The GUI Toolkit, Framework Page

Page created April 17, 1997 (86). recent changes

Free toolkits: C/C++ Java other languages    | commercial toolkits: C/C++ Java   | Related links   | copyright

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Free Toolkits (including both Free (in the GNU sense) and no-cost ones)

C/C++ oriented

Name	Comments	license	Unix X11+	Unix X11+ Motif	MS Win 95/98	MS Win NT/2000	MS Win 3.1	OS/2 PM	MacOS	NextStep OpenStep MacOS X	other platforms
AbiWord 's cross platform layer	more info needed! Unix version built on gtk+	GPL	y		y	y	y				BeOS
AbsoluteX	n open source free class library primarily developed for use with X Window System. Uses libsigc++.	LGPL	y
Amiga Foundation Class	aims to support Amiga and X11	art	?								Amiga (?)
AlfaGUI	a small GUI library for DOS, useful for embedded applications		y								DOS 16/32 bit
Amulet OpenAmulet	research-oriented toolkit from CMU. native look andfeel. High-level support for interactive interfaces: Direct Manipulation Behaviors, Undo, Animation, etc. original project at CMU completed and Nolonger supported.  However, another group has picked up development as OpenAmulet.	PD	y		y	y			y
Andrew	research system from CMU. C and C++ API.	BSD	y
Bakery	a C++ Framework for creating GNOME applications using Gnome-- and      Gtk--.	LGPL	y
Berlin	a totally new window system for Unix/Linux that alsoincludes high level APIs for GUI programming.  Very experimental asit buids upon  OpenGL and CORBA.  Successor of Fresco and Offix. Also listed as an alternative windowing system	LGPL
BGUI	GUI library for Amiga.based on BOOPS. C API.	freely distributable									Amiga
CG	GUI toolkit of the Arachneproject	BSD	y		y	y			y
Coral(ctGUI)	very powerful and complete advanced application framework with strong GUI components.  Advanced functionalities for non-GUI tasks like networking, shared memory, etc.	Art	y		y	y					Amiga (old versions)
Cvo		BSD	y
CX	an "UI utility with themes support." just begin.	LGPL	y
DCLAP	bare-bone application framework. Nolonger developed and maintained for 3 years already	noncommercial only		y	y	y	y		y
EasyGTK	EasyGTK is a wrapper library to make GTK programmingeasier, and quicker	GPL	y
Epeios	Collection of general purposes libraries essentially coded in C++ and working under UNIX and Windows. containing GUI library	GPL	y		y	y
ET++	project is completed. successor is MET++.	BSD	y(?)	y(?)
EZWGL	C API. motif look and feel.	LGPL	y
Fltk	The Fast Light Tool Kit. API modeled after Xform,but in C++. SGI Motif look and feel. good documentation.( Fluid, an UI builder)	LGPL	y		y	y			unfinished
FOX	C++-based toolkit on top of XLib. MS Win 95 look.under development	LGPL	y		y	y	y
Fresco	Advanced research toolkit formly supported by theX Consortium but now independently developed. Successor to Interviews.( alt. page)( Javaversion) ( another info page) development stopped,  succeededby Berlin	BSD	y		y	y			y
GEM	The old GUI environment for MSDOS and Atari ST (about1985), now free  software	GPL									MS-DOS and Atari ST
GEM++	C++ classes for GEM programming, for Atari ST.	LGPL
GINA	a research project, is completed. (ftp)			y
GLOW	"a cross-platform object-oriented framework for building interactive applications using OpenGL or similar APIs such as Mesa. It is, at its heart, an C++ wrapper for GLUT, providing a fully object-oriented API for creating windows, menus and other GUI elements, and for event handling. GLOW also features an extensible cross-platform widget library for building powerful user interfaces."Note: Thusportable to any platform where a functional OpenGL implementation exists(including Mesa )	LGPL	note	note	note	note	note	note	note	note	note
GLUI	An OpenGL /GLUT-basedGUI toolkit.   Rendering is done entirely in OpenGL. Win 95 lookand feel.  Note: Thusportable to any platform where a functional OpenGL implementation exists(including Mesa )	LGPL	note	note	note	note	note	note	note	note	note
GNOME (libs)	the GNOME desktop also servesas an application framework, C API. Requirers gtk+	LGPL	y
GNUstep	envolving NextStep/OpenStep clone. C/Objective CAPI. Version 0.6.6 just released	LGPL	y
gnewt	a gtk+-based toolkit for writing simple user interfaces	LGPL	y
grafix	a library for "drawing pictures, functions or othergraphic objects in an interactive manner" or simple graphical user interfaceconstruction" with emphasis on visualization, not UI	GPL	y
GraphAPP	C API. a small toolkit for teaching.	?	y	y	?	?	y
gtk+	The GIMP Toolkit. developed as part of the GIMPproject. Now at version 1.2. C API. IS BECOMING a leading toolkit in the free software community. variable  look and feel (default:Motif).  (ftp) (mailing list) ( gtk--,a C++ wrapper)( Gtkkitand Gtoolkit , ObjectC wrappers) ( wxGTK, WxWindows port to gtk+ (C++ API)) ( gtkv, Vport to gtk+ (C++ API)) (VDK , SDPGTK, Inti, other C++ wrappers) glade, grad, epingle,UI builders for gtk+ and gtk-- libglade, a library for gtk/ GNOME  allowing GUI built at run time from specifications in configuration files in XML format, without the need to recompile program	LGPL	y		y	y					BeOS , Linux console, DirectFB
gtkmm (gtk--) gnomemm (gnome--)	complete C++ wrapper for gtk+ and GNOME. Uses modern C++ features (templates, etc.) for type-safe callbacks and signal/slots with libsigc++ . glade--,GUI builders for gtk-- related: gnomemm, c++ bindings for GNOME	LGPL	y
Harmony	attempts to create a Qt clone witha true Free Software license.  Development is halted.	LGPL	unfinished
Hv	C API.	?		y
Interviews ivtools	Ivtoolsis an actively maintained and envolved version of Interviews, formerly by Vectaport Ivtool apps can be embedded inside Motif and Xt canvas. Ivrools contains an application framework, a GUI widget framework, A command interpreter , drawing editor application framework,  command interpreter into the drawing editor and graph/network application Interviews (ftp) was  an early advanced toolkit whose development stopped around  1993. conceptual successor is  Fresco.	BSD	y
Inti	a set of integrated foundation libraries for developingC++ applications on UNIX-like systems such as Linux, including C++ wrapperfor gtk+	LGPL	y
IUP	ANSI C, native controls, custom contros, abstract layout, only a few functions, Lua Scripting	freely distributable		y	y	y
IBTK	a small, "basic self-contained no-frills toolkitto create platform-independent GUI software (in C++)	GPL	y
JAPI	Written in JAVA and C,  provides the JAVA AWT Toolkit to non object oriented Languages like C, Fortran, Pascal and even Basic	?	y	y	y	y
KaiView	stalled in favor of the LIP . recently resumed	?	y
KDE(libs)	KDE desktop  also serves as anapplication framework. Requires Qt	LGPL	y
LessTif	an envolving Motif 1.2 clone. getting close to becomea complete Motif substitution. C API.	LGPL	y
libsx	"the Simple X library -- is a lightweight wrapperlibrary sitting on top of the Athena Widget set." C API	LGPL	y
Lightweight GUI Interface	also for BeOS	LGPL			?	?					BeOS
libgui	C API.	BSD	y
LIP	Linux Interface Project. still under development, in the beginning stage. development stalled?	LGPL(?) Art(?)	y
MacAPP	Apple 's Mac framework, probably the first widely available GUI framework.   Still supported/updated by Apple.	MacAPP license			y (unfinished)	y (unfinished)			y	y
Marx	C API. the GUI toolkit is part of a C-like scriptlanguage for quickly building GUIs, although also usable from compiled C. Motif look and feel.	GPL	y
MET++	"an object-oriented application framework .... providingreusable objects for 2D graphics, user interface components, 3D graphics,video, audio, and music." based on ET++.	?	y		?	y(?)			y(?)
MGUI	C API.	?	y		y	y	y
Microwindows	a small windowing system providing Win32 and X11API, targetting embedded systems. C API	MPL, GPL	y								MS-DOS, Linux framebuffer, RTEMS, Linux SVGAlib
MiniGUI	" a compact Graphics User Interface (GUI) support system for Linux. MiniGUI defines some Win32-like APIs for the applications. The goal of MiniGUI is keeping its features of small and exquisiteness to provide a small windowing system support library."	LGPL	y								Linux framebuffer, Linux SVGAlib and libCGI
(Motif) OpenMotif	The real Motif, the traditionalstandard Unix X11 toolkit, now moving toward free/open source software.  C API.	OpenGroup Public License (free for free/open source unices only)	y	native
Motif++	C++ wrapper for motif.	?		y
notif	written in object-oriented C.  C API. Motiflook and feel. ( announcement)	GPL	y
NWS	distributed as part of Pavuk.C API.	GPL	y
OPaC	"a highly portable user interface toolkit with dynamicedition." look and feel and behavior are adjustable/editable at run time	"OPaCFree Public License"	unfinished (?)		y	y		unfinished	unfinished
OpenOffice(as an GUI application framework )	possibly modern forms of StarView? containing a complete application framework and GUI library as the basis of an office suite, including low level GUI toolkit (VCL), application framework, graphics applications services	GPL/LGPL/SISSL	y		y	y
Offix	a very rich C++ interactive application API withclasses for X11 windows, images, events, clipboards, inter-application communications, styles for look and feel, layout management and drag anddrop.  Also has classes for Unix system services. Open Look and Motiflook and feel. In alpha  release. No longerdeveloped, work merged into Berlin	LGPL	y
OpenGUI	a small  graphics  &   windowing library  built  upon a  fast,    low-level  x86 asm  graphics  kernel. Windows 95 look and feel	LGPL									Linux console, MS-DOSDJDPP, QNX
ParaGUI	a high-level crossplatform application framework and GUI library. It is completely based on the SimpleDirectMedia Layer (SDL). Works on any environment where SDL exists.	LGPL	y (via SDL)		y (via SDL)	y (via SDL)			y (via SDL)
Pingo	a C++ class library and framework for X Window Systemwith OSF/MOTIF look-and-feel. API is similar to the Java AWT API.	LGPL		y
Qt	a high-quality framework. hasadvanced features not present in other toolkits, such a full 2d graphics API (with rotations, scaling, shearing, etc.), metafile support, same code for screen and printer output. variable look and feel (default:Motif or Win95). Version 3.0 released. KDevelop , EBuilder, Qt Architect , QtDesigner and QtEZ, UI buildersfor Qt	Qt Free Edition license (1.x series, X11 versiion)  QPL( Qt 2.x series, X11 version) QPL and GPL (Qt 2.2 and later, X11 version) no cost for non-commerical use (Windows version)	y (QPL and GPL)		y (no cost for non-commercial use)	y (no cost for non-commercial use)					Qt/Embedded: for the Linux frame buffer without X.
STDWIN	C API. No longer supported.	?	y						y
SUIT	Simple User Interface Toolkit. C API.	?	y				y		y
Tk	good widget set but not frequently used as a pure C library. Widely used in combination with high-level script languages (Tcl, Scheme, Python, Perl,etc.). C API. Native look and feel.	BSD	y		y	y	y		y
TOAD	in early stage, still alpha	LGPL	y
TWIN/The    Willows    Toolkit	implementation of MS Windows API on other platforms.C API.	LGPL	y		native	native	native		y
V	Common C++ wrapper for many platforms. a good "competitor"of WxWindows.native look and feel.  ( gtkv, gtk+ port of V)	LGPL	y	y	y	y	y	y
VDK	"Visual Development Kit", a C++ wrapper for gtk+ ( VDK Builder, a RAD tool for VDK)	LGPL	y
Vibrant (NCBI Toolkit)	part of National Center for Biotechnology Informationsoftware development toolkit, a multi-platform user interface developmentlibrary that automatically handles the behavior of GUI objects, with callbacksto programs			y	y(?)	y(?)	y(?)		y
(TheHungry) ViewKit	a clone of the SGI (ICS) Viewkit.Currently not being developed.	LGPL(?)	(in the future with lesstif)	y
ViewKit (ICS)	C++ framework for Motif.  Freely available for Linux Only.	no-cost (for Linux only)		y
VWCL	MS Win specific class library.				y	y	y
VxLib	Visual Text Library, a "character cell"-based librarylike text mode but displayed in a X window	GPL	y
Wafe	"Wafe (Widget[Athena]front end) is a package thatimplements a symbolic, string based interface based on Tcl to the X Toolkit, the Athena Widget Set , Motif and various complementary widget classes and extension packages. " C API.	BSD	y	y
Whisper	"general purpose Mac/Win32 C++ application framework. successor to the Mac framework Raven.  is a modern framework that takes advantage of templates, multiple inheritance, STL, and exceptions. is designed around the notionof Design by Contract and includes numerous debugging tools."	BSD			y	y	y		y
WideStudio	an IDE with an original windowing library and visual window editor and a rich set of development facilities	BSD	y		y	y
Wine	"a free implementation of Windows (API) on Unix" On Intel x86 PCs only, can be used to port Windows programs to X11	Wine license	y (Intel x86 PC only)		native	native	native	y
WIRP	"Windows Interface Reduced Programming is a libraryof c routines for simple, platform independent GUI programming." C API.	?	y
WWL(  ?)	C++ classes around X widgets.	?	y(?)	y(?)
WxWindows	Common C++ wrapper for many platforms. major revision(2.0)  just released. native look and feel. good cross-platform support.(Wxxt , X Toolkit port) ( WxGTK, gtk+ port)	BSD (version1.x only) LGPL ( wxxt1.6x only) WxWindows license (version 3.0, actually LGPL plus exceptions)	y	y	y	y	y	unfinished	y	unfinished	also on top of MicroWindows, and MGL (unfinished)
Xarm	a C++ wrapper for Motif.	LGPL		y
X|Front	"a C++ library providing an object-oriented interfaceto X11R5 Xlib"	BSD	y
xclasses	"the X11 layout library." details available in Germanonly  note another toolkit has the samename	LGPL	?
xclasses, xclass95	developed in conjuction with the fvwm95 window manager. MS-Win 95 look and feel. note another toolkit has the samename	LGPL	y
XForms	a toolkit distributed in binary form only. C API. ( fdesign,a UI builder)	X Forms license	y
Xm++ (?)	C++ classes for Motif and X11 Athena widgets	?	y	y
Xmt (Motif Tools), Xmt++	"Xmt is a Motif Tools library. The Xmt Motif Tools library provides developers of user interfaces tools that make Motif easier to use. Xmt consists of the core library of additional widgets, utility programs, docs, tutorials, and example code." C API. Supports rapid prototyping, GUI story boarding. "Xmt++ is to provide a C++ Model-View-Controller framework implementation based on Xmt. This framework makes it easier to integrate a Motif GUI to an application and maintain design integrity."	BSD	y
XPIP	C API	BSD	y
XPToolkit (Xpfe)	cross-platform, toolkit for Mozilla."Anopen source SDK for building common cross-platform user interfaces usingexisting cross-platform standards (e.g., XML, RDF, HTML, CSS, DOM, JavaScript) and technologies (e.g., Gecko, XPConnect) to minimize platform-specific code." May built on top of gtk+ and Xt for X11	MPL	y (Xt, gtk)	?	y	y	y		y
XView	the Open Look widget set. C API. no longer supportedby Sun in favor of Motif.		y
YACL	native look and feel	BSD		y	y	y	y	y
YAAF	Yet Another Application Framwork,  with fairlycomplete  GUI classes and good cross-platform support	BSD	y		y	y			y
yzone	a set of universal cross-platform libraries for creationof the graphical modular applications for any UNIX or Microsoft Windowsplatform. C API	LGPL	y		y	y
Zinc	well stablished, cross-platform  framework. supports 24 platforms  (including MS DOS and Unix text mode)	desktop use only (not for  embedded applications)		y	y	y	y	y			MS-DOS, VxWorks, pSOS
Zoolib	"Zoolib provides a GUI toolkit with a uniquely flexible layout system. It also provides a single-file database format, TCP networking, and extensive debugging support. ZooLib applications are multithreaded. ZooLib requires only minimal support from the underlying OS and platform GUI layer, and thus could be ported to a completely new platform without too much difficulty"	BSD	y		y	y			y		BeOS
Zune	Amiga MUI clone for X11	LGPL	y
Name	Comments	license	Unix X11 +	Unix X11 + Motif	MS Win 95/98	MS Win NT/2000	MS Win 3.1	OS/2 PM	MacOS	NextStep OpenStep MacOS X	other platforms

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Java oriented

• Biss-AWT (GPL-like license)
• SAWT
• GWT (Gadget Windowing toolkit), licensed under LGPL,from DTAI Inc. (nolonger available?)
• Koala Toolkit (license)
• SubArctic,not an AWT clone but a toolkit based on advanced research (license)
• FrescoJavaport (only supports Java 1.0.2)
• Mica,  from SoftwareFarm ( license)
• Marimba's FreeBongo
• dog.gui ,a lightweight, high-performance Java GUI toolkit which can serve as a replacement for the AWT (license: MozillaPublic License)
• SWANK,a GUI toolkit implemented in Java, to be used with Jacl, a Tcl intrepreterin Java (BSD-style license)
• JAPI, a non-OO, procedural toolkit built on top of AWT, and accessible from Pascal, C and Fortran, for Windows and Unix
• Epeios,  for Unix and Windows, GPLed.

Ada

GtkAda , Ada binding for gtk+,for X11 and Windows ( GPLed plus exceptions )

X11Ada ,X11 and Motif bindings forAda

VisualAda Developer, RAD environment for Ada

GWindows , GUI framework for Ada on Windows  (GPL/LGPLplus exceptions )

Windex, Ada wrapper for the Win32 API ( GPLplus exceptions)

JEWL, Simple GUI framework for rapid development of GUI programs ( GPL)

Claw, Ada framework for the Windows  API, demo version

BASIC

wxBasic, a BASIC interpreter with bindings for wxWindows (LGPLed)

LISP

• Garnet, GUI development environment for Common Lisp. No longer supported.
• XIT
• Winterp, a  rapid development tool for GUI applications with a small object-orientedLISP interpreter ( XLisp-Plus) (BSD-stylelicense)

Tcl

• Tk,the standard widget set for Tcl, for X11, MS Windows, and MacOS.
• itcl ([incrTcl]), with itk ([incrTk]) and [ incr Widgets] ,object-oriented extension to the Tcl language and associated mega-widgetset and GUI framework.
• BLT extensionto the Tk toolkit.
• Tix, the Tk InterfaceExtension.
• TclMotif, Motif binding for Tcl.
• BWidgets ,"a professional look&feel Toolkit.  Everything is native so noplatform compilation, no compiled extension library needed. In Pure Tcl/Tk.For Unix, Windows and Mac."  ( LGPLed)
• Tcl-gtk , gtk+ binding for Tcl

Pascal

• EFLIB, "extended function library"
• FreePascal's gtk+bindings
• BlackBox Component Framework, successor to Oberon/F, using Component Pascal, for Win32 and Mac ( free for education use only)
• WOL, Framework for windowed programming under Windows and Linux (GTK) with Free Pascal. (GPLed)

Modula 2

Dialog Machine and RAMSES (Research Aids for Modeling and Simulation of Environment Systems) "providesthe basis for highly portable programming of interactive applications,since it makes a minimum of assumptions on the properties of the underlyingoperating system and the hardware", available for MacOS, Atari ST (GEM),PC (GEM, MS Windows, Windows NT) and Unix (SUN and IBM RISC). RAMSES is Mac only. Both no cost freeware.

Perl

• XForms4Perl ,XFormsperl binding.
• pTk,perl/Tk, tkPerl, Tk binding for Perl.
• PerlQt, perl bindings for Qt . (LGPLed)
• Perl bindings for gtk+
• plFLTK , Perl bindingsfor Fltk (LGPLed)
• wxperl, WxWindows Perl binding
• Prima, "an extensible Perl toolkit for multi-platform GUI development. Supported platforms include Linux, Windows NT/9x/2K, OS/2, and UNIX/X11 workstations" (BSDed)

Python

• Rivet,Tk binding for Python
• wxPython, WxWindows Python binding
• vkApp, a Python GUI application framework, and PythonX Extension, Python interface to X11 and Motif.
• WPY, a MFC-based GUI class library for Python, for MS Win95/NT and Unix/X11 using Tk.
• Python-Gtk and pygtk (gnome-python) ,Python bindings for gtk+ and GNOME
• PyKDE,Python bindings for KDE
• pyFLTK , Python bindingfor Fltk  (LGPLed)
• FXPy, Python binding for FOX (LGPLed)
• Python X Library, X11 client-side API implemented purely in Python (GPLed)

Scheme (including Guile)

• MrED,a WxWindows -based toolkit for scheme, for X11,MS Win95/NT, and MacOS
• STk,a scheme interpreter with access to Tk
• guile-gtk,Guile bindings for gtk+ (GPLed)
• guile-fltk, Guile binding for Fltk (LGPLed)

Oberon

• Visual Oberon, a collection of GUI classes for Oberon-2, for X11 ( GPLed).

Smalltalk

• Squeak, an advanced SmallTalk environment (including GUI support natively) (license)

Prolog

XPCE (GPLed ), for SWI-Prolog

Pike

PiGTK,Pike's gtk+ and GNOME bindings (GPLed)

Lua

• lua-gtk and lua-gnome , Lua's gtk+ and GNOME  bindings
• lua-FLTK, Lua FLTK binding
• wxLua, WxWindows binding for Lua
• tkLua, tk binding
• IUP (Portable User Interface), a highly portable toolkit for Lua and C, for Windows and X11/Motif.

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Commercial Toolkits

C/C++ oriented

Java Oriented

• Sun/ Javasoft's AWT
• Sun/ Javasoft's IFCand JFC (Swing)withvariable look
• Microsoft 's AFC
• Borland/Inprise 's JBCL(JavaBeans Component Library) (part of JBuilder)
• Xelfi Technologies 's Xelfi(30 day free evaluation, low cost registration required for longer use)
• Visix's Vibe Foundation Classes (powerful GUI framework ispart of a complete Java development system Vibe) ( company out of business)
• SL-GMS , a framework for providing dynamic graphics in Pure Java applications
• UITools, "a toolkit for building graphical user interfaces (GUI) for simulation programs,"  like these tasks commonly done with MatLab and FORTRAN.

C#

WinForm, the standard C# GUI class library/framework.

Ada

CLAW,Ada framework  for Windows 95/NT

ObjectAda