Learn PyQt5 book, QML and PySide 6

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Hi. I have recently found this site and I like what I see. Thank you!

I was a Fortran and C programmer for a few years back in my twenties. I’m now in my late fifties (it’s been a long time since I wrote my last piece of code) and I’ve decided to start from scratch, although I still know a bit about programming. I want to tackle almost every platform, from the web to mobile but especially the desktop. After much reflection about which language (Javascript and C# were my other language candidates, and UI libraries like WinUI 3, React or Flutter were my toolkit candidates), I’ve decided to learn Python and Qt. I know mobile and web are only partially served by this combination and not so good at that, but I need some desktop apps ASAP and there’s no one single solution for all cases anyway.

Your book looks great and I’m planning to buy it very soon, after some practice on terminal programs. I have two questions regarding the content and the future of the book.

  1. I understand QML is not the focus of your book, but it seems to be the focus of the Qt developers. People on the internet even suggest Qt Widgets might be on their way to deprecation. What is your opinion on this and how would it affect your lessons?

  2. PySide 6 is about to be released. Now that this is a fully supported technology by the Qt developers, I’m not sure it makes too much sense to keep learning PyQt. Do you consider a migration to PySide 6 for future editions of the book and make it the star of the show, especially if PySide and PyQt start diverging, or are you planning to keep the focus on PyQt no matter what?

Again, thank your for this site.

EDIT: typos and clarity.

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Hi @PabloVieira welcome to the forum!

I found my way to Python & Qt the same route, building applications and finding some things that just weren’t good fit for web (particularly in things that Python excels at).

  1. Tutorials/chapters covering QML are on my todo list (I get a lot of requests particularly around using it in Raspberry Pi/microcontrollers) – and probably a separate book. I’d be sceptical about Qt Widgets being deprecated any time soon (heard this for years) but Qt development is focused on QML now and the market there is bigger. I see it becoming the de facto standard for new projects.
  2. This site does both cover PyQt5 & PySide2 and there is already a PySide2 edition of the book. There are some examples on this site which need updating for both versions (I’m currently doing some work in the background to make this easier for the coming Qt6 release). For now I cover them together as far as possible – if they do diverge I’ll just add library-specific sections. The book, for example, has a couple of chapters that diverge quite a bit.

Short answer is, I plan to keep updating/following wherever Python/Qt go together!

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Oh, I had missed the PySide 2 edition of the book. Thank you for letting me know.

It’s reassuring that QtWidgets death has been largely exaggeraded :wink: I didn’t know the rumors had been going for years. I’m an old school guy and I’m fine with widgets, but I understand sooner or later I’ll have to learn QML so it’s great to know you’re already thinking about it.

Thanks again for your work.