Recommendations please?

[alexg1231]

Here's the thing: i need an IDE that would permit for me to create GUI applications the same way that Visual Basic does (simply by drawing windows and buttons and creating the code behind them) but the code would have to be in C++.

So basically I'm asking for a combination of Visual Basic and C++, where I can create actual windows and buttons as easily as Visual Basic does, but the code would be in C++ and the values that are returned (or the "results") would appear in a specific/separate boxes or windowes that I would specify.

Is there anything I can use that wouldn't require me to write all the complicated code that is necessary to create the a GUI with the borders and everything? (for example, if i do this in MS Visual Studio, I need to write the whole thing from scratch.)

Do software like Code::Blocks permit for me to do what i just described?

[Thomas1965]

Have a look at the C++ Builder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKvk1nJdVII
https://www.embarcadero.com/products/cbuilder/starter/promotional-download

[Z e r e o]

I would personally recommend using Qt for all your GUI needs that you want to do in C++. It is hands down the best C++ GUI framework on the market at the moment. https://www.qt.io/developers/ . It is also free for distributing as long as you follow their open source license requirements.

Also since you want to be able to drag and drop the UI elements and then just connect the callbacks to your backend C++ functionality you will also want to use Qt Creator which includes a drag and drop designer like you are describing. https://www.qt.io/ide/

Though I would also recommend trying out QML which is similar to JSON and allows you to define nice looking UI elements quite easily. Or even just try using straight C++ to create your UI which isn't to hard once you get the hang of layouts, containers, etc. Only reason I mention this is because while drag and drop designers are nice for small applications they are very hard to maintain and when you get to more complicated ones.

Anyways again I would checkout the C++ Qt Framework for your GUI needs and also grab Qt creator which is a C++ IDE built around the Qt Framework which includes drag and drop UI design. Wish you the best of luck.

P.S If you are looking for a way to get nice looking GUIs built quickly than C++ might not be the best language out there for that, it can definitely get the job done with frameworks like Qt but in my opinion there is much better languages out there for making native GUIs like C#.NET and WPF (Or even VB which you seem to have experience with).

[Thomas1965]

I agree with Z e r e o. For writing the GUI WPF with C# or VB.NET would be a better option.
You still could put all your C++ code in a dll and use it from the GUI.

http://www.wpf-tutorial.com/
https://www.wpftutorial.net/

[Chervil]

Just a word for C++builder.

I started to use it years ago for the same reason as the OP, I wanted something which was a step up from Visual Basic, allows similar ease of use and used C++ for the code. At the time is was a pretty good fit, it can be very easy to get a GUI application up and running in just a few minutes. It's still very good for that.

Things which count against it: when doing more complex tasks, sometimes it is difficult to find solutions when unexpected problems arise. Once in a while when trying something new, an obscure error message will arise. The natural response is to Google for the error message and find what solutions other people have reached. It seems sometimes the only answers have to be translated from some programming forum written in Russian.

For the latter reason it is probably worth looking at which methodologies have a large current user-base. I think whichever route one follows, there will be mysterious errors or problems, and the fact that others are using the same technologies counts for a lot when researching solutions.