Re: Pythonic cross-platform GUI desingers à la Interface Builder (Re: what gui designer is everyone using)

[Dietmar Schwertberger]

Am 10.06.2012 21:36, schrieb Rick Johnson:
> It is possible. Try Tkinter for the "get-you-from-a-to-b" solution,
> or, wxPython if you like fog lamps, heated seats, and navigation
> systems.
I prefer wx or Qt. The look and feel is one reason.

But the fact that Tkinter is still the standard GUI toolkit tells a lot
about the situation...


> Buttons and feilds are just a few short lines of code. Look. You guys
> don't need a visual GUI builder. What you need to do is stop being
 > lazy and spend a few hours studing the basics of Tkinter and wxPyhon
 > (or whatever else suits your needs). IMO, every single python
 > programmer who needs GUI interfaces should know the basics of AT LEAST
 > Tkinter without even looking at the docs. I mean, how difficult is:
[snipped code examples]
Sure, I know how to code GUIs. But the learning curve is too steep
for new users wanting to implement simple GUIs.


> With Tkinter you add a GUI element IN THE CODE and then you are
> ALREADY in the code editor! What an amazing concept! No juggling
> editors and windows. No need to mentally switch from one language to
> another. Can you imagine how productive you could be?
I thought about preparing some templates for typcial applications, but
I abandonded this as I don't think that it would work out well.


>> If you have not used VB before, you should just try it. You can create
>> GUIs within a few minutes even if you haven't used it before.
>
> Allow me to qualify that very naive generalization: "ANYBODY and point
> and click, very few can actually write code".
Right. I won't comment on the quality of the most VB code.
But there are many applications where the quality of the code is not
the main objective. It just needs to work e.g. to set up the instrument
and read back data. The know-how and value is not the GUI code, but
in the instrument setup and data evaluation.

> I say. If your GUI kit gives you the feeling that you are writing too
> much boilerplate, well, then, it's time to wrap up some re-usable
> functionality on your own. I have done this myself with Tkinter AND Wx.
> ( although much more so with Tkinter being that is a poorly designed
> GUI)
Did the same for wx twelve years ago as I did not like e.g. the event
handling. Most of the time I'm still using my own wrappers.
Still, once or twice a year I'm writing some small applications where
I would use a GUI builder if it was available instead of copying old
code as template.


>> I can teach anyone how to create a program for data
>> acquisition, but I don't see how more than a few could create a GUI
>> without an easy-to-use tool.
>
> Like Tkinter?
Don't like Tkinter, even though the alternatives are not too Pythonic
either.

> Visual Basic sucks. I spend more time re-focusing my mental energy
> than actually getting work done. There is no replacement for pure raw
> code. You visualize GUI's in you mind, and fingers bring that vision
> to life through properly written API's.
>
> Never invent a new problem for a solution that does not exist.
Sure, VB language sucks, but still I do not see any other tool that
would cover the RAD aspect of the VB 6 environment. I would love to
see Python for this, even though this would have negative side
effects (e.g. attracting stupid people like PHP seems to).


Regards,

Dietmar