Best General Language for Making a GUI

PullJosh

Before anyone starts trolling me, I want you to know that I understand there isn't a “best” language. I just want your opinion.

So, I was hoping to make a program with a GUI a bit like Scratchs - very simple. I don't know what language to use (Python? I dunno. That's why I made the topic.)

cocoboo5

You're not going to be able to make something like scratch very easily, but for GUI's i would suggest C#, C++, or Java. Java has the swing library which makes making GUIs pretty simple, and with visual studio you could have a drag and drop editor of the GUI for C# or C++ (lots of additional programming needed though). That's what i would say. If you're looking for something very simple, python may be fine with tkinter. But in the end there is no best language like you said. Just go with whatever language you like the best, most modern programming languages have a library for making GUIs, so just choose whatever programming language you like the most.

PullJosh

cocoboo5 wrote:
You're not going to be able to make something like scratch very easily, but for GUI's i would suggest C#, C++, or Java. Java has the swing library which makes making GUIs pretty simple, and with visual studio you could have a drag and drop editor of the GUI for C# or C++ (lots of additional programming needed though). That's what i would say. If you're looking for something very simple, python may be fine with tkinter. But in the end there is no best language like you said. Just go with whatever language you like the best, most modern programming languages have a library for making GUIs, so just choose whatever programming language you like the most.

Okay. Thanks for the answer!

Magnie

I would agree with cocoboo5. Any of Microsoft's visual programming languages would probably be easiest, but it really depends on your personal preference of the programming language itself (I personally hate all of Microsoft's visual languages because you can't develop anywhere, it has to be a computer with their IDE installed).

▴ ▾ ▴ Macbook Pro 13" 2015 i5-5257U 8GB RAM - MacOS Sierra - Vivaldi v1.7 ▴ ▾ ▴
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary, those who don't, and those who know ternary.

PullJosh

Magnie wrote:
I would agree with cocoboo5. Any of Microsoft's visual programming languages would probably be easiest, but it really depends on your personal preference of the programming language itself (I personally hate all of Microsoft's visual languages because you can't develop anywhere, it has to be a computer with their IDE installed).

Okay. Thanks!

Hardmath123

I would suggest using HTML5.

PullJosh

Hardmath123 wrote:
I would suggest using HTML5.

Havn't heard that yet, but I like it (I already know basic HTML, I've messed around with canvas and javascript)

cocoboo5

HTML5 is good, but you cant make desktop applications with them. So if you want your GUI to run in the browser and as a desktop application i would suggest either java or C#. Java is preferrable to C# in this situation because you would need to use asp.net for an online GUI in C#, which is much harder set up than java with a j-applet.

Here's a chart that will show you the pros and cons of making a GUI in each progamming language.

HTML5/Javascript Difficulty: 3/10

Runs in browser.
Does not run as desktop application
easy to use and set up.
not as powerful as most other languages.

Java Difficulty: 7/10

Runs as desktop application.
The desktop application can run in the browser with some tweaking.
Powerful language.
Reasonably easy to set up / learn.
More difficult than HTML5/Javascript.
Runs on most major operating systems.

C# Difficuly: 7/10

Runs as desktop application.
Microsoft Visual Studio offers an easy to use drag and drop GUI editor.
Reasonably Powerful Language.
Can make GUI's in browser with asp.net (not recomended).
Reasonably easy to set up / learn.
Can only run on windows OS.

Python Difficuly: 5/10

Runs as desktop application.
May run in browser (will have to double check this).
Very easy programming language to learn and easy to set up editor.
Not a very good choice for large application development.
Can run on most major operating systems.

C/C++ Difficulty: 9/10

Runs as desktop application.
You cant run anything written in C++ in the browser easily.
Very difficult to learn programming language, but one of the most powerful in the world.
Microsoft Visual Studio offers an easy to use drag and drop GUI editor.
Can run on most operating systems. (unless you are using microsoft .NET, than it can run only on windows.)
If you want to have a GUI that can run on all OS than use Qt
Easy to compile, because it's native code.
'world standard' for application/videogame development.

Last edited by cocoboo5 (Sept. 14, 2013 17:50:29)

GeonoTRON2000

Assembly Difficulty: 10/10

Runs as a desktop application.
Painful to code.
Doesn't work in browser.
No GUI Library
Most Powerful Language

blob8108

Python
Not a very good choice for large application development.

Based on what? Python's fine for large programs…

tosh · slowly becoming a grown-up adult and very confused about it

turkey3

Flash? If Scratch did it, so can you

squeak? Most GUIs I know of are in Flash.

PullJosh

Thanks for the answers everyone! I'll keep thinking.

computerawesomeness

Python, Java, C++, Visual Basic, JavaSCRIPT, etc. If you want to make it and host it on a website, use Java/Javascript, along with PHP, and MySQL.
For example, if you don't know Java, here's how to make an applet:

package class1;
//import javax.swing.*; - if you need stuff like text boxes, or radio button
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
public class Class1 extends Applet {
  public Class1() {
  }
  @Override
  public void start() {
    // starting code
  }
  @Override
  public void stop() {
    // stopping code
  }
  @Override
  public void paint(Graphics g) {
    g.setColor(Color.blue);
    g.fillOval(0,0,20,20);
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Class1 class1 = new Class1();
    JFrame frame = new JFrame("Applet");
    frame.add(class1);
    frame.setSize(500,500);
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    frame.setVisible(true);
  }
}

OUTPUT:

VIEW MY PROJECT! Scratch Programming Language Simulation! v 1.0.0!
LINK!

jji7skyline

Windows 8 lets u use html5+js though.

Check out the NEW PROBEHEAD ALBUM!

Hardmath123

I'm not sure why desktop application is desirable. Isn't a platform independent browser app much better for the user and programmer?

cocoboo5

If you are going to go with the a browser app then, i suggest HTML5/Javascript vs a Java Applet. It can do basically anything a java applet can except easier to setup.

nathanprocks

cocoboo5 wrote:
HTML5 is good, but you cant make desktop applications with them.

Yes you can. You just need a wrapper program to run it. I suggest the WebKit browser engine for that.

GeonoTRON2000 wrote:
Assembly Difficulty: 10/10
Runs as a desktop application.
Painful to code.
Doesn't work in browser.
No GUI Library
Most Powerful Language

It doesn't run as a desktop application. It runs without an operating system. Well actually, you can get desktop and browser Assembly emulators.

Want to write text in rainbow? How about uʍop-ǝpısdn? Or just sdrawkcab? Get the TextTools Chrome extension!
My browser / operating system: Macrosoft Winding XO, Internet Exploder 6.0, Angel Player ver.:1.2.5
;

PullJosh

nathanprocks wrote:
cocoboo5 wrote:
HTML5 is good, but you cant make desktop applications with them.
Yes you can. You just need a wrapper program to run it. I suggest the WebKit browser engine for that.

Woah! That's awesome! So it's like a web browser that only runs local files (and without the top bar and stuff, just the page)?

Magnie

blob8108 wrote:
Python
Not a very good choice for large application development.
Based on what? Python's fine for large programs…

EVE Online is made with/in Python… 25,000 simultanous players…
https://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonGames

▴ ▾ ▴ Macbook Pro 13" 2015 i5-5257U 8GB RAM - MacOS Sierra - Vivaldi v1.7 ▴ ▾ ▴
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary, those who don't, and those who know ternary.

Poemon1_REMIX

Ya, I would use Java. It's like my second language that I speak

Anyway, Java has some built in GUI libraries, and you can also download GUI libraries.
I recommend the external libraries.

I invented stuffed pizza rolls! Insert turkey into the pizza rolls, and enjoy!

Discuss Scratch