How Can I Create Cross-Platform Executables for Python GUI Applications?

Creating Cross-Platform Executables for Python GUI Applications

Python's versatility extends to various platforms, allowing it to be utilized for desktop and web applications. Therefore, it stands to reason that compiling Python into a single executable for Mac, Windows, and Linux is possible. However, this process can be daunting for those unfamiliar with Python GUI development.

Cross-Platform GUI Libraries

To create a Python GUI, a GUI library with Python bindings is required. Popular options include:

• Tkinter: Python's default GUI library, free for commercial use
• WxPython: Based on WxWidgets, also free for commercial projects
• Qt (PyQt or Qt for Python): Qt has a mature set of bindings and support for multiple platforms, but PyQt is not free for commercial use while Qt for Python is less mature but free

Creating Standalone Executables

Once a GUI library is chosen, a tool is needed to convert Python scripts into standalone executables. Multi-platform options include:

• PyInstaller: Widely used, can handle both Python and PyQt projects

Other platform-specific tools exist:

• Windows: py2exe
• Linux: Freeze
• MacOS: py2app

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