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Hands-On GUI Application Development in Go
Hands-On GUI Application Development in Go

Hands-On GUI Application Development in Go: Build responsive, cross-platform, graphical applications with the Go programming language

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Hands-On GUI Application Development in Go

The Benefits of Native Graphical Applications

Since they first appeared in the 1970s, it has been clear that graphical interfaces make it easier to work with software applications. In the early days, they were typically presented through Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointer (WIMP) interfaces. While these varied in design across platforms and over time, the interactions have been relatively consistent.

Recent changes in software development have increased the understanding of user experience, which focuses on creating applications that are intuitive for even the least experienced computer user. This, combined with the mobile-driven move towards a post-WIMP approach to computer interaction, prompts the question: what's next for desktop computer software?

This chapter will cover the following topics:

  • The history of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) through desktop...

Return of the graphical application

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
- Alan Kay, PARC

It was 1973 and Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) had just completed the Alto computer, the first commercial example of a computer GUI. While the screen orientation and lack of colors make it a little peculiar to the modern eye, it's clearly recognizable as a graphical interface, with a mouse and keyboard for interaction. While it took another seven years to be generally available to the public, in 1981, as the Xerox Star, it was clear that this was the beginning of something big:

Dynabook environment desktop (1976; Smalltalk-76 running on Alto). Copyright SUMIM.ST, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

This was a huge leap forward for the usability of computers—a welcome change from the standard interaction of text-mode computer screens. Not only does a graphical...

Native performance

"Users really respond to speed."
Marissa Mayer, Google VP

One of the main reasons that businesses often opt for a website-based approach is to avoid having to build many products for the platforms they wish to support. We're seeing a similar approach to mobile application development: as more platforms enter the market, developing native apps becomes an overhead that many businesses can't afford. They opt for the web-based approach or hybrid app, where the user believes they're installing a native app that's really just a website packaged into a download. While this can be good enough for simple applications with basic data processing, it is often not going to meet user expectations. Additionally, the interaction paradigms for a web browser are usually different to that of the system applications around it. If the user...

Integrated user experience

A consistent user experience is of paramount importance if users are expected to pick up software and be able to use it quickly. When programmed to match system design and layout, as well as use standard components, it is easier for a new user to understand how the application will likely work without the need for one of those weighty user manuals. The graphical user interfaces for most popular operating systems have been very carefully designed so that applications written for them will feel natural. The user should inherently recognize the design language and know how to accomplish most of the main tasks right away. Carefully designed platforms such as macOS or Windows 10 provide a toolkit that ensures applications built using it will be immediately familiar to users. This includes peripheral items such as how you choose a file to open...

Reliability and offline functionality

One benefit of great applications is their ability to work online and offline, even to deal with an internet connection that's unreliable. For example, blog applications that allow authoring but don't need the internet until you publish, or document editors that download all of your work and share any changes you make with a central location any time you're online, have significant benefits over any web app with an always-online approach. Desktop computers and even newer smart phones have significant processing power and storage, and as application developers, we should make the most of the resources available. User experience is not limited to design and system integration, but also the responsiveness and workflow of an application. If we can hide the complexities of a process or technology from end users, we may find them...

Maintainability and testing

"Chance favors only the prepared mind"
- Louis Pasteur

To support the fast pace of software development, evolution in technology, and user demand for more features, it is imperative that our software be well-organized and highly maintainable. Any one on your team, or yourself at some point in the future, should be able to easily understand how the code works and quickly make the required change or addition. Supporting this sort of future development requires a well-organized project and an investment of time to maintain standards.

Native applications are typically written using a single language: that of the platform they are built for. This constraint means that an entire application can follow standard layout, naming, and semantic conventions, making it easier to work on any portion of the software. Modularity and code reuse are far...

Summary

With the first graphical user interfaces in the early 1970s, computers became more accessible, and ever since developers and designers have been finding ways to improve user experience. As technologies evolved, the focus moved from desktop applications to web-based software and mobile apps. Through each change in development, we see the need to make applications responsive, reliable, and engaging. In this chapter, we explored the history of the GUI and how native applications continue to provide the best user experience.

By creating quality graphical applications using native technologies, developers are able to provide better reliability and a more responsive user interface. Ensuring that applications integrate seamlessly with the operating system, as well as working well online and offline, will provide a consistent workflow that will keep your users happy. We also saw...

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Key benefits

  • Conceptualize and build state-of-art GUI applications with Golang (Go)
  • Tackle the complexity of varying GUI application sizes with a structured and scalable approach
  • Get hands-on experience of GUI development with Shiny, and labs/ui, Fyne, and Walk

Description

Go is often compared to C++ when it comes to low-level programming and implementations that require faster processing, such as Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). In fact, many claim that Go is superior to C++ in terms of its concurrency and ease of use. Most graphical application toolkits, though, are still written using C or C++, and so they don't enjoy the benefits of using a modern programming language such as Go. This guide to programming GUIs with Go 1.11 explores the various toolkits available, including UI, Walk, Shiny, and Fyne. The book compares the vision behind each project to help you pick the right approach for your project. Each framework is described in detail, outlining how you can build performant applications that users will love. To aid you further in creating applications using these emerging technologies, you'll be able to easily refer to code samples and screenshots featured in the book. In addition to toolkit-specific discussions, you'll cover more complex topics, such as how to structure growing graphical applications, and how cross-platform applications can integrate with each desktop operating system to create a seamless user experience. By delving into techniques and best practices for organizing and scaling Go-based graphical applications, you'll also glimpse Go's impressive concurrency system. In the concluding chapters, you'll discover how to distribute to the main desktop marketplaces and distribution channels. By the end of this book, you'll be a confident GUI developer who can use the Go language to boost the performance of your applications.

Who is this book for?

This book is designed for Go developers who are interested in building native graphical applications for desktop computers and beyond. Some knowledge of building applications using Go is useful, but not essential. Experience in developing GUIs is not required as the book explores the benefits and challenges they pose. This book will also be beneficial for GUI application developers who are interested in trying Go.

What you will learn

  • Understand the benefits and complexities of building native graphical applications
  • Gain insights into how Go makes cross-platform graphical application development simple
  • Build platform-native GUI applications using andlabs/ui
  • Develop graphical Windows applications using Walk
  • Create multiplatform GUI applications using Shiny, Nuklear, and Fyne
  • Use Go wrappers for GTK and Qt for GUI application development
  • Streamline your requirements to pick the correct toolkit strategy
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Publication date : Feb 25, 2019
Length: 450 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789138412
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Table of Contents

23 Chapters
Section 1: Graphical User Interface Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Benefits of Native Graphical Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Graphical User Interface Challenges Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Go to the Rescue! Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 2: Toolkits Using Existing Widgets Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Walk - Building Graphical Windows Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
andlabs UI - Cross-platform Native UIs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Go-GTK - Multiple Platforms with GTK Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Go-Qt - Multiple Platforms with Qt Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 3: Modern Graphical Toolkits Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Shiny - Experimental Go GUI API Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
nk - Nuklear for Go Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Fyne - Material Design-Based GUI Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 4: Growing and Distributing Your Application Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Navigation and Multiple Windows Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Concurrency, Networking, and Cloud Services Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Best Practices in Go GUI Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Distributing Your Application Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installation Details Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Cross Compiler Setup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Comparison of GUI Toolkits Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Connecting GoMail to a Real Email Server Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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Stephen Houston Apr 04, 2019
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This book is a fantastic resource that elegantly covers how Golang solves the challenges that come with GUI programming. The book begins by outlining what these challenges are including performance, concurrency, native applications, cross-platform development, and standardized and aesthetic look and feel/themes. Following that, the majority of the book is dedicated to explaining in depth how programmers can use Golang to answer these challenges. Through simple, easy-to-understand descriptions followed up by example code (including code from many different GUI toolkit options with Golang) - any programmer from a beginner to an expert can find merit in this book. Whether you read the book from start to finish or you use it as a dictionary/index to quickly find answers to whatever your current challenge may be, you will thoroughly enjoy having this resource.
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