Python GUI programming with

PySide
Speaker: BigLittle
Date: 2013/03/04
CLI vs. GUI
CLI (Command Line Interface) GUI (Graphical User Interface)
Take less resources. Easier for user to view and
User have much more control your application.
control of their system. Ability of multitasking.
Only need to execute few
line to perform a task.
About Python + GUI
Some GUI library for Python:
Tkinter - Python's standard GUI package. (Tcl/Tk)
wxPython - A Python extension module that wraps wxWidgets library.
PyQt4 - A Python binding of the cross-platform GUI toolkit Qt.
PySide - A Python binding of the cross-platform GUI toolkit Qt.

Qt & wxWidgets are both well known C++ GUI library:

They are free and open source.
They are cross-platform and support Unicode.
They have full documentation and community support.
Why Qt / PySide?
Pros:
Its NOT MFC style.
Easy to build up by QtDesigner or text coding.
Intuitive SIGNAL / SLOT mechanism.
Supports I18N. (Internationalization)
LGPL. (GNU Lesser General Public License)
The API is more Pythonic.

Cons:
Qt is not written in standard C++ library.
Application size is big.
blabla
I dont care, and you?
Before Starting
Install Python (What?!)
http://www.python.org/download
User should note the compatibility between version 2.7.x and 3.x.

Install Qt
http://qt-project.org/downloads
The latest version is 5.0. (Its too new for me... =.=)

Install PySide
http://qt-project.org/wiki/PySideDownloads
Current version is 1.1.2, but most references on web is for 1.0.7.
A Simple Program
test.py object oriented programming styles

Just so easy!
A Simple Program (contd)
test.py

Import PySide module here.

A Simple Program (contd)
test.py

Inherit class QMainWindow

set its title then show itself.

A Simple Program (contd)
test.py

Contains the main event loop.

Create MyWindow instance
A Simple Program (contd)
test.py

Actually, the easiest way may be:

app = QApplication(sys.argv)
main = QMainWindow()
main.setWindowTitle(First GUI)
main.show()
sys.exit(app.exec_())

Trigger when execute test.py.

Where Is Other Stuff?
Just like a HD, you must format it then you can put in your data.
HD Current Window
Format QLayout
Data QWidget

QLayout and QWidget are the

most basic classes that make up
your GUI.

QMainWindow is a subclass of QWidget.

Right figure shows the default configuration.
QLayout
In fact, you dont need to start from QLayout itself. There are
many pre-designed layout. Use them directly should be enough.

QHBoxLayout

QGridLayout
QVBoxLayout

QFormLayout
QWidget
Example Think: Whats the layout setting
in the QGroupBox?
Lets Put Something On It
How To Activate It?
Now you have a skin of your application. Lets make it activated.
For example, push Big button then type Bigger on the editor.
trigger response
In Qt, trigger & response are called SIGNAL & SLOT
SIGNAL / SLOT
self.btn1.clicked.connect(self.typebig)
The advantage of SIGNAL / SLOT is the caller does not have to
know anything about the receiver and vice versa.
Any function could be a SLOT.
One can connect several SLOT to a SIGNAL and vice versa.

A common usage: Real-time check for input contents

Exercise
Try to modify the simple program to MD5 Encrypter.
Exercise (contd)
You need import hashlib first
Use Advanced Module
Matplotlib - A Python plotting library. (Based on PySide!)
SciPy - An open source library of scientific tools for Python.
VTK - Visual Tool Kit (TVTK, Mayavi)
Much Better Than Excel
Source code: http://matplotlib.org/examples/pylab_examples/demo_agg_filter.html
Something To Be Continued
Decorations:
Take advantages of groups, tabs, tooltips, , etc.
Add some icons, sounds or visual effects.

Maintains:
CurveExpert
Debug, debug and debug. (PyInstaller)

Packing/Release:
PyInstaller - Cross platform
cx_Freeze - Cross platform
py2exe - Window only

BitTorrent
(py2exe)
Create Your Own GUI App!
Model-View-Controller
Automation Tool
Distributed Programming
Database Management
Multimedia
CAD Software
Embedded System
Web Application
Games

Summary
GUI programming could help you interactively control the
application and report visualized final data. Every programmer
should familiar with its basic concept.

Programming in PySide = Programming in OOP. All components

in library can be easily adapted and modified. Try to use them as
much as possible.

There are many splendid functions like graphics, animation,

drag & drop, etc. for GUI programming. You can improve the
user experience by these, but remember to pay more attention
on the performance of your application.
References
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt
http://qt-project.org/wiki/PySide
http://matplotlib.org
http://www.scipy.org
http://www.vtk.org
http://www.pyinstaller.org
http://cx-freeze.sourceforge.net
http://www.py2exe.org
Thanks for your attention.