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Ask HN:To build a GUI should I take the HTML5/js path or stick to older techs?

I have built an application using Python and would like to add a graphical interface for that application. The application is multi-platform and I am looking for a solution that should run on Win/Mac/Linux.

I have checked the different widget toolkits in Python (PyQt/PySide and wxPython) but I am not satisfied by them because in general the learning curve is high and because by default, they produce "clunky" anonymous results.

So if I want to go further with them and produce a nice personalized result (create your own widgets, ...) , I need to be really invested and spend lots of time mastering them.

I am wondering if building a web based interface (HTML5/javascript) wouldn't be better ?

I could create the web interface and run it in chromium with an extension to manage all filesystems operation. I could also start a nodejs server and kill it when I stop the application.

Do you think it is a viable solution ?

Which road would you take (stick to widget toolkit, nodejs, chromium) ?

Any advices are welcome.

3 points zoobert 14 years ago 12 comments

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