Any other programming frameworks for GUI like .NET?

[TommyTwommy]

I've been programming in VB.NET for like 5 years now. Since I was 13. I really like it and I haven't realized until a few months ago that .NET is a framework that contains all those controls I put on my form. And that you can download custom framworks or desing ones yourself. I was wondering if there are any better, more stable frameworks similar to .NET that I can program in. It doesn't have to be the same language. I just want to be able to drag and drop controls. Cuz when I tried Python tkinter I was like WTF why would someone write 1000 lines of code just to design a program when you can do 10 lines of designer code by drag-dropping a control in vb.net.

[fizzlesticks]

4 minutes ago, berny22 said:

I was wondering if there are any better, more stable frameworks similar to .NET that I can program in. It doesn't have to be the same language.  I just want to be able to drag and drop controls.

No. Visual Studio is as good as it gets for drag and drop GUI making.

 

The only other thing that even comes close is Swift or Objective-C  and using interface builder but those are Mac / iOS and since you're using VB that's probably not an option.

 

Also, what are you trying to do that you find .NET unstable?

[TommyTwommy]

17 minutes ago, fizzlesticks said:

No. Visual Studio is as good as it gets for drag and drop GUI making.

 

The only other thing that even comes close is Swift or Objective-C  and using interface builder but those are Mac / iOS and since you're using VB that's probably not an option.

 

Also, what are you trying to do that you find .NET unstable?

Wrong use of words. It's not unstable. Controls are just so basic and limited. I mean look at the Webbrowser control. It's shitty as it gets. I know I can download custom controls or make my own but I never got too deep into that and there aren't many tutorials out there on how to do that  ... And I don't like the fact that programs made in vb.net require the user to have .net framework installed. I mean Windows already contains all the controls that you use in .net. You see buttons, textboxes, labels in windows with and without .net framework. So where are those controls that windows has contained?

[brandishwar]

47 minutes ago, berny22 said:

I've been programming in VB.NET for like 5 years now. Since I was 13. I really like it and I haven't realized until a few months ago that .NET is a framework that contains all those controls I put on my form. And that you can download custom framworks or desing ones yourself. I was wondering if there are any better, more stable frameworks similar to .NET that I can program in. It doesn't have to be the same language. I just want to be able to drag and drop controls. Cuz when I tried Python tkinter I was like WTF why would someone write 1000 lines of code just to design a program when you can do 10 lines of designer code by drag-dropping a control in vb.net.

 

You're only seeing the 10 lines of designer code, not the 1000+ lines of lower-level code that is abstracted away. VB.NET is about as simple as it gets, because it was built from the ground up for RAD -- Rapid Application Development. Throw some controls on a form, make it look pretty, link it up to events, and in under a day you have an application that can connect to a database and display data. Everything else is more involved.

 

In the years I've been writing code -- 1999 was when I started in with Windows programming -- I've never seen anything easier to use than Visual Studio when it comes to GUI development. There is plenty they get right, mainly because they've been doing this for a *long* time. If you want to stick with GUI programming, .NET is where you'll need to stay, but start learning C# and get away from VB. I'd also recommend you look at WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) if you haven't already. With that you design your UI using XML and link it to events in your code to drive it.

 

But again, the little bit of code you do write merely abstracts away the tons of code that is *actually* executed under the hood. Frameworks for writing GUIs will have different levels of abstraction. I started with MFC, which is about as bare-bones as you can get without working with the raw Windows API -- likely close to what you were seeing with Python. But that also means it doesn't come with a lot of neat goodies out of the box and you have to rely on owner-drawn controls or third-party libraries to get the functionality or look you're aiming for. .NET Windows Forms provides more out of the box, but also gives more abstraction, while WPF gives a bit more flexibility.

 

But given your words, it sounds like you largely haven't done much that is complex. Now's your time to learn that.

 

If you're willing to learn C++, then you've got plenty of other options for frameworks on that front, many of which are cross-platform. Qt (pronounced "Cute"), KDE, MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes, WIndows only), .NET to a degree, and wxWidgets, and others out there.

[TommyTwommy]

35 minutes ago, brandishwar said:

 

You're only seeing the 10 lines of designer code, not the 1000+ lines of lower-level code that is abstracted away. VB.NET is about as simple as it gets, because it was built from the ground up for RAD -- Rapid Application Development. Throw some controls on a form, make it look pretty, link it up to events, and in under a day you have an application that can connect to a database and display data. Everything else is more involved.

 

In the years I've been writing code -- 1999 was when I started in with Windows programming -- I've never seen anything easier to use than Visual Studio when it comes to GUI development. There is plenty they get right, mainly because they've been doing this for a *long* time. If you want to stick with GUI programming, .NET is where you'll need to stay, but start learning C# and get away from VB. I'd also recommend you look at WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) if you haven't already. With that you design your UI using XML and link it to events in your code to drive it.

 

But again, the little bit of code you do write merely abstracts away the tons of code that is *actually* executed under the hood. Frameworks for writing GUIs will have different levels of abstraction. I started with MFC, which is about as bare-bones as you can get without working with the raw Windows API -- likely close to what you were seeing with Python. But that also means it doesn't come with a lot of neat goodies out of the box and you have to rely on owner-drawn controls or third-party libraries to get the functionality or look you're aiming for. .NET Windows Forms provides more out of the box, but also gives more abstraction, while WPF gives a bit more flexibility.

 

But given your words, it sounds like you largely haven't done much that is complex. Now's your time to learn that.

 

If you're willing to learn C++, then you've got plenty of other options for frameworks on that front, many of which are cross-platform. Qt (pronounced "Cute"), KDE, MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes, WIndows only), .NET to a degree, and wxWidgets, and others out there.

Yeah I'd really like to get deeper into GUI design and better frameworks. Can you give me some links and where to start from?

 

EDIT: I'm really liking the QT.. Seems nice.. But its a whole other language. Should I stay with .net & switch to C#.. or completely switch to QT and C++ I don't wanna be stuck on a useless language (vb)

[TommyTwommy]

I've been looking at the QT turns out there's only a 30 day trial? Not something for learning  

[brandishwar]

7 hours ago, berny22 said:

I've been looking at the QT turns out there's only a 30 day trial? Not something for learning  

Qt is available under the GPL: https://www.qt.io/download-open-source/

[straight_stewie]

The .NET Framework Class Library (FCL) is huge. We're talking millions of lines of code huge. There really isn't any other framework that can hold a candle to .NET in terms of how easy it is to well, do anything with. Another reason that .NET is so powerful is because all .NET languages compile to Common Intermediate Language, this allows relatively easy interoperability between languages. The .NET FCL isn't the only implementation that supports the Common Language Infrastructure, but it's definitely the best. Visual Studio is also one of the best IDEs that exists, for any language.

IMO, if you're looking to learn more, switch to .NET C# or some popular rendition of C++, depending on what exactly you want to do as you move forward.

[ManuAndrei]

The funny thing is everyone starting with GUI goes like "Why would anyone write the code instead of drag and drop? It's so much easier!"

Then you do that for a while and then you realize you get stuff done a lot faster by writing the code by hand. 

Ask yourself, what's faster, opening the toolbox, looking for a Grid, going into properties, setting the columns and rows, going back to the toolbox, dragging a text box, trying to find the right column and row on that damned editor, and repeat with a button, or write:

<Grid>
  <Grid.RowDefinitions>
    <RowDefinition Height="auto"/>
    <RowDefinition Height="auto"/>
  </Grid.RowDefinitions>
  <TextBox Text="MyText" Grid.Row = "0"/>
  <Button Content="Click me" Grid.Row = "1"/>
</Grid>

That's WPF.

When I started working in WPF I'd drag and drop controls and looking for properties and such. After a while, I realized it's a lot faster to just type what I want it to do.