Book Image

Building Cross-Platform GUI Applications with Fyne

By : Andrew Williams
5 (1)
Book Image

Building Cross-Platform GUI Applications with Fyne

5 (1)
By: Andrew Williams

Overview of this book

The history of graphical application development is long and complicated, with various development challenges that persist to this day. The mix of technologies involved and the need to use different programming languages led to a very steep learning curve for developers looking to build applications across multiple platforms. In Building Cross-Platform GUI Applications with Fyne, you'll understand how the Go language, when paired with a modern graphical toolkit such as Fyne, can overcome these issues and make application development much easier. To provide an easy-to-use framework for cross-platform app development, the Fyne project offers many graphical concepts and design principles that are outlined throughout this book. By working through five example projects, you'll learn how to build apps effectively, focusing on each of the main areas, including the canvas, layouts, file handling, widgets, data binding, and themes. The book will also show you how the completed applications can then be run on your desktop computer, laptop, and smartphone. After completing these projects, you will discover how to prepare applications for release and distribute them to platform marketplaces and app stores. By the end of this book, you'll be able to create cross-platform graphical applications with visually appealing user interfaces and concise code.

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Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the example code files
Conventions used
Get in touch
Reviews
1
Section 1: Why Fyne? The Reason for Being and a Vision of the Future
Section 1: Why Fyne? The Reason for Being and a Vision of the Future
Free Chapter
2
Chapter 1: A Brief History of GUI Toolkits and Cross-Platform Development
Chapter 1: A Brief History of GUI Toolkits and Cross-Platform Development
Understanding the history of the graphical user interface
Exploring the evolution of GUI toolkits
Comparing native graphical apps to web UIs
Options for cross-platform native toolkits
Summary
3
Chapter 2: The Future According to Fyne
Chapter 2: The Future According to Fyne
Technical requirements
Starting with a clean slate
How Go is a great fit for this challenge
Looking good with Material Design
Designing APIs for simplicity and maintainability
A vision of the future
Summary
Further reading
4
Section 2: Components of a Fyne App
Section 2: Components of a Fyne App
5
Chapter 3: Window, Canvas, and Drawing
Chapter 3: Window, Canvas, and Drawing
Technical requirements
Anatomy of a Fyne application
Understanding CanvasObject and the canvas package
Scalable drawing primitives
Pixel output – rendering images
Implementing a simple game
6
Chapter 4: Layout and File Handling
Chapter 4: Layout and File Handling
Technical requirements
Laying out containers
Standard layouts
Cross-platform file handling
Implementing an image browser application
Summary
7
Chapter 5: Widget Library and Themes
Chapter 5: Widget Library and Themes
Technical requirements
Exploring the design of the Widget API
Grouping with the collection widgets
Adding structure with container widgets
Using common dialogs
Custom dialogs
Understanding themes
Implementing a task list application
Summary
8
Chapter 6: Data Binding and Storage
Chapter 6: Data Binding and Storage
Technical requirements
Binding data to widgets
Adapting data types for display
Binding complex data types
Storing data using the Preferences API
Implementing a water consumption tracker
Summary
9
Chapter 7: Building Custom Widgets and Themes
Chapter 7: Building Custom Widgets and Themes
Technical requirements
Extending existing widgets
Creating a component from scratch
Implementing a chat app user interface
Summary
10
Section 3: Packaging and Distribution
Section 3: Packaging and Distribution
11
Chapter 8: Project Structure and Best Practices
Chapter 8: Project Structure and Best Practices
Technical requirements
Organizing your project
Test driving your development
Managing platform-specific code
Summary
12
Chapter 9: Bundling Resources and Preparing for Release
Chapter 9: Bundling Resources and Preparing for Release
Technical requirements
Bundling assets
Checking for UI hints
Choosing metadata, icons, and app IDs
Packaging applications (desktop and mobile)
Installing your application
Cross-compiling with ease
Summary
13
Chapter 10: Distribution – App Stores and Beyond
Chapter 10: Distribution – App Stores and Beyond
Technical requirements
Building your application for release
Distributing apps to desktop app stores
Uploading apps to Google Play and the iOS App Store
Summary
14
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Appendix A: Developer Tool Installation
Appendix A: Developer Tool Installation
Installing on Apple macOS
Installing on Microsoft Windows
Appendix B: Installing Mobile Build Tools
Appendix B: Installing Mobile Build Tools
Preparing for Android
Preparing for iOS and iPadOS
Appendix C: Cross-Compiling
Appendix C: Cross-Compiling
Manually installing compilers
Using fyne-cross
Why subscribe?

To get the most out of this book

A basic knowledge of the Go language is assumed throughout this book. If you are not yet familiar with the syntax or concepts, consider running through the online tutorial before you begin reading (tour.golang.org).

To run the examples, you will need at least version 1.12 of Go installed, as well as a C compiler for your computer (required by the Fyne library code). If either of these are not installed, you can find detailed steps in Appendix A, Developer Tool Installation. We will step through the process of installing the Fyne library and its supporting tools as they are required throughout the book:

To develop applications, you will need a Windows, macOS, or Linux computer with the development tools described previously. To test applications on mobile devices, you will also need the Android SDK and/or Xcode (for iOS/iPadOS) environment installed. For more information, refer to Appendix B, Installation of Mobile Build Tools. For the further testing of mobile builds, it is advisable to have a suitable mobile device available.

To derive additional benefits from this book, it would be ideal if you have in mind an app project you are aiming to build. Doing so will help to practice the example code in different settings to better understand the widget and API capabilities. Additionally, this will mean that the app store upload process at the end of this book will result in a published version of your application!

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to access the code via the GitHub repository (link available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

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