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Does anyone know of free tools (languages, environments) that would support development of GUI applications on the Windows platform?
I am looking to be able to create a single executable file that has no dependencies on any external runtime or library.
I would like to be able to then run this EXE in a very similar manner to Process Explorer or Autoruns from SysInternals. In other words; a no installer, portable application.
This application must also provide a reasonably rich windowing (controls, widgets etc) user interface and should run on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and later.
I'm aware of C/C++ but I'm looking for an environment/language that provides more specific and faster support for GUI development. Also, Delphi costs money.
For quick prototyping, Autoit is a viable option (but it is a scripting language though).
Combined with Scite as an Editor, and autoit to exe capability (AutoIt3.exe in Scite and Autoit3Wrapper.exe to actually produce exe), you have a full GUI development environment.
AutohotKey is an alternative, but based on old AutoitV2.
Still, you can execute AutohotKey scripts from Autoit ;)
Run("c:\Program Files\Autohotkey\Autohotkey.exe c:\scripts\devicesset.ahk")
While interactive debugging is not natively supported, they are (2008, but in 2014: was?) several debugging tools to facilitate the debug process. (from this ticket)
Update 2014: the "AutoEditDebugger" might not be supported:
EDIT October 2009: NB This script has not been maintained since some time in 2008. Due to some problem with the editor it crashes in Vista.
Delphi is definitely a good way to go. There is a free version called Turbo Delphi.
The version available is a couple of years old, so it's a shame they haven't release Turbo versions of the new stuff.
There are also trials available of the full fledged RAD Studio, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.
You can Get Turbo Delphi and Turbo C++ Builder explorer editions for free, and you can develop with them native application that you can have only .exe file without any dependencies on any windows version from (win98 to win7), both of them include more than 200 components, and you can use more (without installing to IDE that the only restriction), and you develop with them free and commercial software.
Delphi is the most RAD(Rapid Application Development) IDE that you can use to produce windows application in very easy and efficient way, you get fast developing application with fast execution time compared to speed of C++.
Another option to use Lazarus IDE, which based on FreePascal compiler, so you can have your application running on windows/linux/MacOS/Unix and more.
Visual C++ Express + WTL. Both are free. WTL is a relatively good(1) windowing library. No wizards, though, and you have to have good understanding of the Win32 windowing system.
You can also use Visual C# Express along with Mono to build WinForms app. While the end result is not technically a standalone executable and requires a framework, Mono dlls can be distributed along your exe (2), so you can just have a single folder for xcopy deployment. (And I think on Windows with .Net installed, your exe will be run on .Net automatically)
(1) I am spoiled by WPF. :-)
(2) Read on the intertubes. I have not personally tried it, though.
Perhaps not an option given your statement regarding C++, but if you are developing an open source / free application then Qt is a very nice GUI toolkit with designer.
Also, wxWidgets is a very functional toolkit that will allow you to deploy a single exe, although the best GUI designers are not free.
Maybe D is an option? A friend of mine blogged about a GUI Designer for D here and I believe that the resulting executable has no dependencies.
Just use VS.NET with C and Win32 api.
No runtime needed of course, as the CRT is native.
You should use Digital Mars C/C++ in pure C and program with GDI32 functions of WIN32 API (Just #include ). Don't forget to link your binary object executable with gdi32.lib.
Check out Microsoft's Express editions of their developer tools.
If you're doing very simple applications, AutoIt might be an option as it requires no runtime files and its executables will even run on WinPE. It's a bit primitive though and not exactly object-oriented. It works a bit like the old VB. It is, however, free and easy to learn and apart from something like NSIS (NullSoft Install System) there aren't many free, standalone GUI creators.
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I wonder is someone tried to create either kinda open standard for cross-platform installer for an application or the installer implementation? That means you can simply download single file from the website, and it's extension recognizable by any popular operating system? We have .pkg and .dmg files for mac, .msi and plain .exe installers for windows, .deb packages for linux (in case of debian), but we haven't universal for each platform (like .uoi (Universal Open Installer), lol).
One might think that this approach is impossible because every OS has it's own structure and files organization, but this installer could potentially contain instructions for each OS simultaneously, and it may contain even shared files (like pictures, textures or sounds) as they can be reused for each platform and they are platform-independent.
I think it's a good idea to implement such installer, free for all and open-source
"Mainstream": A shared packaging format seems elusive. However, there are a few multi-platform deployment tools available. Installsite.org has a list towards the bottom here. I guess the two most commonly used tools are (both are commercial):
Advanced Installer for Java / Advanced Installer Enterprise (Windows and Mac, no Linux)
Flexera InstallAnywhere (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Extended Universe: There are several other tools, one of which is Bitrock
InstallBuilder - a tool I know nothing about, so I can neither recommend nor dismiss it. There is also the QtInstaller Framework which I have yet to try. Seen people recommend install4j. Here is the install4j site: What are good InstallAnywhere replacements for installing a Java EE application?
Then there is Zero Install - a cross-platform packaging and distributions software - uncharted territory for me. And Steam, the cross-platform video game distribution, licensing and social game-play platform, developed and maintained by Valve. Used to shop for, download, install, update, uninstall and back up video games. It works on Windows, OS X and Linux. Similar to Steam is Uplay from Ubisoft - another video game distribution platform. Maybe PyInstaller should be mentioned? (cross platform Python programs).
Java: I encountered Oracle Universal Installer some time back in a SO question. A Java-based installer for Oracle tools. A mystery-tool. The now deprecated Java Applets of old, and the soon to be obsolete Java Web Start feature should be mentioned as cross-platform. Developers are supposed to migrate to jlink before the end of 2020 - Oracle PDF: Java Client Roadmap Update - Oracle PDF: Java Client Roadmap Update (superseded).
Future?: Not much in the realm of a real answer, but some pointers. As I keep repeating, I don't know much about these tools to be honest. I guess recent XML / Zip-based formats can be made cross-platform more easily than previous technologies such as Windows's COM structured storage files (the old MS Office file format, a file-system in a file essentially - streams of data) that were used for MSI installers. Time will tell. In the age of the cloud, who knows what will surface?
Struggle: I can, however, tell you that I have been struggling with multi-platform installers as a corporate application packager (not developing setups, just deploying them), and these multi-platform installers have always been problematic to deal with. Very non-standard and high astonishment factor at times to deal with. For example: you launch a setup.exe which only launches a second setup.exe and then exits reporting nothing sensible, so you don't know what happened to the actual install that was kicked of asynchronously at all. That kind of stuff. So you have to write weird scripts to check installation progress, etc... Dealing with a multi-platform installer has never been fun.
Some Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software_package_management_systems
http://www.pyinstaller.org/ (cross platform Python programs)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_installation_software (maybe check Installer VISE)
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/deploy/self-contained-packaging.html
http://izpack.org/downloads/
Old mentions:
How can I convert my Java program to an .exe file?
Make Installer of java Application
What are good InstallAnywhere replacements for installing a Java EE application?
What is the best practice to auto upgrade MSI based application?
How to create a MSI Windows installer for a Java program?
Creating an installer for Java desktop application
https://stackoverflow.com/tags/java-web-start/info
I have used install builder and yeah its crossplatform.. the downside is you have to pay..
As SO returns "4,476 search results for posts containing "win32 gui applications""... I'll have to ask a question that has probably been asked before but is lost in the midst of all those questions.
Currently, what are the options to write GUI applications for Win32, that have a big-enough following so that the environment offers enough and well-supported third-party tools?
I could come up with:
C++
Delphi, and possibly
RealBasic (although the fact that it's originally a Macintosh tool could result in small but noticeable issues in look 'n feel).
Besides their relative lack of well-supported third-party tools, solutions like Python + wxWidgets, or [Power|Pure|Free]Basic aren't good options: The former has too many 1.0 widgets (couldn't find a business-grade grid, for instance), and the latter are procedural languages so requires writing apps like Petzold's book with the lower productivity it entails.
Are there other solutions available?
Thank you.
Edit: Sorry for not having been precise enough: Big tools like .Net and Java are not options. I'm looking for tools that can either build a whole EXE statically (eg. Delphi) or provide a light enough runtime (VBClassic).
If you are new to programming I would suggest C# as well if you are only looking to make this app for the Windows Platform however with tools like Mono it can be ported to OS X and Linux Platforms.
Windows has their own IDE just for this called Visual Studio Express C#
Visual Studio's C#
As well as a version for C++ if you are wanting to say in that programming language.
The Mono project allows you to use C# in Linux and Mac as well as port the apps to iOS and Android
http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page
You Can use C++ or You can even use the .net framework to develop your windows applications. .Net framework have lots of opensource contributed modules and paid modules and well as number of resources all over the internet to speed up the development compare to other options you have mentioned.
If you are going for a windows 32 gui application, I would prefer to go with .net framework, C++.
Java Swings also another best options which is platform independent as well.
You can use Lazarus as a free alternative to Delphi. Potentially you will have a very high possibility to check its "write once, compile anywhere" motto if you later decide to port your Win32 application to Linux or MacOS. In ideal case it will just work, but in reality you would probably need some conditional defines sections.
I recently discovered you can compile JScript into console apps using a built in tool in the .NET framework called jsc. It is already installed on my computer, and other windows computers which have .NET.
I want to know if the final compiled exe is dependent on .NET. Also, is it completely portable. Can I build an app on my machine, and then distribute it, and expect it to work on everyone else's machine?
What technical details would I need to put in the release notes? Maybe that it depends on .NET etc...
OK I'll put it into an answer format then :)
Concerning the JScript compiler (jsc):
The compiled exe will be dependent on .NET being installed on the target machine, just as any other .NET executable concerning versions, etc.
JScript.NET is a separate product from JScript (Microsoft's implementation of ECMAScript), so not everything will work in jsc that might work in the browser or in Windows Scripting Host.
I've read that JScript.NET was more-or-less abandoned by MS
Dynamic Language Runtime Discussion on JScript.NET
JScript.NET abandoned mentioned in IronJS article
SO question concerning JScript.NET
ie:
it doesn't know anything about generics, and won't let you reference generic types, or call generic methods. In terms of implementation, it uses reflection heavily with no additional optimizing layers (like DLR), and so is rather slower than e.g. IronPython.
You can also make console applications from other languages.
I have a few years of experience writing Unix command line tools (no GUI experience) in python, C and C++, and only recently crossed into the GUI world (Cocoa and IOS only). I've learned quite a bit of objective-C and am getting to understand how cocoa MVC works. However, one of the apps I am developing needs a Windows version and I was wondering what a good place to start would be given that I have absolutely no Windows development experience.
I was thinking about using Visual C++ 2010 Express as my development platform (because it's free and because I don't need to learn C++). My application is relatively simple, it will have only two windows and spend most of the time running in the background. It will however need to communicate with the OS (load dll's etc) and an online server (HTTP methods) and I'm not sure whether Visual C++ Express edition gives me access to the required API's. Would a Windows Forms application suffice? Am I going about this the wrong way? Do I need to learn C#? Any advice will be appreciated.
If you are already happy with proper c++, visual Studio C++ express should suit you fine. Given that you are not making a complicated GUI, you don't even need to dip into the managed code - C++ express allows you to create proper c++ console and GUI apps. You also don't need to install the platform SDK - it is part of VS C++ express.
Not being managed C++, you will be able to share source files between your various projects. managed c++, despite the c++ in the name, really is a different enough language that it will be annoying to work with if you simultaneously have to deal with iso C++.
--
Note: The native windows API is a C api, not a C++ framework. So it does not provide a rich set of classes in a coherent framework to deal with. On the other hand, while, large, it is actually quite simple to work with.
Also: Given that you are already familiar with Mac development, there is a LGPL (iirc) package called CFLite that builds on windows and that implements the C api that underlays the Objective-C Cocoa API.
If you use its abstratcions you can share a greater part of code between windows and Mac (and other platforms).
Other C++ IDE's you might want to consider:
Code::Blocks
QT Creator
both of which can be configured to use the MINGW port of GCC to windows.
you'll be better off with c++ than c# if you need more "low-level" stuff. Loading dlls (that is, libs) is simple (pragma comment lib...), as is pure HTTP transfer and communication.
So, VC++ with windows form will suffice, and it is "very c++".
You have access to all global APIs, and loading specific apis like http requires only two lines: one to include wininet header, and other lib (libs are actually "references" to dlls).
If you go the C++ Express way then you need to install Windows SDK separately, and set it up for Visual Studio to use it. And you can't use MFC.
I would however, suggest C#, because it feels like putting little toy bricks together. Easier to debug and maintain. Problem with C# is that it has so many library functions that you can not possibly know if what you want is already made to a function. But that's why we are here :-) If you feel that something you want to do should already exist then ask a question about it. One notable feature that C# lacks is zip archives (it has something similar, but not quite). For zips you can use public libraries, like SharpZipLib or DotNetZip.
If I were you, I wouldn't jump into a whole new API so quickly. Have you considered using Python on Windows? Most of the Python packages I've seen are also available for Windows, so you'll feel at home. And if you need some GUI, you can opt for wxPython, pyGTK or something similar.
For Windows specific things, you can always use ctypes. Especially if they're as simple as loading a DLL.
have you considered approaching Adobe AIR? it allows you to deploy on Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, etc. communicating with and launching native processes has been possible since 2.0 and the the latest 2.5 SDK can target Android OS and TVs. with your experience you should be able to pick up ActionScript3 / MXML in no time.
additionally, there are a handful of free IDEs you can use with the Flex and AIR SDKs. or, if you're a student or low-income developer, you can get a free copy of Flash Builder 4 from Adobe: http://www.adobe.com/devnet-archive/flex/free/
edit: i believe deploying AIR applications on iPhone requires Flash Professional CS5, which includes the packager for iPhone options. at the same time, i've read that AIR and other cross-compilers for iOS are painfully slow, so it's perhaps best to develop natively in Objective-C for iOS.
I want to create applications in windows that has complete portability (within windows OSes of course). I have tried using one application written in Visual C++ but I had a real tough time in making it run in other windows OS (like it required .net framework libraries to be installed). This put me on the back foot because I had to copy a set of DLLs from one machine to another and most of the time something works some does not.
And I am TOTAL amateur in writing windows based applications since my technological forte is mostly Java. Where to kick off? (like which tools/IDEs to begin with since I am seriously into writing my own utilities/tools).
I am open to clarification should you guys feel my question is vague/blunt.
Thanks.
Visual C++ should be easily able to do what you want. It sounds like you created a C++/.NET project, which will generate a dependency on the .net libraries. You need to choose a different project type when the wizard starts up.
If you have a paid version of Visual C++, you might try clicking on "MFC Application". A lot of people are down on MFC these days, but it's still a quick way to get a C++ Windows app off the ground. Make sure you choose the option to statically link the MFC libraries, or you'll have another dependency.
MFC isn't included in the free version of Visual C++, so you'll need to go old-school and work directly with the Windows API or find another package such as QT or Wx to link with.
You can use .NET, and if you stay in 2.0, use standard components, it should work fine. You may need to make a few changes to work anywhere, buy very possible.
http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page
You could either use Visual Studio or the free IDE. Sharp develope or Mono Develope.
If you really want it to work on every version of windows your best bet may be to go the route of full cross-compatibility. Grab the Boost, QT, and possibly ACE libraries and stay away from making OS calls directly. There's a free version of Visual Studio which is probably what you want for an IDE for personal development, if you're doing commercial stuff then get the full version.
Why not use Java. The JVM is on more systems then .NET and now your app will work on any OS not just windows. Plus java is easier for a beginner then C/C++ and less chance that your program will cause BSODs.