PyQt, Qt, Windows and Linux

[email9898989 at yahoo.com]

> Trolltech's pricing strategy, for me, keeps me on wxWindows.  Qt does
> seem like an excellent product, however.

I agree.

I guess the simplest explanation is that if you have anything to do
with Windows or if you want to sell your software, you have to pay for
TrollTech's Qt and PyQt (minimum $400 for BlackAdder).

The only way it is free to use it is if you are developing on Linux,
distributing only to Linux users, and not charging for your software.

Here are some technical advantages to Qt/PyQt/PyKDE, but I can still
wouldn't recommend it for Windows development:
- QT Designer is a very nice intuitive visual GUI builder (form
designer).  You can progress from a simple prototype to a
cross-platform app easily.  You aren't forced to plan the layout in
advance.  Then again for most apps it is not hard to just do your
layout in code.
- The QT C++ API is better designed, although that doesn't mean it is
better for Python development (both PyQt and WxPython are basically
thin wrappers for the C++ Qt and wxWindows APIs).  Performance or
bug-wise I don't know that PyQt is better than wxPython on Windows. 
On Linux, wxPython uses GTK.
- With KParts and KDE applications, you can embed other components
(like a web browser or spreadsheet) into your own app, although PyKDE
does not yet support this.  You can do something similar in wxPython
on Windows embedding ActiveX controls (such as Internet Explorer or
Adobe Acrobat Viewer).