Learning GUI programming with GTK+2 or GTK+3?

user-interface pygtk gtk2 gtk3
Benjamin picture Benjamin · May 7, 2011 · Viewed 7.4k times · Source

I am new to GUI programming, and I haven't found yet what library is best for my purpose (i want to make desktop environment applications, eg. docks, panels, desklets etc.) I have started learning basics of GTK, mainly using PyGtk. Most tutorials i found on line are for GTK+2.0. Recently however, GTK+3 has been released. So i am a bit unsure as to what that means for my learning curve:

  • Should i learn using GTK+3 and forget about GTK+2?
  • Does using one or the other really makes a difference from the point of view of coding?
  • Are there PyGTK bindings for GTK+3 already?
  • Is there any available tutorial for GTK+3?

Since i'm new to this, i'm throwing myself into it blindly, but a bit of guidance may be wiser. So if you have any, you're welcome :)

Answer

ptomato picture ptomato · May 7, 2011

Definitely go with GTK 3. The 10-minute tutorials on http://developer.gnome.org/ use GTK 3 and are an excellent introduction to programming with GTK in several languages, including Python. In the coming months you will probably see more tutorials appear for GTK 3, and in the meantime, you will still be able to get most tutorials for GTK 2 to work with a minimum of fuss. The basics aren't all that different.

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