User Interface or GUI Software Tool

[JC0133]

So I am working on a research project where I am trying to create a User Interface that will Run on Windows. I don't have a lot of experience programming. I am working on getting my degree in computer science. Every class I have had programming I have used like Eclipse or Visual Studio to write my code in. The output shows in a terminal.

So there are going to be 2 grad students writing the code on the back end. I am suppose to find a Software Tool where I can like create the Layout of the UI. Like a tool where I can drag and drop a button here or put a table there, etc.

Any suggestions on what I can use?

 

[DaveSimmons]

> a User Interface that will Run on Windows

Can you use Visual Studio for this, or do you only have the Express edition? What language / platform will this be? C# and .NET, or ...?

Visual Studio has drag-and-drop editing for creating decent user interfaces.

 

[purbeast0]

if it were me, i'd either write a web app and use bootstrap. it will run in any browser.

it's VERY easy to make nice looking UI's and layouts with it and there is a ton of documentation on it. their documentation is great as well.

http://getbootstrap.com/

 

[KB]

Plenty of options if you want to do .Net

Download Visual Studio Express:
http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-express-vs.aspx

Or SharpDevelop:
http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/Default.aspx

Or MonoDevelop:
http://monodevelop.com/

All can do windows UIs.

 

[cabri]

You need to also decide if the UI is to be command line based (terminal window), dialog based or a multi-window based.

As indicated within this thread, there area multitude of development environments that can develop programs to run on Windows.
Some may be easier for you to use than others and it will depend on what you are comfortable with.

 

[TechBoyJK]

if it were me, i'd either write a web app and use bootstrap. it will run in any browser.

it's VERY easy to make nice looking UI's and layouts with it and there is a ton of documentation on it. their documentation is great as well.

http://getbootstrap.com/

this

 

[slugg]

So I am working on a research project where I am trying to create a User Interface that will Run on Windows. I don't have a lot of experience programming. I am working on getting my degree in computer science. Every class I have had programming I have used like Eclipse or Visual Studio to write my code in. The output shows in a terminal.

So there are going to be 2 grad students writing the code on the back end. I am suppose to find a Software Tool where I can like create the Layout of the UI. Like a tool where I can drag and drop a button here or put a table there, etc.

Any suggestions on what I can use?

Visual Studio. Don't get into webapps for this. Just embrace the super, ridiculously easy to use Visual Studio editor and you'll be fine. You can pick between "Windows Forms" and "Windows Presentation Foundation." Definitely pick WPF. From there, you'll be able to drag a button on to the screen, double click it, and code what you want it to do when it's clicked. If you want a table, you drag a GridView onto the window and bind it with data. It really doesn't get any easier than this.

 

[JC0133]

Hay thanks guys, this was really helpful.

2 more question, is there a difference between Visual Studio Express and just Visual Studio? Are they both free to download and Use?

 

[owensdj]

Hay thanks guys, this was really helpful.

2 more question, is there a difference between Visual Studio Express and just Visual Studio? Are they both free to download and Use?

Express is limited in features and extensions compared to the paid Visual Studio. Get the new Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition instead of using one of the Express versions. The Community Edition has all of the features of the full paid Visual Studio. It's only limited by license to one to five to a development team, so it's perfect for your project.