There are some times that I make something and the terminal isn’t enough. I want to make it user-friendly and add buttons and dropdowns and stuff. I mainly write C, so I want a well-known and good GUI library for C. I have tried learning Qt but the documentation was awful and all the examples were for C++ or Python. I also am aware about libraries like imgui but it’s more for debugging UIs I think and not for normal applications that end users use.
I also would like the library to be platform-agnostic, or at least just work with Linux because that’s what I am using.
If you also code in C, what do you use to make GUIs? What do you suggest me to use?
Thanks in advance.
Also, if anyone suggests Electron or anything involving a browser, I will find them and remove one electron from each atom of theirs, turning them into smoke.
Apart from GTK, wxWidgets (wxC) and FLTK (cfltk), which others have already stated and are more geared towards desktop UI, you can consider SDL3 for a more open ended graphics library. It’s good for making game engines.
I don’t know how feasible for you to use an immediate mode GUI library but imgui came to my mind as soon as i read the post. However it’s written in C++ instead of C.
I never tried the C bindings but it seems to have a couple of options including cimgui to use imgui in a C project.
Maybe it’s worth a shot if you want something that’s proven to be lightweight and battle tested (I mean the main imgui project for this).
GTK? Depends on how important cross-platform support is for you. I’ve heard GTK programs don’t look great on Windows, but it does support Windows. GTK is written in C as well—Qt is in C++ so that might be where some of your problems are coming from, I’ve not tried making any kind of GUIs in C though.
I’ve heard GTK programs don’t look great on Windows,
They don’t look great anywhere, not even on Linux, unless you happen to be using a Gtk-based desktop.
However, Gtk does have one thing going for it: the API is native to C, so it is easier to work with in that language than something like Qt.
If you use a gtk theme they look fine. Most Linux users will have a gtk theme.
GTK, FLTK, wxWidgets,
Wxformbuilder is a pretty good gui builder as well!
Qt.
He already ruled out Qt.
Ah, fair enough. Reading failure in my part.
I’ve used GTK and WxWidgets for C programs. GTK is more powerful but takes longer to get used to its idioms as I recall
I’ve used WxWidgets and Win32 API in C. I suspect OP will quickly learn why electron is popular even though it’s so bloated. That said, sounds like OP wants a light weight and cross platform option, so WxWidgets gets my vote. Granted it’s been over 10 years since I’ve used it.
Also, if anyone suggests Electron or anything involving a browser, I will find them and remove one electron from each atom of theirs, turning them into smoke.
This made me laugh, it was so unexpected xD
Also, while its not an answer for your question, look up ncurses if you dont know it. It might be a middle ground for your future projects, if you prefer staying in the terminal but having a UI.
You could just use SDL. Very easy to integrate into a C project. BUT SDL doesn’t come with any UI primitives so you will need to make buttons, sliders etc yourself.
I’m going to have to second the Qt documentation assessment. They have very good documentation and there’s also a lot of books available about Qt. I always prefer a good book as opposed to online docs. But I learned to program before the internet was a thing, so reading books for documentation was the norm for me for a long time.
Clay seems really neat but I don’t write C
I generally don’t do GUIs for C. But I’m also an embedded C person.
When I have I’ll generate DLLs for the C portion then just pull them into a python based interface or something with easier to deal with gui implementations.
Programming languages are tools. Would you use a wrench to drive a nail? You could. But it would be painful, you’re gonna miss and whack your hand at least once.
If it’s a learning exercise, go for the C implementation, why not? I’ve written an XML parser in LabVIEW. (I never stopped to ask whether I should…) Is that the right tool for the job? Fuck no.
If this is an exercise in software engineering be an engineer and use the 99% already built and verified system to do the job it’s meant to.
Or you can write an entire theme park simulator in assembly because you like pain or something.
Or you can write an entire theme park simulator in assembly because you like pain or something.
Say what you will, but that was an economically viable route to take. I’m still in love with TTD and RCT2.
Gtk?
I had tried GTK in the past and I remember it’s documentation as having like 5 examples and then letting you completely on your own. Maybe however it has changed since then, I will have a look :)
I know it’s not really what you’re asking, but have you considered learning Rust? In many ways, Rust is more similar to C than C++ and is just as capable. There are quite a few very well documented (as is common in the Rust ecosystem) Rust libraries for GUIs, including efficient native ones or immediate mode ones and such. Just a suggestion.
+1 for being the kind of guy that goes to a Windows problem thread and suggests installing Linux (I have done that just for fun), but for Rust.
I am currently learning Rust in my freer time and found “Rust by Example” not as appealing.
For context, I learntCwhen I was a kid, following “Programming with C - Schaum Series” and loved how it started by giving an idea of the memory representation for all data structures the way it is abstracted (or not so much) in C. Later in Uni, I hated “Let us C” (even though it seemed to do a similar thing at a glance) and “Let us C++” and just learnt the languages on the go as required by courses and projects (also simply used a C++ reference book instead of a course styled one).Now I see “Rust by Example” and see some parts not having been explained in the beginning, for which I would have to open the link to a section, much further ahead (it probably is not a course styled thingy). I will end up learning it, given time, but is there some material available that has a similar approach to introducing programming with Rust as the Schaum Series one was for C?
Jesus Christ
You probably love Rust as much as I do, but this is such an unhelpful comment. Dude mainly programs in C, asks about libraries for C, and you don’t even bother to list any native Rust libs that may give OP an incentive to even consider learning Rust.
I think that’s quite harsh. As I said, I know it’s not what OP asked and it was just a suggestion. I’m just adding it as an option. Perhaps someone else reading the thread will find it useful, if not OP (who I don’t think you should speak for).
OP mentioned they want native speed and were struggling with badly documented libraries. I feel like it was appropriate to at least mention Rust, considering those two things. Since when is widening a discussion slightly considered bad? You don’t have to reply to my comment either, if my comment does not seem interesting to you. Let alone downvote it. You can just leave it alone, it doesn’t hurt anyone.
Technically win32 is cross-platform if you are using wine…
Just use Electron.
They asked for a GUI library, not an inflatable whale.
But it was promised that each electron from my body will be removed, until I’m smoke only. I assume this will take an eternity, but I’m here for science.
How about no? If you want a web app, at least go to the trouble of writing a proper offline PWA. It behaves like an app and doesn’t force you to have a second, insecure copy of a browser.
