Newbie Python questions

[LessPaul]

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 Roberts]

...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?

There is so much personal preference here that it is extremely hard to give
any guidance. If you have done any Windows programming at all, so that you
are familiar with the event-driven programming model, then I don't think
you would see that much difference in learning curve. The two packages are
more alike than they are different -- the various APIs are just spelled
differently.

I happen to be a big wxPython fan. I learn best by example, and wxPython
has a 44,000-line demo suite with 167 source files that demonstrates
virtually every class it includes.

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.

Yep. Personal preference.

 

[binaryjesus]

One great open source GUI package that you left out is GTK ie. pygtk.
i cant compare it with wx as i have never used it but isay its much
better than QT.


Anyway for ur q if u want to compair qt n wx. QT should be faster coz
it has a better documentation.
and welcome to the python family!

kind regards
binaryjesus

 

[Mike Driscoll]

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

 

[Tim Roberts]

One great open source GUI package that you left out is GTK ie. pygtk.
i cant compare it with wx as i have never used it but isay its much
better than QT.

Anyway for ur q if u want to compair qt n wx. QT should be faster coz
it has a better documentation.

Holy moly, did you send this from your cell phone?

 

[LessPaul]

Holy moly, did you send this from your cell phone?

Thanks much to all the replies. At this point I believe I'm going to
start with wx and go from there. I probably will build a small test
app or two and try the various packages. It doesn't sound like the
APIs are going to be too tough to grasp. And yes, I've about 10 years
work in Windows using an event-driven model (LabWindows).

 

[Timothy Grant]

Thanks much to all the replies. At this point I believe I'm going to
start with wx and go from there. I probably will build a small test
app or two and try the various packages. It doesn't sound like the
APIs are going to be too tough to grasp. And yes, I've about 10 years
work in Windows using an event-driven model (LabWindows).

Make sure to subscribe to the wxPython list the people there have
helped me immensely in the past.