[FAQ] "Best" GUI toolkit for python

[Dietmar Schwertberger]

On 18.10.2016 00:58, pozz wrote:
> So I'm thinking to evaluate other solutions. wxWidgets is attractive 
> for it's native look&feel, but python implementation Phoenix for 
> Python3 is in alpha stage. Moreover wxGlade (the GUI builder 
> application) needs Python2, but I couldn't understand if the generated 
> code is compatible with wxPython/Phoenix.
I can recommend wx.
I have been using wxPython for more than 15 years and Phoenix for about 
one year now.
Phoenix has been working quite stable for me. It's not released yet 
finally, but there's much work going on to make a release happen.

For learning:
  - get the book "wxPython in Action"
  - download the snapshot, including the html documentation and source 
archive from https://wxpython.org/Phoenix/snapshot-builds/
  - bookmark the comparison at 
https://wxpython.org/Phoenix/docs/html/classic_vs_phoenix.html
  - unpack the demo directory from the source archive and run demo.py; 
maybe also have a look at the samples directory
  - also download the chm file from 
https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets/releases/download/v3.0.2/wxWidgets-3.0.2-docs-chm.zip
    (you may prefer the single file chm documentation, even though it's 
for C++; for a start look at Categories -> Class List by Category -> 
Controls / Window Layout / Events / Managed Windows / Miscellaneous 
Windows / Common Dialogs)

The demo is the most important resource for learning!


In the last months I spent a lot of time to make wxGlade more usable and 
maintainable.
It runs already under Phoenix. Just use the DEV_DS_2016 branch from the 
repository (it can be downloaded as zip from 
https://bitbucket.org/wxglade/wxglade/downloads?tab=branches )
When wxGlade runs under Phoenix, the generated code should be Phoenix 
compatible.
This version is not yet released and also the Phoenix support is not yet 
official. It should fit your purpose, though and it's probably the 
easiest option to get started with a Python GUI. Please provide bug 
reports and also general feedback about potential improvements.
For 100% Phoenix support I need to modify a lot under the hood, but I 
hope to have it done not too late after a wxPython Phoenix release.
A better menu editor, better integration with custom code and a new 
tutorial are on the todo list. Contributions are welcome. Just as you 
seem to do, I also see the old Visual BASIC versions as reference when 
it comes to creating a GUI without much learning and effort.
The current wxGlade tutorial does not yet reflect the fact that you can 
now edit the structure directly in the tree view.


Regards,

Dietmar