Newbie Python questions

[Mike Driscoll]

On Jul 29, 12:28 pm, LessPaul <LessP... at gmail.com> wrote:
> I recently discovered Python and see it as a great language to use for
> personal projects (and more). I made my living for over a decade as a
> coder in C, C++, ADA, Fortran, and Assembly before moving to systems
> engineering.
>
> I'm now retired, and would love to code again. I see Python as the
> perfect language to get a good program working in a short time. My
> question is in regard to GUI platforms. My primary target would be
> Windows, but I would also like be able to support Linux and Mac
> versions if possible. I'm also interested in using a system that also
> has support for pure C++ applications. As such, and after reading many
> web pages regarding Python GUIs, I believe I have the candidates
> narrowed down to pyQT and wxPython.
>
> The first question -- how steep is the curve to become proficient with
> the above GUI packages? If the answer is "not very" then there is no
> need for the following questions as I can try both on for size to see
> which I like best. However if it is a sizable investment in time, I'd
> like to maximize my efforts and choose the one I'll end up using in
> the end.
>
> The biggest hurdle I can see is the cost of the QT licence for
> commercial software, though apparently it can be acquired for a
> reasonable price via the BlackAdder package. Does purchasing the
> BlackAdder also include the needed software support for C++
> development? Does the BlackAdder purchase also allow for licence of
> standard C++ apps?
>
> Since there appears to be no commercial licencing fee for wxWidgets/
> wxPython, the last question is what do I gain from going QT over wx?
> I've seen great applications written with both (on my computer I have
> the wxPython Digsby and the pyQT apps "Mnemosyne" and "Anki". All seem
> to be solid.

Tim forgot to mention that the wxPython user's group is very helpful
and fun. I don't know how the pyQT one is. You could try both toolkits
just working on some toy projects before you work on anything
commercial. Then they're both free! And you can find out which one
better suits you.

Mike