attila77 and danielwilms,

What IDE are you using for PyQt coding, Eric4 with QTDesigner? I saw the Pluthon IDE but had issues with bringing in the .ui

Eric4's Build Form (Discussed here ) I found quite useful to auto-generate code for events and signals. But I love the way you can use Pluthon to SSH and Export the display for testing.

Secondly, is there a Wiki or a Site we should all know about directly relating to Python+Qt on maemo5?

It seems to me that as a newbie to maemo programming there are so many options for both programming languages/environments and IDEs, that it's had to know where to start.

Qt4.5 or Qt4.6
Python 2.5 or 2.6
PyQt4.6 PyQt4.7 or just PySide
Pluthon, Eric4, QTCreator/Designer or PyGTKEditor

And then should we debug on scratchbox, on Ubuntu as a python script or even on device (physically or ssh'ed)

I'm a little lost, but in love with all these wonderful options, just for Python alone; and glad we're not stuck in a world of: well there's officially our-way-of-doing-it or our-way-of-doing-it.

A lot of the questions you describe are a matter of personal preference, so a bit difficult to give universal recommendations. As for the technical part:

• Qt4.5 or Qt4.6

Qt4.5 in is Extras, and also available for the N800/N810. Qt4.6 is still in flux with (near-)nightly builds available, the stable is expected with PR1.2

• Python 2.5 or 2.6

2.5, there is no other choice on Maemo 4/5

• PyQt4.6 PyQt4.7 or just PySide

PyQt4.6 is irrelevant PyQt4.7 is available to both Qt4.5 and Qt4.6 so covers a bit more ground (N800+N810+N900) and is currently smaller/more memory efficient, although I fully expect the PySide team to show some massive improvements around PR1.2 PyQt will be in Extras in three days. PySide is Qt4.6 only (=N900 only), and will be Extras ready after PR1.2, with the same caveat as Qt4.6 - it has not yet reached a stable status, so it's still a moving target. PySide's real relevance will probably show in Maemo 6, in Maemo 5 it's mostly irrelevant, I'd go for PyQt as you don't loose anything, but then again, I'm biased and am certain PySide guys will recommend PySide

An unbiased (well, at least we tried ) overview can be seen at:
http://wiki.maemo.org/PyMaemo/GUI_to...election_guide

• Pluthon, Eric4, QTCreator/Designer or PyGTKEditor

Tough one. Personally, I use QtDesigner for .ui elements and WingIDE as my main IDE as it's pretty configurable (allows on-device debugging) and works nicely with PyQt (knows about PyQt autocompletion, help, etc). Wing is sadly not generally free, though it IS available for free to bona fide OSS developers (but not commercial devs). Pluthon is also very good in Maemo device integration, but lacks the Qt touch - it does work but the templates/help/etc are GTK oriented. And, of course, Eclipse itself is a love/hate thing Eric4 is okay, but AFAIK no on-device action support which makes it a bit limited. Never tried PyGTKEditor.

I generally try to develop as much as possible on the desktop, and just switch to on-device when I start using something Maemo-specific. I usually code in a way that my Maemo apps are (ugly, but working) desktop apps, too.

PS. Oh, and a lot of (hopefully ) useful Python-Qt info can be read about in the slideshare presentation in my sig, given at the 2009 Maemo Summit

Hi Attila,

You post has been the most informative one I have read so far, but still, just like the original poster, I am lost.

My Experience :
- Java programming on PC (in eclipse).
- Some C / C++ in visual studio .
- Lots of C# in visual studio.
- Python on windows, Python on S60 (n95).
- TCL.

I'd like to write a small widget for my n900, it will query something every 5 seconds, and display the information in the widget on the n900 home desktop, it does not require performance or fast loading etc etc.
I am sure Python is the way to go - But I have no idea how to start.
What do I need to install? How do I make a PyQt APP to run? How do I port it to the N900, and how do I access on N900 API to get the information I want.

Hmph.
Eitam.

Unfortunately, Qt desktop widgets are an area where we are thin *at the moment*. Qt4.6, which promises serious improvements in this area will be released to the general public soon via an OTA upgrade. When that happens, we'll of course release the adequate python bindings ASAP and it will be happy hacking land. Until then, I suggest playing with standalone PyQt applications which work fairly well (try the PyQt4 Demo package for examples).

Thanks for taking the time to answer me.
I don't really want to wait for PR1.2, So I will just go ahead and do it with GTK or Hildon, though I have no idea how to approach that.

Too many steps just to start doing anything.

Thanks though

start here: http://wiki.maemo.org/PyMaemo

@mece

WOW! This is exactly what I was looking for! thank you!
You are my savior!

Now I can go ahead and write my app, which is : a desktop widget or app that will remind you that you forgot to close the camera lens by means of visual alert or sound not sure yet, So you won't scratch your lense by mistake.