Tkinter: Python GUI Programming
What is Tkinter?
• Tkinter is Python's standard GUI (Graphical User Interface) package.
• It is a wrapper around the Tcl/Tk GUI toolkit.
• Comes pre-installed with Python → no need for external installation
Basic Tkinter Structure
import tkinter as tk
# Create the main application window
root = tk.Tk()
# Set the window title
root.title("My First GUI")
# Set the window size
root.geometry("300x200")
# Add widgets here
# Start the GUI event loop
root.mainloop()
Widgets (GUI Elements)
Label – Display text Button – Trigger actions
label = tk.Label(root, text="Hello, Tkinter!") def on_click():
label.pack() print("Button clicked!")
button = tk.Button(root, text="Click Me", command=on_click)
Entry – Input field for one-line text Text – Multi-line text input
entry = tk.Entry(root) text_box = tk.Text(root, height=5, width=30)
entry.pack() text_box.pack()
Checkbutton – Checkbox (on/off) Radiobutton – Select one from many
var = tk.IntVar() var = tk.StringVar()
check = tk.Checkbutton(root, text="Check radio1 = tk.Radiobutton(root, text="Option A", variable=var,
me", variable=var) value="A")
check.pack() radio2 = tk.Radiobutton(root, text="Option B", variable=var,
value="B")
radio1.pack()
radio2.pack()
Listbox – Select from list Scale – Slider
listbox = tk.Listbox(root) scale = tk.Scale(root, from_=0, to=100, orient=tk.HORIZONTAL)
listbox.insert(1, "Python") scale.pack()
listbox.insert(2, "Java")
listbox.insert(3, "C++")
listbox.pack()
Layout Managers .grid() – Place widgets in rows and columns
.pack() – Simplest, stack widgets label.grid(row=0, column=0)
vertically/horizontally entry.grid(row=0, column=1)
label.pack()
.place() – Absolute positioning Widget Options
label.place(x=50, y=100) • text: sets label or button text
• bg: background color
• fg: foreground (text) color
• font: font type and size (e.g., ("Arial", 12, "bold"))
• width, height: size
• command: function called on click
tk.Button(root, text="OK", bg="green", fg="white",
font=("Helvetica", 12)).pack()
Event Handling
def say_hello():
print("Hello!")
button = tk.Button(root, text="Say Hello", command=say_hello)
Binding events:
def on_key(event):
print(f"Key pressed: {event.char}")
root.bind("<Key>", on_key)
File Dialogs:
from tkinter import filedialog
def open_file():
file_path = filedialog.askopenfilename()
print(file_path)
tk.Button(root, text="Open File", command=open_file).pack()
Message Boxes
from tkinter import messagebox
messagebox.showinfo("Title", "This is an information message.")
Adding Images
from tkinter import PhotoImage
img = PhotoImage(file="image.png")
label = tk.Label(root, image=img)
label.pack()
Simple Example – Login GUI
import tkinter as tk
def login():
user = username.get()
pwd = password.get()
print(f"Username: {user}, Password: {pwd}")
root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Login")
root.geometry("300x150")
tk.Label(root, text="Username").pack()
username = tk.Entry(root)
username.pack()
tk.Label(root, text="Password").pack()
password = tk.Entry(root, show="*")
password.pack()
tk.Button(root, text="Login", command=login).pack()
root.mainloop()
Note:
• Always end with root.mainloop() to keep the window running.
• Use tk.Frame() to group widgets.
• Avoid mixing pack() and grid() in the same container.
• Use .get() to read values from Entry or Text.
• Start small and build incrementally.
