Looking for an application GUI library for C++

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+1 Q:

Looking for an application GUI library for C++

I'm thinking about writing a very simple paint program. I would like a more advanced method of inputting data into my program like colors, thickness of the brush, etc. I would like to use a GUI library so I can program buttons and menus to make input easier.

Any suggestions?

(I'm running Visual C++ 2005 SP1)

+16 A:

Qt is a pretty solid GUI application framework. It is cross-platform, well documented, supported, and free.

fbrereto 2009-08-26 18:41:40

with Qt you start-up creating a "simple paint program" and end-up creating huge software such as Google Earth :)

Lawand 2009-08-26 18:45:43

Ever since QT went LGPL'd, I don't see any reason not to use it in any C++ application, OSS, commercial, or otherwise. It beats all competitors on performance, feature-completeness, stability, and documentation by a very large margin.

Pavel Minaev 2009-09-03 23:16:45

Not to mention Qt comes with several "simple paint program"-like demos to learn from.

Graphics Noob 2009-09-03 23:25:43

+4 A:

Does GTK+ not suit your needs? It has a lot of advanced controls for handling colour input (being originally design for GIMP). gtkmm is:

the official C++ interface for the popular GUI library GTK+. Highlights include typesafe callbacks, and a comprehensive set of widgets that are easily extensible via inheritance. You can create user interfaces either in code or with the Glade User Interface designer, using libglademm. There's extensive documentation, including API reference and a tutorial.

Qt is also a possibility. Both will allow you to write [mostly] platform independent code.

kjfletch 2009-08-26 18:43:28

While there is Gtk/Win32, Gtk applications still look somewhat foreign on Windows - the "native" theme is far from perfect. Setting it up to work with VS might also be a hassle.

Pavel Minaev 2009-09-03 23:19:18

+3 A:

Why not use either ATL or MFC, as they're both supplied with VS2005 anyway...

Another option would be WTL, which comes recommended by some former colleagues of mine.

Rowland Shaw 2009-08-26 18:43:59

Or Windows Froms

Nick 2009-08-26 18:47:59

You *could* but I'd normally recommend using C# (or VB.Net) for winforms, rather than MC++

Rowland Shaw 2009-08-26 18:50:28

Another vote for WTL

Nemanja Trifunovic 2009-08-26 19:23:21

MFC is fairly low-level and inflexible, and you're in to a world of hurt if you try to do anything non-standard. ATL+WTL is even more low-level, and you'll be dealing with raw API calls half of the time. All in all, unless output binary size is a constraint (as it often is for e.g. ActiveX controls), using either MFC or ATL/WTL leads to unproductive waste of time compared to a high-level framework such as Qt.

Pavel Minaev 2009-09-03 23:18:29

Most MFC tutorials I've seen use the example of a simple paint program, which is why I mentioned that (also, it promotes the Document-View model which is quite similar to the currently in-vogue ones such as MVC). MFC just happens to be out of vogue at the moment. It would at least offer some WYSIWYG support, which is more than, say, QT.

Rowland Shaw 2009-09-04 09:14:18

QT has a great WYSIWYG editor.

Ron Warholic 2009-09-14 22:14:20

+5 A:

wxWidgets is a cross-platform, open source GUI library that has some nice graphics features.

computergeek6 2009-08-26 18:44:13

+2 A:

A few of your options:

Win32 API
Qt
.NET framework (using C++/CLI)
wxWidgets

My usual choice: Win32 API

My recommendation for you: Qt

EDIT: Actually a simple paint program sounds very doable using only Win32 API and GDI+. If you feel brave enough, then you may want to give that a try. (I tend to be kind of biased to lightweight solutions.)

StackedCrooked 2009-08-26 19:09:49

can i use the QT library in visual studios 05?

TheFuzz 2009-08-26 19:28:06

Well you could, but not with graphical widget+layout design support. But, Qt has its own version of that, actually 2 versions, Designer (just designs the GUI), and Creator (which is a whole IDE; Designer, editor, and debugger, in one).

JDonner 2009-08-26 20:15:44

@TheFuzz, yes you can, there are some tutorials available on the net for this. As JDonner is saying, you won't get the visual designer if you are using Visual Studio, but don't worry about that. It's only a tool that allows you to draw widgets visually like in Visual Basic. You don't really need it, actually I even prefer making my GUI's in code.

StackedCrooked 2009-08-26 20:22:53

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