Michelle Waveform, PhD
hello #mastadon #python people! I need to create a fairly full-featured, desktop user interface (multiple windows, some plotting/graphing) so non coders can set up and run the underlying model. Any recommendations for Python GUI frameworks? I’ve been leaning towards PyQt - any other ones I should look at?
Jun 7, 2024 at 2:02amMastodon for iOS
Show threadunicornCoder ☑️  Jun 7, 2024

@mich_waveform

what comes to mind is Shiny / flexdashboards , you can use Python with the {reticulate}. PyQt seems like lots of work but maybe is what you are after. Or use Streamlit, maybe it is quicker to get going for your use case. hope it all works out

Show threadMichelle Waveform, PhDJun 7, 2024
@unicornCoder thanks! I think I am still leaning toward something a little more full featured, like PyQt/Pyside. I'm looking to make more of a true desktop application as opposed to a dashboard... although I'm going to keep flexdashboards in mind for other projects, it looks really good. (I love Shiny!)
Show threadunicornCoder ☑️  Jun 7, 2024

@mich_waveform

okay. PyQt does give you lots to work with so i bet it will be good.

Show threadSebastian MuthwillJun 7, 2024
@mich_waveform I did a few things in #kivy + #KivyMD
Show threadMichelle Waveform, PhDJun 7, 2024
@SebastianM6L oh wow - #kivy looks really good, and is advertised as being "easy to use" (qt is decidedly not lol). Also #kivymd for the design looks nice. Thanks!!
Show threadSebastian MuthwillJun 7, 2024
@mich_waveform It's quite some time I did a project in #kivy but yes it's really good and portable as well. So you can create #windows #linux and #mac apps.
Show threadGabrielle SchroederJun 7, 2024
@mich_waveform I started learning a Qt framework (PySide6) this year and like it so far, but I don't have experiences with any other GUI frameworks for comparison! These tutorials: https://www.pythonguis.com/pyside6-tutorial/ as well as the official documentation (https://doc.qt.io/qtforpython-6/) have been very helpful. I also like that it's easy to integrate matplotlib plots, and there is pyqtgraph if matplotlib's performance is an issue (e.g., if you have plots with lots of data).
PySide6 Tutorial 2025, Create Python GUIs with Qt

The easy way to create desktop applications. PySide, also known as Qt for Python, is a Python library for creating GUI applications using the Qt toolkit.

Python GUIs
Show threadMichelle Waveform, PhDJun 7, 2024
@gmschroe oh awesome, thanks!! I want to use #PySide/qt, but I am struggling with the official #qt installer for some reason. I hope to get it sorted soon so I can try it out.
Show threadMichelle Waveform, PhDJun 7, 2024
@gmschroe Are you also using qt designer?
Show threadMichelle Waveform, PhDJun 7, 2024
@gmschroe I can get it working on my mac so I can at least try it there for now but I do need it on Windows as well... the installer just stopped and quietly closed itself with no error messages or anything so I can't figure out what's wrong. (so I switched over to #wxpython for a while lol). Sorry #qt, I'm trying!
Show threadGabrielle SchroederJun 7, 2024
@mich_waveform I haven't tried Qt designer - I wanted the level of control that coding provides (and I generally have lower patience for making things by clicking/dragging in a UI). We'll see if that was the right choice for my project! I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences with the designer approach. Coding was slow at first, but I'm getting much faster as I learn Qt's abilities. I also use sketching and Figma to create wireframes before coding the UI.
Show threadMichelle Waveform, PhDJun 8, 2024
@gmschroe I think I might also prefer the coding approach… the UI type designer apps tend to generate kind of bloated code, at least the ones I’ve used before (scene builder for Java and wxformbuilder). I like the idea of doing layout using Figma.
Show threadPekka VäänänenJun 8, 2024
@mich_waveform I haven't done any big GUIs in Python but PyQt or PySide (I think they are the same thing?) really seemed like the best way when I looked into it a couple of weeks ago.