Python and Tkinter Programming

Author: [US] John E. Grayson
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: Tkinter is a graphical interface development toolkit for the interpreted scripting language Python. It is a clear, object-oriented graphical interface development tool that allows you to quickly develop Python applications that can run on platforms such as Unix, Macintosh, and Windows. This book provides a detailed introduction to the syntax and functions of the Python language and its interface development methods, with a focus on programming methods under the Tkinter visualization platform. This book is very suitable for Python programmers of all levels and is also suitable for designers who use Python to develop various scripts. I first encountered Python in 1993 when I joined a small company in Rhode Island. Their main product was a GUI-builder that generated C, C++, Ada, and Python code for X/Motif. My task was to extend the object-oriented interface for X/Motif and Python. Before this, I had always doubted the usefulness of interpreted languages, so I wasn't very interested in starting this work. After two days, I was hooked. Using C to code complex interfaces was so easy! Soon, I preferred choosing Python over C to develop interfaces. After leaving the company in Rhode Island, I began using Tkinter to develop software, which became the famous Python GUI. I convinced a company (where I did some contract work) to develop a large project that was close to being overdue and over budget using Python coding. The project was successful. Four years later, the company had many Python programmers, and a significant portion of their project code was completed using Tkinter and Python. It was these experiences that led me to write this book. Earlier, there were very few Python documentation materials available. Tkinter Life Preserver is a book that helps people gather basic information together. In 1997, Fredrik Lundh published many excellent Python class documents online, which played a great role in Python programming in the past two years. One of the problems I noticed was that although there were many routines (accompanied with the release of Python), most of them were too concise to represent the complete framework of a Python program. Of course, it wasn't difficult to run the code one by one, but when the architecture depends on an interpreted language, it's easy to end up with a product that is poor in execution speed, aesthetics, maintainability, and scalability. Therefore, when people asked me the question: "How do I write a XXX?" I would give them a stack of source code I had written. Like most professional programmers, they would study it in detail. I believe that starting with a complete program is a good way to learn a specific programming language and achieve a specific goal. When I practice "karate," I go to the Shukokai World Headquarters in New Jersey to train with Sensei Shigeru Kimura. Sensei Kimura often tells us, "I can't tell you how to do it (a specific technique)—you must go 'steal.'" My method of learning Tkinter was the same. If someone in the community has solved a problem, we must "steal" from them. Now, I'm not suggesting copyright infringement; I mean, we learn from any available materials. I hope you use the examples in this book as a starting point for your programs. In some places, I have used the code or ideas of other programmers. If so, I have already thanked the original author. If you use some of the code here, I hope you can thank the original author. After all, what we "steal" is more valuable than what we create ourselves—this is what Sensei taught me.