kkappkit 0.8.0

Code-generator for building small desktop applications with Python and Tkinter

kkAppKit

Framework for building small desktop applications with Python and Tkinter

Design Goals

This project targets making it easier to build:

• Small desktop productivity tools
• Prototypes, demos, and tutorials

End-User UX

• Simple layout, e.g., vertical scroll, endless page as the parameter list grows
• Supports form-based apps and realtime-control apps
• Supports CLI and GUI
• Supports some common app features such as presets and context help

Dev UX

• Supports frontend-backend decoupling using Model-View-Controller architecture
• Ready-to-use widgets for solving common UI patterns
• JSON-based declarative configuration that drives code generation
• CI/CD friendly: ready-to-use build scripts for testing, building, and packaging
• Minimum dependencies: The generated app will only depend on Python 3 and Tkinter (wrapped into open-source packages written by this author)

How to install kkappkit?

• Clone this repo
• POSIX: cd kkappkit && sudo ln -s $(pwd)/kkappgen /usr/local/bin/, ensure /usr/local/bin is under your system $PATH
• Windows: cd kkappkit && mklink a\folder\under\your\system\%PATH%\kkappgen.bat .\kkappgen\kkappgen.bat

How to work with kkappkit?

• Initialize a new app project: kkappgen -r /path/to/my_app_root -t <template_name>
  • This generates a Poetry project with a template app
• Edit pyproject.toml and install dependencies: cd /path/to/my_app_root && poetry install
• Design the app parameter interface by editing the initialized configuration file, e.g., src/app.json
• Generates the interface (CLI/GUI) code: kkappgen -r /path/to/my_app_root
• Implement the core and hooks as a CLI or GUI or both
• Run the CLI or GUI using: run or gui
• Optionally, dev builds a standalone app bundle for distribution based on the configuration
• See demo folder for examples

Why not use a full-fledged framework like PySide, PyGTK, or Electron?

• Most of them are too heavy for small tools, complicating CI and distribution; Tkinter is the only first-party GUI lib, which simplifies distribution
• Those frameworks aim for flexibility and power and come with a steep learning curve; I want to bake in just enough policies for the RAD dev style without making the framework too opinionated