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I've been using wxPython for many years, and it works very well. What are the advantages of PyQT over wxPython? Anyone experienced both 'worlds' in a non-trivia

I've been using wxPython for many years, and it works very well. What are the advantages of PyQT over wxPython? Anyone experienced both 'worlds' in a non-trivial application?

mherrmann 8y ago
The reason why I chose PyQt over wxPython was the former's support for custom styles. I wrote an article with my thoughts on picking a GUI framework [1], in case you're interested. 1: https://fman.io/blog/picking-technologies-for-a-desktop-app-in-2016/ https://fman.io/blog/picking-technologies-for-a-desktop-app-...
- solarkraft 8y ago
  I am super happy that you seem so dedicated to providing a good UI library in an attempt to keep people off of Electron (I find one of the biggest hurdles to be the ease of getting started/iteration speed). Dumb question time: Is this also usable with QML?
  - Siecje 8y ago
    You can use PyQt5 with QML here is a simple application https://github.com/siecje/qml-testing https://github.com/siecje/qml-testing
kbumsik 8y ago
1. wxPython has inconsistent looks and layouts between platforms and monitor resolutions (or DPI). For example, on PlayOnLinux GUI app I cannot click an "OK" button while using Surface Pro because the button is hidden outside of the window. 2. QML is an amazing language. It is modern, declarative and reactive but still very simple to use. Personally I don't want to go back to the traditional GUI coding styles after experienced QML. 3. Qt Designer is a great GUI tool that you can quickly prototype a GUI app. 4. Qt has the best documentation among cross-platform GUI frameworks. 5. Qt is a much bigger framework having more features. For example, you can easily embed WebKit or Chromium very easily.
- gardaani 8y ago
  The article doesn't mention QML at all. Is it possible to use it with Python?
  - blattimwind 8y ago
    Of course.
- sago 8y ago
  Is number five true? (Genuine question.) I haven't used QT in anger, and it's been a few years since I last wrote something in WXP. But the last project went with wxWidgets because of its built-in support for things like drag-and-drop negotiation, (multiple) file type association, undo, print, file preview, system level common accelerators and OS defined accessibility settings (including color and font remapping, speech to text, keyboard navigation, and screen readers). In my mind they are more important than the widgets for building a practical tool. Is QT on par with those? To join in this comment thread's Electron-ragging, I often find it frustrating that the hard-won OS idioms of the last 20 years have been left so easy to jettison in the age of apps.
  - toyg 8y ago
    Qt has tons of stuff, as far as I know everything you mention is covered pretty well (well, I don't know about speech, but widget text is very accessible). QT is basically one of two toolkits that most Linux desktops are built on: it has to be wide-ranging enough to cover everything a desktop does, be accessible, and it has to interoperate with "the other" toolkit (GTK). It's absolutely nothing like Electron.
- fireattack 8y ago
  Can vouch that wxPython's documentation is very lacking even from my limited use experience.

I've been using wxPython for many years, and it works very well. What are the advantages of PyQT over wxPython? Anyone experienced both 'worlds' in a non-trivial application?

mherrmann 8y ago

The reason why I chose PyQt over wxPython was the former's support for custom styles. I wrote an article with my thoughts on picking a GUI framework [1], in case you're interested. 1: https://fman.io/blog/picking-technologies-for-a-desktop-app-in-2016/ https://fman.io/blog/picking-technologies-for-a-desktop-app-...

solarkraft 8y ago
I am super happy that you seem so dedicated to providing a good UI library in an attempt to keep people off of Electron (I find one of the biggest hurdles to be the ease of getting started/iteration speed). Dumb question time: Is this also usable with QML?
- Siecje 8y ago
  You can use PyQt5 with QML here is a simple application https://github.com/siecje/qml-testing https://github.com/siecje/qml-testing

kbumsik 8y ago

1. wxPython has inconsistent looks and layouts between platforms and monitor resolutions (or DPI). For example, on PlayOnLinux GUI app I cannot click an "OK" button while using Surface Pro because the button is hidden outside of the window. 2. QML is an amazing language. It is modern, declarative and reactive but still very simple to use. Personally I don't want to go back to the traditional GUI coding styles after experienced QML. 3. Qt Designer is a great GUI tool that you can quickly prototype a GUI app. 4. Qt has the best documentation among cross-platform GUI frameworks. 5. Qt is a much bigger framework having more features. For example, you can easily embed WebKit or Chromium very easily.

gardaani 8y ago
The article doesn't mention QML at all. Is it possible to use it with Python?
- blattimwind 8y ago
  Of course.
sago 8y ago
Is number five true? (Genuine question.) I haven't used QT in anger, and it's been a few years since I last wrote something in WXP. But the last project went with wxWidgets because of its built-in support for things like drag-and-drop negotiation, (multiple) file type association, undo, print, file preview, system level common accelerators and OS defined accessibility settings (including color and font remapping, speech to text, keyboard navigation, and screen readers). In my mind they are more important than the widgets for building a practical tool. Is QT on par with those? To join in this comment thread's Electron-ragging, I often find it frustrating that the hard-won OS idioms of the last 20 years have been left so easy to jettison in the age of apps.
- toyg 8y ago
  Qt has tons of stuff, as far as I know everything you mention is covered pretty well (well, I don't know about speech, but widget text is very accessible). QT is basically one of two toolkits that most Linux desktops are built on: it has to be wide-ranging enough to cover everything a desktop does, be accessible, and it has to interoperate with "the other" toolkit (GTK). It's absolutely nothing like Electron.
fireattack 8y ago
Can vouch that wxPython's documentation is very lacking even from my limited use experience.