C++ && Gui

joltgen · 2008-09-03 14:02:44

Hi, I'm planning to create a gui to a C++ application I am to write as a school project. The application will be a XML search engine of sorts. The gui will be quite "simple" and I'd love to get some tips on which libraries I should use for the graphical components (GNU/Linux ofc)?

kamituel · 2008-09-03 19:11:11

On Linux I've been using only GTK+ (for C++ - Gtkmm) and Qt (of course also in C++).
Qt seems to be more polished, and using it was quite easy and fun. Also QtDesigner is a more intuitive than Glade.

But I wrote my last project in GTK, because of Qt's license (it was proprietary app), and I was suprised how easy and
really nice it was. My first Gtkmm app was quite simple, but it was painful to write using Gtkmm. But now, for the second time, I liked it even more than Qt.
I'm not sure why... Probably it is a little bit less intuitive for the begginer that Qt, but at the second glance it is really though-through and nice.

So, I reccomend you to choose any one of those toolkits for this app, and for your next try to use another one. It's always good to check what would you like the best. Even in small apps you should feel the difference.

Ah, and the last thing - I have impression that apps wrote in Qt are more responsive than GTK ones. I mean, on example, in Notebook it takes less time to switch between tabs etc.

X/ax · 2008-09-03 19:15:35

I think when you mention linux + gui the way to go easily is to use glade, and dynamically load the design.
That way, you simply keep the form design and the code seperated.

However, glade is indeed not that quite intuitive, and it can be a pain in the ass sinceit's not even near IDE-like...
You have to use multiple apps to write the total program.

freakcode · 2008-09-03 23:13:38

There's really a point to note here: beginners often see Glade for Gtk+ and think it's a full IDE like NetBeans or VisualStudio or Delphi or whatever... But it's not. Gtk+ apps, differently from Qt (and many other languages/toolkits), can load interfaces from external XML specifications, instead of constructing widgets with procedural language as actual code. So, Glade is used only to create those XML specifications for the interface in a visual way - all the actual functionality and event handling will be done inside your code. That way, Glade doesn't restrict you for only one language, as the XML can be loaded with gladexml in any language that contains bindings for Gtk (C, C++ with gtkmm, C#, Java, Python, Ruby... maybe some more).

wuischke · 2008-09-04 08:46:48

If you want a way to write interfaces for Windows and Linux very easily, then have a look at ultimate++. I was impressed by the way the GUI code is designed, it's very short, functional and still readable.

krims0n · 2008-09-04 09:30:05

www.wxwidgets.org

Adams · 2008-09-04 13:36:07

freakcode wrote:

[...]But it's not. Gtk+ apps, differently from Qt (and many other languages/toolkits), can load interfaces from external XML specifications, instead of constructing widgets with procedural language as actual code. [...]

http://doc.trolltech.com/4.4/designer-u … processing

Qt also has this feature. Designer generates .ui files internaly as xml, so they are language independent. You can load the same .ui with any language that has Qt bindings (PyQt for example), just like with gtk and glade.

Both libraries have their pros and cons. Take a look at couple of tutorials and chose the one which suits you more.

Last edited by Adams (2008-09-04 13:48:58)

robmaloy · 2008-09-04 14:51:05

flip a coin.

or write a ncurses interface!

or just leave it CLI (if GUI isnt explicitly required)

dante4d · 2008-09-13 22:42:11

I was very happy when using FormLayout from JGoodies and Java for interfaces, then wrap C++ code inside. Maybe just because Eclipse refactors and formats code nicely . If you are going to create some simple GUI, I'd try to use YAGNI approach (you ain't gonna need it) - decide if you need some "complex" widgetry libs (takes longer to learn them, then it's simple to use) or just need few simple API calls to create bunch of GUI elements (quick & dirty, harder to maintain if it gets too big). My opinion.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-09-03 14:02:44

C++ && Gui

#2 2008-09-03 19:11:11

Re: C++ && Gui

#3 2008-09-03 19:15:35

Re: C++ && Gui

#4 2008-09-03 23:13:38

Re: C++ && Gui

#5 2008-09-04 08:46:48

Re: C++ && Gui

#6 2008-09-04 09:30:05

Re: C++ && Gui

#7 2008-09-04 13:36:07

Re: C++ && Gui

#8 2008-09-04 14:51:05

Re: C++ && Gui

#9 2008-09-13 22:42:11

Re: C++ && Gui

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