Which tool is Prefered to design a GUI .? Java or .net C# WPF

Question

Hello ,

I want to know which is the best tool which can be used to make GUI . Currently I'm working on VC++ 6.0 and I can't give a good look(Vista Look) in that.

So can anyone help me which one will be more suitable for GUI .. Java or any other tool(.net WPF) and if you can give the reason then it is very helpful.

Thanks

Answer 1

Any of the above are capable of a good "Vista" look (including VC++). You just need to opt-in to the new visual control styles with a manifest. WPF will have the most options for a "sexy" Windows UI, and won't need the manifest.

Answer 2

I would recommend WPF .. It has the new markup language which suits well the UI development, supported by code behind.

Check some examples http://blog.trivadis.com/blogs/manuelmeyer/archive/2008/06/12/cool-wpf-samples.aspx

Answer 3

Java is designed to work well across multiple systems.

.NET underlies Windows.

If you're trying to imitate Vista's look and feel as closely as possible, go with the framework that was written by the same company that also made your operating system.

Answer 4

If you do decide to go down the Java route, take a look at the JGoodies libraries. They take a lot of the pain out of writing Swing apps by providing (amongst other things) a much more usable layout manager, a data binding framework, and some some Windows like look & feels.

Take a look at this to see why you don't want to use one of Swing's standard layout managers directly...

Answer 5

Depends on what you mean by "best" tool.

In Java you are most likely looking at Swing to develop your application as far as frameworks go. If you are looking for a complete RCP, you could take a look at the Netbeans Platform or Eclipse RCP. The Netbeans IDE also has a nice GUI editor that can be used for generating Swing GUIs (if you don't mind working with generated code and the Netbeans IDE).

Answer 6

WPF is very nice but has quite a large learning curve.

Swing is a bit chunky.

7 years ago at least Delphi was a really really polished and good way to produce a windows GUI, since then Delphi has moved to be a .net laungage. So I would recommend at least looking into Delphi

Answer 7

I would recommend Flex with Adobe AIR - it's nice! adobe flex

Answer 8

You can use WPF for serving your purpose. WPF lets you

• edit the opacity of the elements : so that you can create transparency effect as in Vista
• create storyboards for your animations
• change the look and feel of existing controls using styles, so it can be easy to create Vista style controls
• apply bitmap effects such as Outerglow, Dropshadow, etc.

Although WPF is not limited to the above features, but it is the partial list of features for which you can use WPF to achieve your desired effect.

Answer 9

The tool decision should follow your requirements.

Do you need a GUI for a stand-alone Application or a client-server architecture? If it's stand-alone, do you need it for a single operating system or you need it portable? If it's client-server, do you want a thin client ('webapplication') or a rich client, if it's a rich client, you want the user to install it or shall it be provided by a webservice?

Do you want to hardcode the GUI or declare it? Do you have some expert knowledge on a certain programming language or a certain framework or do you want to use the project to learn on or the other (or both)?

I think, it's much easier to recommend something when we have some more background information.

From the few things I know I suggest:

Upgrade your visual c++ environment and keep working with the tools and frameworks you already know. Microsoft products should be the best solutions to develop applications for Microsoft operating systems.