Python and Tkinter Programming (Paperback)

~ John E Grayson Ph.D. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Books on graphical user interfaces (GUI) have an unfair advantage over typical computer books. Their contents have immediate positive impact on everything they touch, from the popularity of the underlying language to the careers of the developers they reach. Even mediocre GUI books have a beneficial impact.

John E. Grayson's deeply thought out, maturely written Python and Tkinter Programming does the double service of being a excellent object-oriented GUI book and communicating the standard for Tk-widget-based GUI development to the Python community. The short-term result will be a rapid expansion in the popularity of Python itself; the long-term result will be a new batch of supportable, reusable code.

Grayson begins with a three-line "hello world" variant that works out of the box. He moves quickly to a variety of GUI calculators to exhibit buttons and label widgets. Familiarity with Tk from Tcl/Tk or Perl/Tk is helpful but not essential. The convenient bonus of the Python implementation is its inclusion in the standard Python release, of which the current stable version is 1.5.

Nearly half of the book is dedicated to Tk widget implementations and constitutes a translation of Tk into Python. By itself, it is a good teaching tool for students of Python who already know Tk in one of its other manifestations. Appendices covering build/install issues Python megawidgets and a Tkinter reference manual comprise nearly 40 percent of the book, leaving a brief 15 percent for the introductory tutorial, application building, and performance tuning. A late chapter on threads suggests a broad range of client/server applications, but is too brief to be more than a tease. Throughout the text, code snippets are presented in coherent blocks with annotations sensibly appearing as clearly numbered end notes to those blocks.

Grayson presents cross-platform issues with maturity and candor. While Python for Windows and Macintosh environments is stable, he asserts, the Tkinter module does not have the same global look-and-feel control. Fonts and colors are dictated partially by the platform OS.

The subtle challenge for developers is to develop supportable code in the breakneck boss-pleasing, GUI-driven environment. Grayson's elegant introduction to Tkinter advances the subtext of supportability noticeably farther along. By documenting Tkinter, he will push a group of laggard hackers to learn object-oriented principles. And that may be his lasting contribution. --Peter Leopold

Review

"deeply thought, maturely written...does the double service of being a excellent object-oriented GUI book and communicating the standard..." -- Peter Leopold, Amazon.co.uk

Until now, this level of documentation has not been available to Tkinter programmers.... -- CompBookReview.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; 1st edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884777813
• ISBN-13: 978-1884777813
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #803,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional book, February 24, 2000

By	Alessandro Bottoni (Ferrara Italy) - See all my reviews

"Python and TKinter programming" is the kind of book that is very hard to find in a bookstore nowadays. This book is not just a gap-filling, long-awaited tome, full of valuable information regarding a scarcely documented technology. It is a well-designed, carefully edited and clearly written book, too. Since the first pages, it becames clear that Grayson is an expert programmer and a talented technical writer. He does not only demonstrate a complete dominance of the Python and TKinter programming but he also shows an attention for the reader that is rare to see in this world. The whole book, and every single part of it, are carefully designed and written to help the programmer in the learning process and in the everyday work. Also Manning, the publisher, made a very good work with this book, (as with all the book of this series).

Consider to buy this book because:

- It is an exhaustive guide to Python and TKinter programming. No "shadow zones" left.

- It contains 14Mb of working and well written code (available online). You can play and learn from it.

- It is well-organized, carefully edited and clearly written. No struggles to get the info you need.

- It is a first-hand report from the world of real professional programming. No kid tales.

- You get a real understanding of Python and TKinter programming from this book, not a simple, dry description of this language.

The best characteristic of this book is its clear and flexible structure: you are not forced to follow the "flow-of-consciousness" of the author, chapter after chapter (Have you ever read "Programming Python", by Mark Lutz? ). You can easily spot and read the part that most interest you. All of the chapters focus on well-defined aspects of the Python/TKinter programming and are quite indipendent from the other ones. Grayson's writing is always clear and well-organized. You do not have to struggle for extracting the information you need. This is a book designed with a demanding and busy reader in mind.

I hope to see more from Grayson and Manning in the future.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tkinter shortchanged, October 28, 2003

By	Peter Pearson (Aptos, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tkinter gets a too-brief treatment in Grayson's rush to get on to the subject of Pmw, the Python megawidget library, which seems to be the real subject of the book. If you're not going to work in Pmw, most of this book is useless.

The basics of Tk are poorly presented, apparently on the assumption that the reader is already familiar with Tk. The first appendix is devoted to the mapping between Tk and Tkinter, a typical "nugget" being the revelation that the Tk construct "-label string" maps onto the Tkinter construct "label=string", which conveys no useful information in the absence of a complete Tk reference.

Appendix B, a Tkinter reference, has often left me frustrated. It begins with the understandable space-saving device of a list of "Options shared by most widgets," but then continues with "Options shared by many widgets" (why separate?) and "Common widget methods," whose connection with the rest of the appendix is obscure. Studying a widget's entry in Appendix B seldom produces a confident grasp of how to use that widget.

The book is mostly tutorial in form, suited for leisurely reading but frustrating as a reference.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tkinter Sole Source, April 27, 2000

By	Dan Fender "dfender" (Olympia, Washington) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have added Mr. Grayson's book "Python and Tkinter Programming" to my trusted and tested reference library. He has done an excellent job of consolidating the available information for the first time. Importantly, he has included many, many observations and Tkinter code examples from his vast professional experience.

The numerous Tkinter examples are both excellent code reference and fully explained in the accompanying text. Although I consider myself a relatively new Tkinter programmer, these examples have helped me immeasurably. Thank you very much Mr. Grayson!

True to the Python tradition, Mr. Grayson incorporates comedy into his text and code. I both admire and find a certain welcomed familiarity to this unusual approach to a very technical and at times difficult subject.

Perhaps the only fault I can manage is that the book and examples are not at the beginner level. Although I believe that anyone new to Tkinter will benefit, the task will be just a little harder; I know because I am such a person. Still, to Mr. Grayson's credit, he offers help to those buying the book through a on-line forum. Use of his forum is free and easy; their are no strings attached. His response is timely and right-on.