An Introduction to PySimpleGUI: Creating Graphic User Interfaces in Python

PySimpleGUI is a simple and easy-to-use Python library that allows you to create graphic user interfaces (GUIs) quickly and easily. It aims to provide a lightweight and user-friendly way to create desktop applications with Python.

In this tutorial, we will introduce you to the basics of PySimpleGUI and walk you through creating your first GUI application.

Installing PySimpleGUI:
Before you can start using PySimpleGUI, you need to install it. You can do this using pip, the Python package manager. Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command:

pip install PySimpleGUI

Creating a simple GUI window:
To create a simple GUI window using PySimpleGUI, import the PySimpleGUI library and use the sg.Window() function. This function takes two arguments – the title of the window and the layout of the window. The layout defines the elements that will be displayed in the window.

Here’s an example of a simple GUI window with a text element:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

layout = [[sg.Text('Hello, World!')]]

window = sg.Window('My first GUI', layout)

while True:
    event, values = window.read()
    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
        break

window.close()

In this example, we create a GUI window with the title “My first GUI” and a single text element displaying the message “Hello, World!”. The window is displayed until the user closes it by clicking the close button.

Handling user input:
One of the key features of PySimpleGUI is the ability to handle user input. You can create input elements such as text boxes, buttons, and checkboxes, and retrieve the values entered by the user. Here’s an example of a simple GUI window with a text input box and a button:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

layout = [[sg.Text('Enter your name:'), sg.InputText(), sg.Button('Submit')]]

window = sg.Window('User input example', layout)

while True:
    event, values = window.read()
    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED or event == 'Submit':
        break

    name = values[0]
    sg.Popup('Hello, ' + name + '!')

window.close()

In this example, we create a GUI window with a text input box, a button, and a text element to display a greeting message. When the user clicks the submit button, the value entered in the text input box is retrieved and displayed in a pop-up message.

Customizing the appearance of the GUI:
PySimpleGUI provides a range of customization options to help you create visually appealing GUIs. You can change the colors, fonts, sizes, and styles of elements in your GUI windows. Here’s an example of a GUI window with custom styling:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

sg.theme('DarkAmber')

layout = [[sg.Text('Hello, World!', font=('Arial', 20), text_color='white', background_color='blue')],
          [sg.InputText()], [sg.Button('Submit')]]

window = sg.Window('Styled GUI', layout)

while True:
    event, values = window.read()
    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED or event == 'Submit':
        break

window.close()

In this example, we use the sg.theme() function to set the theme of the GUI window to ‘DarkAmber’. We also customize the appearance of the text element by setting the font, text color, and background color.

Conclusion:
In this tutorial, we introduced you to the basics of PySimpleGUI and showed you how to create simple GUI applications with Python. We covered creating GUI windows, handling user input, and customizing the appearance of the GUI.

PySimpleGUI is a powerful and versatile library that can help you create professional-looking desktop applications with minimal effort. We encourage you to explore the PySimpleGUI documentation and experiment with different layouts, input elements, and styling options to create your own GUI applications.