computer science

List of widget toolkits

List of widget toolkits is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of widget toolkits rather than just read about it. In short: This article provides a list of widget toolkits (also known as GUI frameworks), used to construct the graphical user interface (GUI) of programs, organized by their relationships with various operating systems. Low-level widget toolkits Integrated in the operating system Mac OS X uses Cocoa.

Key takeaways

List of widget toolkits belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of widget toolkits to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of widget toolkits from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This article provides a list of widget toolkits (also known as GUI frameworks), used to construct the graphical user interface (GUI) of programs, organized by their relationships with various operating systems.

Low-level widget toolkits

Integrated in the operating system Mac OS X uses Cocoa. Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X used to use Carbon for 32-bit applications. The Windows API used in Microsoft Windows. Microsoft had the graphics functions integrated in the kernel until 2006 The Haiku operating system uses an extended and modernised version of the Be API that was used by its predecessor BeOS. Haiku is expected to drop binary and source compatibility with BeOS at some future time, which will result in a Haiku API.

As a separate layer on top of the operating system The X Window System contains primitive building blocks, called Xt or "Intrinsics", but they are mostly only used by older toolkits such as: OLIT, Motif and Xaw. Most contemporary toolkits, such as GTK or Qt, bypass them and use Xlib or XCB directly. The Amiga OS Intuition was formerly present in the Amiga Kickstart ROM and integrated itself with a medium-high level widget library which invoked the Workbench Amiga native GUI. Since Amiga OS 2.0, Intuition.library became disk based and object oriented. Also Workbench.library and Icon.library became disk based, and could be replaced with similar third-party solutions. Since 2005, Microsoft has taken the graphics system out of Windows' kernel.

High-level widget toolkits

OS dependent

On Amiga BOOPSI (Basic Object Oriented Programming System for Intuition) was introduced with OS 2.0 and enhanced Intuition with a system of classes in which every class represents a single widget or describes an interface event. This led to an evolution in which third-party developers each realised their own personal systems of classes. MUI: object-oriented GUI toolkit and the official toolkit for MorphOS. ReAction: object-oriented GUI toolkit and the official toolkit for AmigaOS. Zune (GUI toolkit) is an open source clone of MUI and the official toolkit for AROS.

On macOS Cocoa - used in macOS (see also Aqua). As a result of macOS' OPENSTEP lineage, Cocoa also supports Windows, although it is not publicly advertised as such. It is generally unavailable for use by third-party developers. An outdated and feature-limited open-source subset of Cocoa exists within the WebKit project, however; it is used to render Aqua natively in Safari (web browser) for Windows. Apple's iTunes, which supports both GDI and WPF, includes a mostly complete binary version of the framework as "Apple Application Support". Carbon - the deprecated framework used in Mac OS X to port “classic” Mac applications and software to the Mac OS X. MacApp, the framework for the Classic Mac OS by Apple. PowerPlant, the framework for the Classic Mac OS by Metrowerks.

On Microsoft Windows The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), a C++ wrapper around the Windows API. The Windows Template Library (WTL), a template-based extension to ATL and a replacement of MFC The Object Windows Library (OWL), Borland's alternative to MFC. The Visual Component Library (VCL) is Embarcadero's toolkit used in C++Builder and Delphi. It wraps the native Windows controls, providing object-oriented classes and visual design, although also allowing access to the underlying handles and other WinAPI details if required. It was originally implemented as a successor to OWL, skipping the OWL/MFC style of UI creation, which by the mid-nineties was a dated design model. Windows Forms (WinForms) is Microsoft's .NET set of classes that handle GUI controls. In the cross-platform Mono implementation, it is an independent toolkit, implemented entirely in managed code (not wrapping the Windows API, which doesn't exist on other platforms). WinForms' design closely mimics that of the VCL. The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the graphical subsystem of the .NET Framework 3.0. User interfaces can be created in WPF using any of the CLR languages (e.g. C#) or with the XML-based language XAML. Microsoft Expression Blend is a visual GUI builder for WPF. The Windows UI Library (WinUI) is the graphical subsystem of universal apps. User interfaces can be created in WinUI using C++ or any of the .NET languages (e.g., C#) or with the XML-based language XAML. Microsoft Expression Blend is a visual GUI builder that supports WinUI.

On Unix, under the X Window System Note that the X Window System was originally primarily for Unix-like operating systems, but it now runs on Microsoft Windows as well using, for example, Cygwin, so some or all of these toolkits can also be used under Windows.

Motif used in the Common Desktop Environment. LessTif, an open source (LGPL) implementation of Motif. MoOLIT, a bridge between the look-and-feel of OPEN LOOK and Motif OLIT, an Xt-based OPEN LOOK intrinsics toolkit Xaw, the Project Athena widget set for the X Window System. XView, a SunView compatible OPEN LOOK toolkit

Cross-platform

Based on C (including bindings to other languages) Elementary, open source (LGPL), a part of the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries. GTK, open source (LGPL), primarily for the X Window System, ported to and emulated under other platforms; used in the GNOME, Rox, LXDE and Xfce desktop environments. The Windows port has support for native widgets. IUP, open source (MIT), a minimalist GUI toolkit in ANSI C for Windows, UNIX and Linux. Tk, open source (BSD-style), a widget set accessed from Tcl and other high-level script languages (interfaced in Python as Tkinter). XForms, the Forms Library for X XVT, Extensible Virtual Toolkit

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of widget toolkits

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of widget toolkits claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of widget toolkits before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of widget toolkits ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of widget toolkits

In research: List of widget toolkits appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of widget toolkits in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of widget toolkits is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of software, Widget toolkits, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of widget toolkits outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of widget toolkits in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of widget toolkits means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of widget toolkits out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of widget toolkits in simple terms?

Why does List of widget toolkits matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of widget toolkits?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of widget toolkits.