Graphical user interface builder

NetBeansGUI builder

Agraphical user interface builder(orGUI builder), also known asGUI designeror sometimesRAD IDE,is asoftware development toolthat simplifies the creation ofGUIsby allowing the designer to arrangegraphical control elements(often called widgets) using adrag-and-dropWYSIWYGeditor. Without a GUI builder, a GUI must be built by manually specifying each widget's parameters in the source code, with no visual feedback until the program is run. Such tools are usually called the termRADIDE.

User interfaces are commonly programmed using anevent-driven architecture,so GUI builders also simplify creating event-driven code. This supporting code connectssoftware widgetswith the outgoing and incomingeventsthat trigger the functions providing the application logic.

Some graphical user interface builders automatically generate all thesource codefor agraphical control element.Others, likeInterface BuilderorGlade Interface Designer,generateserializedobject instances that are then loaded by the application.

List of GUI builders

C language based

• GTK/Glade Interface Designer
• Motif
• XForms (toolkit)fdesign
• Intrinsics

C# based

• UWP/Windows Presentation Foundation/WinForms
  • MicrosoftVisual Studio XAML Editor,XAMLbased GUI layout
  • MicrosoftExpression Blend
  • SharpDevelop
• Xamarin.Forms/.NET Core
  • Xamarin Studio

C++ based

• UWP/Windows Presentation Foundation/WinForms
  • MicrosoftVisual Studio XAML Editor,XAMLbased GUI layout
  • Microsoft Blend
• Qt (toolkit)
  • Qt Creator
• FLTK
  • FLUID
• JUCE
• U++
• wxWidgets
  • wxFormBuilder

Objective-C / Swift based

• Cocoa(modern) andCarbon(deprecated).
  • Xcode
• GNUstep(formerlyOpenStep)
  • Gorm

Java based

• Android Studio,XML-based GUI layout
• NetBeans GUI design tool

HTML/JavaScript based

• Adobe Dreamweaver— Obsolete as of 2022
• Apache Cordova/PhoneGap

Object Pascal based

• Delphi/ VCL (Visual Component Library)
• Lazarus/ LCL (Lazarus Component Library)

Tk framework based

• Tk (framework)
  • ActiveState Komodo(No longerhas a GUI builder)

Visual Basic based

• UWP/Windows Presentation Foundation/WinForms
  • MicrosoftVisual Studio XAML Editor,XAMLbased GUI layout
  • MicrosoftExpression Blend

Other tools

• Adobe Animate
• App Inventor for Android
• AutoIt
• Axure RP
• Creately
• Embedded Wizard
• GEM
• Interface Builder
• LucidChart
• OpenWindows
• Resource construction set
• Stetic
• Scaleform
• Wavemaker

List of development environments

IDEs with GUI builders (RADIDEs)

• 4D
• ActiveState Komodo(No longerhas a GUI builder)
• Android Studio
• Anjuta
• AutoIt3
• B4X
• C++Builder
• Clarion
• Code::Blocks
• CodeLite
• dBase
• Delphi/RAD Studio
• Embedded Wizard
• Eclipse
• Gambas
• IntelliJ IDEA
• InForm
• JDeveloper
• KDevelop
• LabWindows/CVI
• LANSA
• Lazarus
• Liberty BASIC
• Microsoft Visual Studio
• MonoDevelop
• MSEide+MSEgui
• MyEclipse
• NetBeans
• OutSystems
• PascalABC.NET
• Projucer
• Purebasic
• Qt Creator
• SharpDevelop
• Softwell Maker
• U++
• VB6
• WinFBE
• Xcode
• Xojo

See also

• Rapid application development(RAD)
• Human interface guidelines(HIG)
• Human interface device
• User interface markup language
• User interface modeling
• Design-Oriented Programming
• Linux on the desktop