Python has been the most trending programming language used for object oriented programming. With Python you can run simple statement over and over again without having to compile a whole program of which it’s output functionality is superb.
Of course, Python is an interactive programming which has a diverse range of options for GUI (Graphical User Interface) framework (help developers create GUI applications in an easy and secure manner). This article discusses the Best Python framework for building a desktop application and GUI.
Now let’s delve in to the top 5 ways to build a Python Desktop Apps in 2021 for upcoming developers!
Table of Contents
1. Python4Delphi (P4D)
Python for Delphi (P4D) is a set of free components that wrap up the Python DLL into Delphi and Lazarus (FPC). They let you easily execute Python scripts, and powerfully create new Python modules and new Python types. You can create Python extensions as DLLs and much more. P4D provides different levels of functionality:
- Low-level access to the python API
- High-level bi-directional interaction with Python
- Access to Python objects using Delphi custom variants (VarPyth.pas)
- Wrapping of Delphi objects for use in python scripts using RTTI (WrapDelphi.pas)
- Creating Python extension modules with Delphi classes and functions
P4D makes it very easy to use Python as a scripting language for Delphi applications. It also comes with an extensive range of demos and tutorials that ready to use and developed to solve real-world problems.
You can get it here, and read our introductory post for you to get started with Python4Delphi.
2. PyQT
PyQt is a Graphical User Interface widget toolkit. It is one of the most powerful and popular Python interfaces. It is a combination of the Qt (owned by Nokia) library and Python programming language which leaves a developer to decide whether to create a program by coding or create visual dialogs using Qt Designer.
PyQt is a free Python bindings software open-source widget-toolkit Qt, implemented for cross-platform application development framework. In the free version, certain features may not be available but if your application is open source then you can use it under a free license.
PyQt is available on Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Android-iOS, and Raspberry Pi and different python versions ranging from v2 to Qt v5.
3. Tkinter
Tkinter is the most popular programming package for building desktop apps and graphical user interfaces. It is so named because of its simplicity. Tkinter is the combination of Tk and Python’s standard GUI framework.
Tkinter comes with an abundance of resources of codes and reference books which is the major merit of choosing it as a package. It provides diverse widgets, such as labels, buttons, and text boxes used in a graphical user interface application. The Button control also called widgets are used to display buttons in a developed application while the Canvas widget is used to draw shapes (lines, ovals, polygon, etc) in your application.
4. Kivy
Kivy is an OpenGL ES 2 accelerated framework for the creation of new user interfaces that empowers you with the ease to write your code once and have it run on different platforms or Operating Systems (Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Android-iOS, and Raspberry Pi).
Kivy apps creation is fun, easy, and rewarding because it is free and is an open-source Python library for creating application software with an enabled natural user interface. Kivy comes with twenty widgets in its toolkit.
5. PyGUI
PyGUI is the simplest and most lightweight of all GUIs because it is purely in sync with the Python programming language. It is a cross-platform graphical application framework for Windows, Mac OS, and Unix.
A PyGUI developer inserts very little code between the GUI platform and Python application which in turn displays the natural GUI of the platform.
Conclusion
The above listed are the most widely used and best Python desktop app development frameworks available. It’s up to the developers to choose the Python GUI framework that best suits their needs.
Check out Python4Delphi which easily allows you to build Python GUIs for Windows using Delphi.
Check out DelphiVCL which easily allows you to build GUIs for Windows using Python.
References & further readings
[1] Vlahos, K (@PyScripter) and other contributors. (2008-2023).
Python4Delphi. GitHub. github.com/pyscripter/python4delphi
[2] Hakim, M. A. (2021).
An Introduction To DelphiVCL: A Python GUI Builder For Windows. PythonGUI.org. pythongui.org/an-introduction-to-delphivcl-a-python-gui-builder-for-windows
[3] Hakim, M. A. (2021).
Learn To Build A Flexible Hello World Python GUI In A Delphi Windows App. PythonGUI.org. pythongui.org/learn-to-build-a-flexible-hello-world-python-gui-in-a-delphi-windows-app
[4] Riverbank Computing Limited. (2022).
PyQt5 Reference Guide. Riverbank Computing Limited, The Qt Company. riverbankcomputing.com/static/Docs/PyQt5
[5] Python Software Foundation. (2001-2023).
Graphical User Interfaces with Tk. Python Software Foundation. docs.python.org/3/library/tk.html
[6] The Kivy Authors. (2010-2023).
Welcome to Kivy. The Kivy Authors. kivy.org/doc/stable
[7] Ewing, G. C. (2017).
PyGUI: A Graphical Application Framework for Python Documentation. University of Canterbury. csse.canterbury.ac.nz/greg.ewing/python_gui/ version/Doc
