Source Directory » Libraries » GUI » wxWindows

Author:

Julian Smart 

Version:

2.4.0 

URL:

http://www.wxwindows.org

"wxWindows is a set of libraries that allows C++ applications to compile and run on several different types of computer, with minimal source code changes. There is one library per supported GUI (such as Windows, GTK+, Motif, and Mac). As well as providing a common API (Application Programming Interface) for GUI functionality, it provides functionality for accessing some commonly-used operating system facilities, from copying and deleting files to socket and thread support. wxWindows is a 'framework' in the sense that it provides a lot of built-in functionality, which the application can use or replace as required, thus saving a great deal of coding effort. Basic data structures such as strings, arrays, linked lists and hash tables are also supported. See wxWindows 2 Classes for a list of the available classes (a little out of date now, so please also see the online class reference).

"wxWindows is not a translator from one GUI from another; it cannot take a Motif application and generate a Windows application, for example. You need to learn a new API. However, the wxWindows API has been praised for its intuitiveness and simplicity, and can be far easier to learn and use than a native GUI API such as Motif or Windows. Porting from MFC is particularly easy due to its similarity: one user has ported his CASE tool from MFC to wxWindows in a couple of weeks.

"Such a toolkit is not unique - there are others to choose from - but wxWindows is free, well-established, well-documented, and very broad in its coverage of GUI functionality. It has some extras that make it stand out from the crowd, such as the many convenience dialogs, built-in HTML display and printing, virtual filesystems, easy-to-use OLE automation controller class, Open GL support, and many other features that make it easier to write modern and user-friendly applications."