FAQ 3.14 How can I write a GUI (X, Tk, Gtk, etc.) in Perl?
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From: PerlFAQ Server on 31 May 2010 06:00 This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq3.pod, which comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org . -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.14: How can I write a GUI (X, Tk, Gtk, etc.) in Perl? (contributed by Ben Morrow) There are a number of modules which let you write GUIs in Perl. Most GUI toolkits have a perl interface: an incomplete list follows. Tk This works under Unix and Windows, and the current version doesn't look half as bad under Windows as it used to. Some of the gui elements still don't 'feel' quite right, though. The interface is very natural and 'perlish', making it easy to use in small scripts that just need a simple gui. It hasn't been updated in a while. Wx This is a Perl binding for the cross-platform wxWidgets toolkit ( http://www.wxwidgets.org ). It works under Unix, Win32 and Mac OS X, using native widgets (Gtk under Unix). The interface follows the C++ interface closely, but the documentation is a little sparse for someone who doesn't know the library, mostly just referring you to the C++ documentation. Gtk and Gtk2 These are Perl bindings for the Gtk toolkit ( http://www.gtk.org ). The interface changed significantly between versions 1 and 2 so they have separate Perl modules. It runs under Unix, Win32 and Mac OS X (currently it requires an X server on Mac OS, but a 'native' port is underway), and the widgets look the same on every plaform: i.e., they don't match the native widgets. As with Wx, the Perl bindings follow the C API closely, and the documentation requires you to read the C documentation to understand it. Win32::GUI This provides access to most of the Win32 GUI widgets from Perl. Obviously, it only runs under Win32, and uses native widgets. The Perl interface doesn't really follow the C interface: it's been made more Perlish, and the documentation is pretty good. More advanced stuff may require familiarity with the C Win32 APIs, or reference to MSDN. CamelBones CamelBones ( http://camelbones.sourceforge.net ) is a Perl interface to Mac OS X's Cocoa GUI toolkit, and as such can be used to produce native GUIs on Mac OS X. It's not on CPAN, as it requires frameworks that CPAN.pm doesn't know how to install, but installation is via the standard OSX package installer. The Perl API is, again, very close to the ObjC API it's wrapping, and the documentation just tells you how to translate from one to the other. Qt There is a Perl interface to TrollTech's Qt toolkit, but it does not appear to be maintained. Athena Sx is an interface to the Athena widget set which comes with X, but again it appears not to be much used nowadays. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up, so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms. Working code is greatly appreciated. If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in perlfaq.pod. |