this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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Advice on where to begin with GUI programming? (lemm.ee)
submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/learn_programming
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I realize this is a very broad question, so to help I'll mention that my primary experience with any programming language is Python. I've looked into C and C++ as well, but I haven't written much in them; in part because they're more involved, and in part because I get lost in the IDE weeds with'em (whether choosing an IDE or getting it configured to even get started tbh, but that's mostly a different topic).

In Python I know there's an option in Tkinter, and I've worked with it to some extent but never got entirely comfortable with it. Maybe it would be best to try making some more stuff with it instead of bouncing around different things, but would that be advisable over something that may be better suited to the task?

If it would be better to stick with it, what might be some things you wish you'd known starting out with GUI programming (whether particular to Python or generally applicable)?

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[โ€“] thtroyer 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

While so many things are so much better than they used to be in the programming ecosystem, I feel like entry-level GUI programming is so much worse.

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but Visual Basic (pre .NET) was one of the easiest ways to make a simple, contemporary (for the time) GUI. Drag and drop some elements, modify the UI properties, double click and add code. It made for an excellent introduction to programming because the UI portions were simple and intuitive enough to stay out of the way.

The rest of VB wasn't great. Weird language/syntax/keywords keywords, closed environment, mediocre tooling. But for building UIs? I haven't used anything as easy as that and it's been over 20 years now...

I don't have any recommendations unfortunately. Almost everything I do is web based or command line. Web UIs aren't terrible, but there's a learning curve and lots of limitations. Haven't found anything for desktop apps I like lately (last one I built was also with tkinter for a small Python project. Bleh.)

[โ€“] MadhuGururajan 2 points 7 months ago

Oh man this takes me way back. VB's pick and drop UI builder was so magical. I used to do complex wizard based forms that are probably terrible if I look at them now (If I still preserved them... unfortunately I didn't) but at the time they looked professional.