My python programs need a GUI, wxPython or PyQt4?

[Daniel Jonsson]

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

Daniel

[James Stroud]

Daniel Jonsson wrote:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

Daniel

You may also want to think about licensing issues. I think the license
for QT is more restrictive than wx. Also, you might want to consider
Tkinter.

[Joshua J. Kugler]

Daniel Jonsson wrote:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

Wow...are you *trying* to start a flamewar? :)

Anyway, here are a few points to think about. This is by no means
exhaustive, and I'm sure others will add to (and/or correct) what I say.
I'm most familiar with Qt, so my comments will be directed that way.

Qt4 *is* GPL, but you can only use it for free if the software you're
writing is GPL. So, if there is no issue with you making your source code
public, there is no problem using Qt. wxWindows is essentially LGPL, so
might be easier to use, depending on how closely you need to hold your
source code.

wxWindows uses Gtk widgets on *nix. In *my opinion* the Qt widgets look
better, but that's just me.

From what I've seen of the PyQt4 API, it's very clean and easy to use.

You can design your forms using the standard QtDesigner and compile them to
Python by using py-uic. You can also load .ui files at run time if you
want. I have no idea of the form design facilities in wxWindows, others
can add their input there.

It's very easy to create forms with QtDesigner. And also easy to make sure
they still nicely laid out and proportionate by using layouts and spacers.

Anyway, those are the thoughts off the top of my head, I'll chime in again
if I think of more.

j

--
Joshua Kugler
Lead System Admin -- Senior Programmer
http://www.eeinternet.com
PGP Key: http://pgp.mit.edu/ Â*ID 0xDB26D7CE

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[Michael Bentley]

On Jan 23, 2007, at 4:01 PM, Daniel Jonsson wrote:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

Daniel

Don't forget PyGTK (http://www.pygtk.org), and Tkinter!

You should really try them all out and make your own decision, IMHO.
I'm actually using pyobjc for my work, but if I had to support other
environments, I'd be using PyGTK. (Although I *was* happy with PyQt
(3) when I was using it).

[hg]

Daniel Jonsson wrote:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

Daniel

It is best you try both ... I feel they have the same quality.

The cross plateform issue depends on your needs/constraints ... I need
cross-platform for commercial applications so I went for wx

hg

[Paul Rubin]

"Daniel Jonsson" <no*@set.sewrit es:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

I've always found tkinter to be adequate so far. The widgets look a
little bit crude compared with other toolkits, and there's less fancy
functionality, but it's fairly easy to program and it's included with
Python. For internal use where you don't need a lot of visual
slickness to sell the product, it may be ok.

Another possibility is embed a web server in your application and use
a browser interface for your gui. That makes it easy to run the
application on a separate machine from the user, among other things,
even if you don't try to support multiple simultaneous users like a
real web server normally would have to.

[Peter Decker]

On 1/23/07, Daniel Jonsson <no*@set.sewrot e:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

I strongly prefer the look and feel of wxPython, but I have to write
apps that run on Windows and Linux, and wxPython looks great on both.

If you do go with wxPython, I'd strongly recommend using the Dabo
framework, as they wrap the raw and somewhat ugly wxPython code
(inherited from its C++ roots) into something much more Pythonic and
consistent. Apps that took me all day in wxPython take me a couple of
hours using the dabo.ui module.

--

# p.d.

[Daniel]

I've downloaded both the wxPython and the PyQt4 package, and by the
first impression I must say that the PyQt4 system had a very
compelling presentation. From what I can understand from the feedback
I've gotten so far is that the wxPython is a better choice when it
comes to compability (with linux), and it's free even if I want to
create applications and sell them.
So, from what I understand I will have to go with PyQt4 since (from
my understanding):
1. I will not sell the applications I'm working with since they will
only be used by the internal QA at a computer game company.
2. There seems to be a lot of documentation available for PyQt4.
3. PyQt4 seems to be easier to learn.
4. My programs does not need to support Linux or Unix.
Or am I wrong? Flame people, for the love of God, flame!! :)

-Daniel

[Joshua J. Kugler]

Daniel wrote:

I've downloaded both the wxPython and the PyQt4 package, and by the
first impression I must say that the PyQt4 system had a very
compelling presentation. From what I can understand from the feedback
I've gotten so far is that the wxPython is a better choice when it
comes to compability (with linux), and it's free even if I want to
create applications and sell them.
So, from what I understand I will have to go with PyQt4 since (from
my understanding):
1. I will not sell the applications I'm working with since they will
only be used by the internal QA at a computer game company.

Even that is getting on shaky ground, at least according to Troll Tech.
See: http://www.trolltech.com/developer/knowledgebase/190/ So, write it
for internal use, and put up for distribution on your personal web site
(pending company approval, of course).

j

--
Joshua Kugler
Lead System Admin -- Senior Programmer
http://www.eeinternet.com
PGP Key: http://pgp.mit.edu/ Â*ID 0xDB26D7CE

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[Laurent Rahuel]

Hi,

I known this can be impossible but what about an "HTML" GUI ?

Daniel Jonsson wrote:

So, I've reached the point where my building pipeline tools actually
needs to be used by other people in my company. By this reason I
actually need to think about the usability, and I've come to the
conclusion that I need a GUI. So, which of the two packages should I
learn, and which one is easier to pick up?
Thanks in advance!

Daniel