Introduction to Application Development in Python and Gtk+ / Hildon @ Maemo 5
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The document introduces application development using Python and GTK+/Hildon for Maemo 5, reflecting the author's personal experiences and contributions within the Maemo community. It outlines the functionalities of GTK+, its origins, and its integration into various environments, while also detailing the Hildon framework and the programming languages compatible with Maemo applications. Additionally, the document covers the author's motivations for using Python, the tools required for development, and the transition challenges to the Meego platform.
Introduction to Application Development in Python and Gtk+ / Hildon @ Maemo 5
- 1. Introduction to Application Development in Python and Gtk+ / Hildon @ Maemo 5 + my very own experience by Amanda Lam Hong Kong Maemo / Moblin / MeeGo User Group
- 2. Self Introduction BEng Computer Systems Engineering, University of Warwick, UK Technical Writer of a popular local website company Founder of the Hong Kong Maemo / Moblin / MeeGo User Group @ facebook Executive Committee Member and Podcaster of the Hong Kong PDA User Group (HKPUG) Voluntary News Editor of UMPCFever.com / Digital.XY.HK Author of the first Maemo 4.1 and Maemo 5 Traditional Chinese Language Pack Application Developer of: EeeToggle for Windows eSpeak GUI Client for Maemo 5 Stroke Order Chinese Input Method ( 筆劃輸入法 ) for Maemo 5
- 3. Maemo Devices Nokia Internet Tablets: Nokia 770 Maemo 1.x/OS2005 Maemo 2.x/OS2006 Nokia N800 & N810 Maemo 3.x / “Bora” / OS2007 Maemo 4.0 / “Chinook” / OS2008 Maemo 4.1 / “Diablo” / OS2008 Nokia N900 Maemo 5 / “Fremantle” / OS2009 myInteractiveDevice (myID) Maemo 4.x Compatible ZhongYi 眾一 S101 Maemo 4.x Compatible
- 4. Maemo’s Application Frameworks Maemo 1.x – 4.x Based on the Gtk+ / Hildon application framework Maemo 5 Based on the Gtk+ / Hildon application framework Support of Qt 4.5 since PR1.0 Support of Qt 4.6 since PR1.2 i.e. ALL existing Maemo devices run Gtk+ and Hildon applications!
- 5. So, what is Gtk+? Highly usable, feature rich toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces which boasts cross platform compatibility and an easy to use API. Windows Buttons Menus Status Bars Dialog boxes … many other GUI controls Written in C. Provide bindings to other programming languages. Based on 4 libraries: GLib : Low-level stuffs such as data structures, portability wrappers, event loop, threads, dynamic loading and an object system Pango : layout and rendering of text with an emphasis on internationalization. Cairo : 2D graphics with support for multiple output devices ATK : set of interfaces providing accessibility
- 6. Where did Gtk+ come from? Originated from the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) project by Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis, started in 1995 Initially, based on Motif… Not good enough! So… Rewrote their own GUI toolkit – Gtk Released since GIMP 0.60 Renamed to Gtk+ since GIMP 0.99
- 7. Language Bindings supported by Gtk+ Gtk+ is written in C Bindings are provided for programmers of other programming languages Official bindings include: C++, Vala, Ruby, Python, Java, .Net, PHP and Perl.
- 8. Who use Gtk+? Environments GNOME, Xfce, LXDE… Access Linux Platform (ALP) Moblin / Maemo Applications AbiWord Gnumeric Midori Evolution
- 9. Then, what is Hildon? Application framework developed by Nokia Now part of GNOME Was used in Nokia Internet Tablet series and the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded Edition Depends on Gtk+ (GUI components), GConf (settings) & libcanberra (sound) libraries Application Manager, Control Panel Desktop, Widgets Finger-friendly GUI components for Mobile Devices
- 10. Where Hildon sits in the Maemo Architecture?
- 11. Hildon 2.2 UI Components
- 12. Mixed use of Hildon and Gtk+ UI Components in Maemo Most Hildon classes are inherited from Gtk+ classes You can place both Gtk+ and Hildon UI components to your applications … but, be aware of UI styles and user experience!
- 13. What programming languages can I use to develop Maemo applications? C & C++ (GCC 4.2) Python 2.5.4 PHP 5 Ruby 1.8 Java (OpenJDK 1.8.x)
- 14. I use Python. But why Python? Because… I am C-phobic! I am just a beginner of Linux application development Python syntax is simple, code is fairly readable Interpreter; easy to debug Can be imperative, object-oriented, or functional Dynamic types Automatic memory management Works well with Gtk+ and Hildon frameworks Many code examples Many existing Maemo applications are developed in Python Code and run directly on my Internet Tablets!
- 15. Little History of Since 1989 By Guido van Rossum , a Dutch computer programmer, now a Google employee Successor to the ABC programming language Vision: an easy and intuitive language just as powerful as major competitors open source, so anyone can contribute to its development code that is as understandable as plain English suitability for everyday tasks, allowing for short development times
- 16. Maemo Applications written in Python gPodder Podcast Client Gonvert Hermes Panucci player PyGTKEditor Witter Zoutube
- 17. How does Python code look like?
- 18. Let’s run the Hello World program!
- 20. My Maemo Applications Written in Python and Gtk+/Hildon, of course. Support both landscape and portrait mode. UI Internationalization. eSpeak GUI Client Provides a GUI for the eSpeak text-to-speech CLI utility Stroke Order Input Method 筆劃輸入法 As the name suggests!
- 21. eSpeakGUI Client: UI Components A set of hildon.PickerButtons in a gtk.HBox A set of hildon.GtkButtons in a gtk.VBox hildon.TextView in a hildon.PannableArea hildon.AppMenu A set of hildon.GtkButtons in a gtk.HBox
- 22. eSpeakGUI Client: UI Components hildon.TouchSelector
- 23. eSpeakGUI Client: How does it speak? eSpeak is an open-source, command-line Text-to-Speech utility Works like this… espeakcmd = "espeak -v " + currentlang + " -a " + currentAmp + " -p " + currentPitch + " -s " + currentSpeed + " -g " + currentWordGap + " \"" + textresult + "\" &" os.system(espeakcmd) Available in Maemo Extras Repository The GUI client simply creates a command line to call the espeak utility via the os.system() method. Argument values obtained from Selected values of the hildon.PickerButtons Text to be spoken from the hildon.TextView
- 25. Stroke Order Chinese Input Method: UI Components hildon.StackWindow hildon. TouchSelector hildon.TextView in a hildon.PannableArea gtk.Label gtk.Label in hildon.PannableArea hildon.TextView hildon.GtkButtons in HBoxes and VBoxes hildon.GtkButtons in HBoxes and VBoxes hildon.GtkButton hildon.GtkButtons in a VBox hildon.AppMenu hildon.AppMenu
- 26. Stroke Order Chinese Input Method: UI Components hildon.AppMenu containing hildon.GtkButtons
- 27. Stroke Order Chinese Input Method: The Use of Characters and associated phrases are stored in a SQLite 3 database. Why SQLite 3? Full Unicode Support Native Python API Lightweight, and, FAST! It’s built-in in N900!
- 28. Stroke Order Chinese Input Method: Accessing C-compiled libraries directly Not all features are available via bindings You may import the ctypes library to get access to methods and properties in C-compiled libraries dynamically. Example: Accessing the N900 Address Book:
- 29. Stroke Order Chinese Input Method: Demonstration
- 30. Get your hands dirty! Q: What tools do you need to develop Python applications on the Maemo platform? A: Python! And… A plain-text editor! Of course, there are other easy-to-use options too.
- 31. Glade – Gtk+ RAD tool Drag-and-drop controls to build up a GUI app Not aware of Hildon controls and libraries! Require extra dependency on apps generated
- 32. Illumination Software Creator Define variables, GUI components and action blocks visually. Generate Python code for desktop and Maemo. Generate Flex code for Adobe Flash apps. Great app for building a brief prototype and then fine-tune your code later. Available in Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and various Linux distributions.
- 33. PyGtkEditor on Maemo Open, edit, and run Python code directly on your Maemo device! Support syntax highlighting and Hildon text completion. Support other programming languages as well. It itself is written in Python and Gtk+/Hildon!
- 34. I decide to develop Maemo apps in Python, do I still need Maemo SDK? You can write Python programs that run on Maemo devices directly, without using the Maemo 5 SDK. Transfer your Python scripts from your PC to your Maemo device. Code directly on your device. Run! However, you need Maemo SDK if you: Want to make use of the device simulator instead of testing your apps on real Maemo device. Would like to package your Python apps. Would like to upload your Python apps to the Maemo.org repositories.
- 35. Will my Python/Gtk+/Hildon apps work in MeeGo? Well, maybe. Expect modifications though. MeeGo is based on Qt instead of Gtk+/Hildon. From MeeGo.com FAQ: “ Will”. But when? We may get more clues in the forthcoming MeeGo Conference 2010.
- 37. Gtk+ Support in MeeGo Handset UX Zwong tested a Gtk+ app on MeeGo Handset UX and confirmed that it somehow works partially. ( http:// zwong.de/?p =78 )
- 38. I want to develop apps for the MeeGo platform – shall I choose Gtk+, or Qt? Of course, the answer is… Qt! Because the entire GUI of MeeGo is based on Qt components. Python binding for Qt is also available: PyQt Then why shall we still bother with Gtk+? All Maemo devices up to today are based on Gtk+/Hildon. The current release of the Chinese Input Method Engine “MSCIM” on N900 only supports Gtk+/Hildon apps, not Qt’s. GNOME is available in nearly all mainstream Linux distributions. Better to learn both!
- 39. References for you to get started Python programming on Maemo http:// wiki.maemo.org/PyMaemo http:// wiki.maemo.org/PyMaemo/UI_tutorial http:// pymaemo.garage.maemo.org / http:// library.gnome.org/devel/pygtk/stable / Hildon and Gtk+ Application Frameworks http://maemo.org/api_refs/5.0/5.0-final/hildon/ http://www.forum.nokia.com/info/sw.nokia.com/id/eb8a68ba-6225-4d84-ba8f-a00e4a05ff6f/Hildon_2_2_UI_Style_Guide.html http://www.forum.nokia.com/info/sw.nokia.com/id/019c2b31-3777-49a0-9257-970d79580756/Hildon_2_2_Widget_UI_Specification.html Source Code of existing Maemo applications http:// maemo.org /packages/
- 40. Thank you! Questions are welcome. Please join the Hong Kong Maemo / Moblin / MeeGo User Group at http://groups.to/hkmaemo/ Visit my blog at http://amanda_hoic.mysinablog.com/
- 41. References Pictures and some text of this presentation were obtained from: Gimp.org Gnome.org Gtk.org Maemo.org Meego.com MyID.com.hk Wikipedia.com Zwong.de Zy-mobile.com