Baba

A lightweight, cross-platform C GUI framework using Vulkan for rendering.

Features

• Minimal Dependencies: Only requires Vulkan SDK
• Cross-Platform: macOS, Linux (X11/Wayland), Windows
• Native Window: Uses platform-native APIs
• Vulkan Rendering: Modern GPU-accelerated rendering
• Complete Widgets: Buttons, Labels, TextBoxes, etc.
• Flexible Layout: Flexbox-like and Grid layouts
• Python Bindings: pip install baba-gui

Documentation

• Windows Build Guide - MSYS2/Scoop/Zig lightweight options
• Linux Build Guide - Ubuntu/Arch/Fedora instructions
• macOS Build Guide - Homebrew/Vulkan SDK installation
• Architecture - Project architecture and design
• Tutorial - Quick start guide
• C Development Guide - Using Baba for C GUI development

中文文档

Installation

Python (Recommended)

pip install baba-gui

From Source

Prerequisites:

• CMake 3.20+
• C11 compiler
• Vulkan SDK

Build Steps:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make

Platform-Specific:

macOS:

brew install vulkan-loader vulkan-headers molten-vk
cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$(brew --prefix) ..
make

Linux:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libvulkan-dev xorg-dev wayland-protocols

# Arch
sudo pacman -S vulkan-headers vulkan-tools libx11 libwayland

cmake ..
make

Windows:

Recommended: MinGW-w64 via MSYS2:

# Install dependencies via winget
winget install MSYS2.MSYS2
winget install KhronosGroup.VulkanSDK

# Open MSYS2 MINGW64 terminal:
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc mingw-w64-x86_64-cmake mingw-w64-x86_64-ninja

# Build
cmake -B build -G Ninja
cmake --build build

If you must use Visual Studio:

cmake -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022"
cmake --build build --config Release

Quick Start

Python

import baba

def on_click(button):
    print("Button clicked!")

with baba.create_app() as app:
    window = app.create_window("Baba Demo", 800, 600)
    
    button = baba.Button("Click Me")
    button.on_click(on_click)
    window.root.add_child(button)
    
    label = baba.Label("Hello, Baba GUI!")
    label.font_size = 24.0
    label.color = baba.Color.from_hex("#333333")
    window.root.add_child(label)
    
    window.show()
    app.run()

C

#include <baba.h>
#include <widgets/button.h>
#include <widgets/label.h>

void on_click(BabaWidget* button, void* data) {
    printf("Button clicked!\n");
}

int main() {
    BabaApp* app = baba_app_create();
    BabaWindow* win = baba_window_create(app, "Baba Demo", 800, 600);
    
    BabaWidget* root = baba_window_get_root(win);
    BabaWidget* button = baba_button_create("Click Me");
    baba_button_set_on_click(button, on_click, NULL);
    baba_widget_add_child(root, button);
    
    baba_window_show(win);
    baba_app_run(app);
    
    baba_window_destroy(win);
    baba_app_destroy(app);
    return 0;
}

Architecture

Baba/
├── src/
│   ├── baba.h              # Main public API
│   ├── core/               # Core utilities
│   ├── platform/           # Platform abstraction (macOS/Linux/Windows)
│   ├── render/             # Vulkan renderer + Painter API
│   ├── widgets/            # UI widgets (Button, Label, TextBox)
│   ├── layout/             # Flex/Grid layouts
│   └── theme/              # Theming system
├── python/                 # Python bindings (cffi)
├── examples/               # Example applications
└── docs/                   # Documentation

API Overview

Application

// C
BabaApp* app = baba_app_create();
int result = baba_app_run(app);
void baba_app_quit(BabaApp* app);

# Python
app = baba.App()
result = app.run()
app.quit()

Window

BabaWindow* win = baba_window_create(app, "Title", 800, 600);
baba_window_set_title(win, "New Title");
baba_window_show(win);

window = app.create_window("Title", 800, 600)
window.title = "New Title"
window.show()

Widgets

// Button
BabaWidget* btn = baba_button_create("Button");
baba_button_set_on_click(btn, callback, NULL);

// Label
BabaWidget* label = baba_label_create("Text");
baba_label_set_font_size(label, 16.0f);

// TextBox
BabaWidget* input = baba_textbox_create("Placeholder");
const char* text = baba_textbox_get_text(input);

# Button
btn = baba.Button("Button")
btn.on_click(lambda b: print("clicked"))

# Label
label = baba.Label("Text")
label.font_size = 16.0

# TextBox
input = baba.TextBox("Placeholder")
text = input.text

Layout

// Flex layout
BabaWidget* flex = baba_flex_layout_create(BABA_LAYOUT_DIRECTION_ROW);
baba_flex_layout_set_gap(flex, 10.0f);

// Grid layout
BabaWidget* grid = baba_grid_layout_create(3, 2);

Publishing to PyPI

Build Wheels

# Install build tools
pip install build cibuildwheel

# Build source distribution
python -m build --sdist

# Build wheels for all platforms
cibuildwheel --platform macos
cibuildwheel --platform linux
cibuildwheel --platform windows

Upload to PyPI

pip install twine
twine upload dist/*

GitHub Actions (CI/CD)

The project includes cibuildwheel configuration in pyproject.toml for automated wheel building:

# .github/workflows/publish.yml
name: Publish to PyPI
on:
  release:
    types: [published]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      - run: pip install cibuildwheel
      - run: cibuildwheel --output-dir dist
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: wheels-${{ matrix.os }}
          path: dist
  publish:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
      - run: pip install twine
      - run: twine upload wheels-*/*
        env:
          TWINE_USERNAME: __token__
          TWINE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.PYPI_TOKEN }}

Dependencies

Platform	Dependencies
Rendering	Vulkan SDK
macOS	Cocoa, Metal, QuartzCore
Linux	X11 or Wayland
Windows	Win32 API (user32, gdi32)
Python	cffi >= 1.16.0

Platform Support

Platform	Window System	Status
macOS	Cocoa + Metal	✅ Full Support
Linux	X11	✅ Full Support
Linux	Wayland	✅ Full Support
Windows	Win32	✅ Full Support

C Development

After pip install baba-gui, you can use Baba for C GUI development:

# Get development paths
python -c "import baba; print(baba.get_include_dir())"  # Headers
python -c "import baba; print(baba.get_lib_path())"     # Library

# Compile your C app (macOS example)
INCLUDE=$(python -c "import baba; print(baba.get_include_dir())")
LIB=$(python -c "import baba; import os; print(os.path.dirname(baba.get_lib_path()))")

clang main.c -I"$INCLUDE" -L"$LIB" -lbaba \
    -framework Cocoa -framework Metal -lvulkan -o myapp

See C Development Guide for details.

Building & Publishing

Build Native Library (Current Platform)

# Unix (macOS/Linux)
./build_all.sh

# Windows (MSYS2 MinGW)
./build_all.sh

This builds the library for the current platform only.

Cross-Platform Builds

For production releases, use GitHub Actions to build on all platforms:

1. Push to main branch or create a release
2. GitHub Actions builds macOS, Linux, and Windows versions
3. Artifacts are combined and published to PyPI

To trigger a PyPI release:

1. Go to GitHub → Releases → Draft a new release
2. Tag the release (e.g., v0.1.2)
3. Publish - GitHub Actions will build and upload to PyPI

Manual Multi-Platform Build

If you need to build all platforms locally:

1. macOS: Run on macOS machine
2. Linux: Run on Linux machine or use Docker
3. Windows: Run on Windows with MSYS2 MinGW

Then manually copy libraries to python/baba/lib/:

python/baba/lib/
├── libbaba_macos.a
├── libbaba_linux.a
└── libbaba_windows.a

Build & Upload to PyPI (Manual)

# Build native library
./build_all.sh

# Build Python package
pip install build twine
python -m build

# Upload to PyPI
twine upload dist/*

GitHub Actions (Recommended for Multi-Platform)

For production releases, use GitHub Actions to build on native platforms:

# .github/workflows/build.yml
jobs:
  build-macos:
    runs-on: macos-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: ./build_all.sh
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: lib-macos
          path: dist/lib/macos/*.a

  build-linux:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: ./build_all.sh
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: lib-linux
          path: dist/lib/linux-x64/*.a

  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: build_all.bat
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: lib-windows
          path: dist/lib/windows-x64/*.a

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file