macOS GUI

[pythonnewbi]

I'd like to learn Python.

Is there a forum on Jython or do I need to find a Java forum?

I have a Mac laptop & a Mac desktop. I know that an older version of Python is included with macOS.

Since I'm an absolute beginner, I need a macOS compatible GUI that is easy to navigate & easy to learn. What do you recommend?

Is it easy to install Python on a Mac? Do I need to use the Terminal or is the installer GUI-based?

Can I create stand-alone programs that I can distribute? Can I create cross-platform programs? I have a friend who has a Windows laptop & I have a Mac.

Can I create a program on my Mac that will run on Windows or should I look for a Java-compatible program like jython?

[Knight18]

Why not learn PyQt5? I've only used it windows, but it's supposed to be cross platform compatible. Go ahead and take a look at this tutorial + explanation guide and make your decision. As long as you compile it correctly, it should work on any platform.

Edit:
Just noticed you also asked about Python itself. Yes, It's easy to install Python regardless of the OS. As someone who went from Python to Java, it was much harder to set up Java and it's libraries. You can find countless guides online explaining how to set it up.

[pythonnewbi]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I've tried out Visual Basic, VB.Net, Turbo Pascal & Java.

I don't like the verbosity of Java. I've spent hours on Google & Wikipedia & YouTube learning about Java & Java compatible languages. So many choices! I came across Python & the simplicity intrigued me.

I want a GUI. I don't want to use a Terminal.

I have a Mac & a friend has a Windows laptop. I'd love to be able to create a program on my Mac that will run on Windows.

Of course, Java is cross-platform. Maybe what I'm looking for is HTML & JavaScript.

I have so many choices of programming languages it's confusing to me!

[Knight18]

He he, same. Almost every language seems rather verbose after learning Python.

Python is a good choice. It's hard to go wrong with it. Especially for GUI libraries. Python has access to all kinds of GUI libraries. Python isn't that great when it comes to speed and performance, but it excels in other areas.

[RileyGH]

If by GUI here you mean a GUI in which to write your Python code and organise your projects, (as opposed to writing your own GUI for something else, like a game) then I quite like PyCharm - I use it on a Mac. Although, I'm a beginner so you might want to pay more attention to other answers.

[ndc85430]

Java is very verbose and has lots of historical baggage. Other languages that compile to Java bytecode (and therefore run on the JVM) aren't encumbered with this baggage, but can still benefit from the maturity of the platform and the large amount of good libraries that are available. My favourite JVM languages are Kotlin and Clojure.