[FIXED] what are my options for multiplatform GUI applications in C#?

Issue

Keep in mind that although I know how to code, I am NOT a professional developer. moving on:

I am looking to create a simple GUI program for an embedded system that runs on both Linux and windows. The issue is, the person responsible for developing the applet insists on it being written in c#. I can run .net framework code through mono, and the .net core is multiplatform by design, but he was going to use UWP, and that obviously won't work on Linux. I have looked into Avalonia, but it is not compatible with the version of .net he uses. He told me that QT apparently won't work for some complex reason b/c we are just running a local app and nothing web-connected or even from a server. To be very clear, I need cross-platform GUI in c#. I am also not asking what the best option is, just what possible options even exist. I and the dev will go from there.

thx in advance, RUWO

Solution

You have some options which depending on your needs might work well, I would go with AvaloinaUI, but here are your options:

• Avalonia Is a WPF-inspired cross-platform XAML-based UI framework providing a flexible styling system and supporting a wide range of OSs: Windows (.NET Framework, .NET Core), Linux (also ARM), MacOS. Android and iOS are on the Roadmap.

There is also a functional wrapper for Avalonia https://github.com/AvaloniaCommunity/Avalonia.FuncUI that makes using it from F# a charm.

• Gtk# is a Graphical User Interface Toolkit for mono and .Net. The project binds the gtk+ toolkit and assorted GNOME libraries, enabling fully native graphical Gnome application development using the Mono and .Net development frameworks.

• Eto This framework can be used to build applications that run across multiple platforms using their native toolkit, with an easy to use API. This will make your applications look and work as a native application on all platforms, using a single UI codebase.

• CoreUI/LibUI Bindings to portable C Library. Simple and portable (but not inflexible) GUI library in C that uses the native GUI technologies of each platform it supports.

• QtSharp Mono/.NET bindings for Qt This project aims to create Mono/.NET libraries that wrap Qt (https://qt-project.org/) thus enabling its usage through C#.

Avalonia is currently heading towards version 1.0 but it's already stable. I am using Avalonia now since about a year, and my experience is pretty good so far. The community around it is growing fast, and the core developers are very active in the official gitter chat.

Answered By - JaggerJo

Answer Checked By - Marilyn (PHPFixing Volunteer)