Thread: Advice sought on GUI library / tools / code

  1. 06-02-2009 #1
    PaulBlay
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    Advice sought on GUI library / tools / code

    Basically I'm looking for something to take care of (much of) the drudge work of creating and handling windows and basic display / input objects. I'm new to C++ and going straight into the Windows API functions is a little much for me.

    So far I've looked at SDL, qt and wxWidgets. For one reason or another I've not got on well with any of them (although I'll probably have to go back and look again eventually). Multi-platform support would be nice, but at this point I'm ready to give up on that for now.

    So, what I'm looking for is
    - Works with Windows XP
    - (ideally) Compiles with VC++
    - Free (for non-commercial use)
    - (Relatively) user friendly.

    Does anybody have some advice on what I should try next?
  2. 06-02-2009 #2
    hauzer
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    Try FLTK, you won't be disappointed.
    Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
    What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
    All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
    For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
  3. 06-02-2009 #3
    PaulBlay
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    Quote Originally Posted by hauzer View Post
    Try FLTK, you won't be disappointed.
    Ah, that's a new name to me. I'll take it for a spin.

    The problem with Googling things like "GUI tool C++" is that you get a ton or hits, but it's hard to know what's good and relevant.
  4. 06-02-2009 #4
    hauzer
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    In the end it all points to few of the good ones: GTK+, FLTK, Qt, wxWidgets. However, I personally prefer FLTK. The only problem is that you have to compile it yourself, but if you have MSYS it's a piece of cake. If you want to skip that part I can upload it for you, but I recommend that you give it a try and build it by hand, you'll learn much.
    Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
    What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
    All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
    For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
  5. 06-02-2009 #5
    PaulBlay
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    Quote Originally Posted by hauzer View Post
    If you want to skip that part I can upload it for you
    That's a generous offer, but if I can't get it to compile myself then I can't really assume that everybody else will be able to and I want other people to be able to compile / use my project. Wish me luck.
  6. 06-02-2009 #6
    hauzer
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    Wish me luck.
    I wish you luck.

    EDIT: Oh, and just for the record, SDL is a highly portable multimedia library usually used for small games. It supports basic GUI managing (like window's name and icon), basic events and threads, keyboard and mouse and of course, raw video output. Also, it can integrate with OpenGL.
    Last edited by hauzer; 06-02-2009 at 03:04 PM.
    Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
    What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
    All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
    For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
  7. 06-03-2009 #7
    Alex31
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    You don't need anything on Windows.
    You can do everything and easily with Win32 api (COM and others)
  8. 06-03-2009 #8
    cyberfish
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    You don't need anything on Windows.
    You can do everything and easily with Win32 api (COM and others)
    Yes, except that will lock the program to Windows.

    All of the suggested GUI toolkits run on a handful of platforms.

    btw, SDL is not really the kind of "GUI library" you are looking for. It doesn't help you draw windows and buttons and textfields. It's for gaming graphics (circles, lines, etc).

    I personally prefer Qt, but they are all good (GTK+, FLTK, Wx, etc).
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