/Doc/library/othergui.rst

 1.. _other-gui-packages:
 2
 3Other Graphical User Interface Packages
 4=======================================
 5
 6There are an number of extension widget sets to :mod:`Tkinter`.
 7
 8.. seealso::
 9
10   `Python megawidgets <http://pmw.sourceforge.net/>`_
11      is a toolkit for building high-level compound widgets in Python using the
12      :mod:`Tkinter` module.  It consists of a set of base classes and a library of
13      flexible and extensible megawidgets built on this foundation. These megawidgets
14      include notebooks, comboboxes, selection widgets, paned widgets, scrolled
15      widgets, dialog windows, etc.  Also, with the Pmw.Blt interface to BLT, the
16      busy, graph, stripchart, tabset and vector commands are be available.
17
18      The initial ideas for Pmw were taken from the Tk ``itcl`` extensions ``[incr
19      Tk]`` by Michael McLennan and ``[incr Widgets]`` by Mark Ulferts. Several of the
20      megawidgets are direct translations from the itcl to Python. It offers most of
21      the range of widgets that ``[incr Widgets]`` does, and is almost as complete as
22      Tix, lacking however Tix's fast :class:`HList` widget for drawing trees.
23
24   `Tkinter3000 Widget Construction Kit (WCK) <http://tkinter.effbot.org/>`_
25      is a library that allows you to write new Tkinter widgets in pure Python.  The
26      WCK framework gives you full control over widget creation, configuration, screen
27      appearance, and event handling.  WCK widgets can be very fast and light-weight,
28      since they can operate directly on Python data structures, without having to
29      transfer data through the Tk/Tcl layer.
30
31
32The major cross-platform (Windows, Mac OS X, Unix-like) GUI toolkits that are
33also available for Python:
34
35.. seealso::
36
37   `PyGTK <http://www.pygtk.org/>`_
38      is a set of bindings for the `GTK <http://www.gtk.org/>`_ widget set. It
39      provides an object oriented interface that is slightly higher level than
40      the C one. It comes with many more widgets than Tkinter provides, and has
41      good Python-specific reference documentation. There are also bindings to
42      `GNOME <http://www.gnome.org>`_.  One well known PyGTK application is
43      `PythonCAD <http://www.pythoncad.org/>`_. An online `tutorial
44      <http://www.pygtk.org/pygtk2tutorial/index.html>`_ is available.
45
46   `PyQt <http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/pyqt/index.php>`_
47      PyQt is a :program:`sip`\ -wrapped binding to the Qt toolkit.  Qt is an
48      extensive C++ GUI application development framework that is
49      available for Unix, Windows and Mac OS X. :program:`sip` is a tool
50      for generating bindings for C++ libraries as Python classes, and
51      is specifically designed for Python. The *PyQt3* bindings have a
52      book, `GUI Programming with Python: QT Edition
53      <http://www.commandprompt.com/community/pyqt/>`_ by Boudewijn
54      Rempt. The *PyQt4* bindings also have a book, `Rapid GUI Programming
55      with Python and Qt <http://www.qtrac.eu/pyqtbook.html>`_, by Mark
56      Summerfield.
57
58   `wxPython <http://www.wxpython.org>`_
59      wxPython is a cross-platform GUI toolkit for Python that is built around
60      the popular `wxWidgets <http://www.wxwidgets.org/>`_ (formerly wxWindows)
61      C++ toolkit.  It provides a native look and feel for applications on
62      Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix systems by using each platform's native
63      widgets where ever possible, (GTK+ on Unix-like systems).  In addition to
64      an extensive set of widgets, wxPython provides classes for online
65      documentation and context sensitive help, printing, HTML viewing,
66      low-level device context drawing, drag and drop, system clipboard access,
67      an XML-based resource format and more, including an ever growing library
68      of user-contributed modules.  wxPython has a book, `wxPython in Action
69      <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1932394621>`_, by Noel Rappin and
70      Robin Dunn.
71
72PyGTK, PyQt, and wxPython, all have a modern look and feel and more
73widgets than Tkinter. In addition, there are many other GUI toolkits for
74Python, both cross-platform, and platform-specific. See the `GUI Programming
75<http://wiki.python.org/moin/GuiProgramming>`_ page in the Python Wiki for a
76much more complete list, and also for links to documents where the
77different GUI toolkits are compared.
78