anygui-users — Discussions about how to use the Anygui package

Re: [Anygui-users] Backend API design similar to anygui?

[Brett <dr...@uc...>]

> To some degree it's already possible, since you can query the
> current backend with the backend() function. However, there will
> be some features to ease the implementation of components that
> either use the Anygui API, of backend-specific things where available.
>

I can already see that be a great boon for anygui.  I am sure  their are going
to be many people who already know a GUI API and are not going to want to give
them up because they know the one so well.  But  if they can leverage anygui's
platform-agnostic power while being able to backend-specific abilities when
needed that whould be able to convert a lot of people to using the API.


> I think you can very well use it for experimentation and learning,
> yes. There are changes ahead, though. The most noticable are perhaps
> a more extensive set of events and the addition of menus (which
> currently aren't available).
>

If they are mostly going to be additions and not changes, then I I already know
which GUI API I am going to start with.  =)


> One advantage of Anygui is that it has been designed to be simple
> and easy to use, mainly because we want it to be usable for
> teaching GUI programming. (Otherwise, it wouldn't be a very good
> candidate for a standard Python GUI, I think :)
>

I completely agree with that assessment.  One of the great things about the
"batteries" included with Python is that they are very simple and easy to use.


> Your insights and experiences (if you choose to learn GUI programming
> with Anygui) would be greatly appreciated, since they will help us
> judge whether we have succeeded in making a package which is easy
> to understand and use.
>

I would be honored to act as a test subject for anygui-dev.  Someone has to be
the space monkey, right? =)

I will be happy to e-mail comments, questions, suggestions, etc. as I delve into
the world of GUI programming.  It might be a little while, though, because a
project that I must  do in pure Scheme (using STk and Tk, actually) first.  But
when that is done, I have the perfect project to add a GUI to.

-Brett C.

Re: [Anygui-users] Backend API design similar to anygui?

[Magnus L. H. <ml...@id...>]

On Wed, Dec 26, 2001 at 12:35:00AM -0800, Brett wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Dec 2001, Magnus Lie Hetland wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, Dec 24, 2001 at 02:50:55AM -0800, Brett wrote:
> >
> > > I am planning to learn GUI programming and anygui is going to be my GUI
> > > API of choice.  But  I know that there are going to be times  where I
> > > am going to want more then what anygui can offer me since it has to deal
> > > with the lowest common denominator among its various backends.
> >
> > Yes, that is a point we intend to address, by allowing you to write
> > backend-specific extensions etc.
> >
> 
> Wonderful!  That would make  anygui that much more powerful.

To some degree it's already possible, since you can query the
current backend with the backend() function. However, there will
be some features to ease the implementation of components that
either use the Anygui API, of backend-specific things where available.
 
> 
> > > I was wondering what backend has an API design similar to anygui?  I hope
> > > to minimize having to learn a backend that I would use for complex GUI
> > > work that strays severely from anygui and thus minimize extra learning or
> > > coding bugs because I can't keep the two API designs separated in my head.
> >
> > I'm not quite sure which one would look the most like Anygui, but in
> > general, I think wxPython and Tkinter are good choices that aren't too
> > hard to learn. (I sort of think that wxPython is a bit cooler, but
> > that's probably just a matter of taste :)
> >
> 
> I had a sneaking suspicion you were  going to say that.  Following anygui-dev
> has suggested that those two were being used as the basis, but I was not sure.
> I have a sneaking suspicion I will go with Tkinter because of the amount of
> documentation online and being easier to install.

wxPython, Tkinter, and Jython are perhaps the three most used
backends supported by Anygui. (Or, actually, Jython is in a special
position, since it is a separate platform which must be covered,
and which basically has only one GUI package :)

But the goal of Anygui is, of course, to cover many backends.

> 
> > > Thanks in advance for any and all help.
> >
> > No problem -- not sure how much I helped, though ;)
> >
> > By the way: If you see something you need but which is lacking in
> > Anygui, just shout. We might very well include support for it... :)
> >
> 
> =)  OK.  Do you think anygui is at a point that I could actually use it to learn
> GUI programming?  Are most of the reworks you are planning to do after .1 going
> to be behind the scenes or will they affect the APIs usage?

I think you can very well use it for experimentation and learning,
yes. There are changes ahead, though. The most noticable are perhaps
a more extensive set of events and the addition of menus (which
currently aren't available).

One advantage of Anygui is that it has been designed to be simple
and easy to use, mainly because we want it to be usable for
teaching GUI programming. (Otherwise, it wouldn't be a very good
candidate for a standard Python GUI, I think :)

Your insights and experiences (if you choose to learn GUI programming
with Anygui) would be greatly appreciated, since they will help us
judge whether we have succeeded in making a package which is easy
to understand and use.

> -Brett C.

-- 
Magnus Lie Hetland                           The Anygui Project
http://hetland.org                           http://anygui.org

Re: [Anygui-users] Backend API design similar to anygui?

[Magnus L. H. <ml...@id...>]

On Mon, Dec 24, 2001 at 02:50:55AM -0800, Brett wrote:

> I am planning to learn GUI programming and anygui is going to be my GUI
> API of choice.  But  I know that there are going to be times  where I
> am going to want more then what anygui can offer me since it has to deal
> with the lowest common denominator among its various backends.

Yes, that is a point we intend to address, by allowing you to write
backend-specific extensions etc.

> I was wondering what backend has an API design similar to anygui?  I hope
> to minimize having to learn a backend that I would use for complex GUI
> work that strays severely from anygui and thus minimize extra learning or
> coding bugs because I can't keep the two API designs separated in my head.

I'm not quite sure which one would look the most like Anygui, but in
general, I think wxPython and Tkinter are good choices that aren't too
hard to learn. (I sort of think that wxPython is a bit cooler, but
that's probably just a matter of taste :)

> Thanks in advance for any and all help.

No problem -- not sure how much I helped, though ;)

By the way: If you see something you need but which is lacking in
Anygui, just shout. We might very well include support for it... :)

> 
> -Brett C.

-- 
Magnus Lie Hetland                           The Anygui Project
http://hetland.org                           http://anygui.org

[Anygui-users] Backend API design similar to anygui?

[Brett <dr...@uc...>]

I am planning to learn GUI programming and anygui is going to be my GUI API of
choice.  But  I know that there are going to be times  where I am going to want
more then what anygui can offer me since it has to deal with the lowest common
denominator among its various backends.

I was wondering what backend has an API design similar to anygui?  I hope to
minimize having to learn a backend that I would use for complex GUI work that
strays severely from anygui and thus minimize extra learning or coding bugs
because I can't keep the two API designs separated in my head.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

-Brett C.

[Anygui-users] Welcome to anygui-users

[Magnus L. H. <ml...@id...>]

Welcome, everyone :)

--
Magnus Lie Hetland                           The Anygui Project
http://hetland.org                           http://anygui.sf.net