.

PyQt for Windows is very, very new. Qt is a from-the-grounds-up
implementation of a gui toolkit, but a Qt application for Windows
is indistinguishable from a native Windows application. PyQt supports
(indeed, comes with) the latest version of Qt and includes a GUI designer
(http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2000/07/07/magazine/qt_design.html).
PyQt for Windows does support Python 1.6 - no 2.0 yet. The API is
sensible, and the selection of widgets good.

I think you owe it to yourself to try PyQt - it's a lot of fun, and 
compare it to wxWindows. I wouldn't go with tkInter, and Pythonwin
is a bit too platform specific for my liking.


-- 

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.valdyas.org