What GUI toolkit looks the best?

[Edward K. Ream]

> > > It's not clear that wxWindows really actually works.

> > Isn't that last sentence a bit overly FUD-ish?

> Umm.  Maybe you are right.

After sleeping on this question, I think not :-) True, my choice of words
wasn't the best, but since you brought up FUD, I'm willing to discuss my
fears, uncertainties and doubts about wxWindows.

Motivation & experience

The typical FUD campaign is driven by ulterior motives.  I have no such
motives--I am not the author of a product that competes with wxPython or
Tkinter: I am a somewhat frustrated user of both products.  Leo is about to
come a rare beast: a gui-agnostic application.  That is, Leo will soon be
able to support other gui toolkits besides tkinter.  Indeed, an experimental
wxPython plugin already exists.  This plugin replaces Leo's default tkinter
gui with a wxPython gui.  My remarks are based on experiences with a failed
wxWindows project and the present wxPython plugin.

Psychological responses

In my case, I do have doubts that I can make wxPython projects as solid as
the equivalent Tkinter projects.  Related feelings include fear and
uncertainty, and some others ;-) These feelings are real, and they are based
on substantial experience.

Objective responses

In my experience, it is a _fact_ that wxPython (really wxWindows) seems to
have many more bugs than Tkinter.  It is a _rare_ bug that has no
workaround, so this fact does _not_ mean that it is impossible to produce
"working" apps with wxWindows/wxPython.  What is probably _does_ mean is
that it will be more expensive to create a solid wxPython app than one would
hope.  In my experience, the answer to the question "Why the hell hasn't
wxPython become the standard GUI for Python yet?" is: "wxWindows is buggy."

Conclusions

All my comments have been intended to alert people to the complexities and
difficulties in choosing one gui or another.  I wish that Tkinter and
wxPython were better, and I think people should have their eyes open when
considering using these tools.

Edward
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Edward K. Ream   email:  edreamleo at charter.net
Leo: Literate Editor with Outlines
Leo: http://webpages.charter.net/edreamleo/front.html
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