Graphical user interface builder

Graphical user interface builders are often incorrectly called rapid application development tools.

See also: List of graphical user interface builders and rapid application development tools

A graphical user interface builder (or GUI builder), also known as GUI designer, is a software development tool that simplifies the creation of GUIs by allowing the designer to arrange widgets using a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor. Without a GUI builder, a GUI must be built by manually specifying each widget's parameters in code, with no visual feedback until the program is run.

User interfaces are commonly programmed using an event-driven architecture, so GUI builders also simplify creating event-driven code. This supporting code connects widgets with the outgoing and incoming events that trigger the functions providing the application logic.

List of GUI builders

Programs

• AutoIt
• Axure RP
• Cocoa/OpenStep
  • Interface Builder
• dBase
• Ebase Xi RAD platform for web application, workflow and integration.
• Embedded Wizard a commercial development tool focussed on user interface applications for embedded systems.
• Fast, Light Toolkit
  • FLUID
• GNUstep
  • Gorm
• GEM
  • Resource construction set
• GTK+
  • Glade Interface Designer
  • Stetic
• Intrinsics
  • Motif
    • Easymotif
    • ixbuild
    • X-Designer
• LucidChart
• Object Pascal
  • Lazarus
  • fpGUI UI Designer (included with fpGUI Toolkit)
• OpenWindows
  • guide (GUI builder)
• Pencil Project
• Qt
• Scaleform
• Tk (framework)
  • ActiveState Komodo (No longer has a GUI Builder)
  • SpecTcl (part of Komodo prior to Komodo 4.0 )
• Wavemaker open source, browser-based development platform for Ajax development based on Dojo, Spring, Hibernate
• Windows Presentation Foundation
  • Microsoft Expression Blend
• wxWidgets
  • wxGlade
  • wxFormBuilder
• XForms (toolkit)
  • fdesign
• Crank Storyboard Suite

IDE Plugins

• NetBeans GUI design tool, formerly known as Matisse.

List of development environments

IDEs with GUI builders

• ActiveState Komodo no longer has a GUI Builder
• Adobe Flash Builder
• Anjuta
• Ares
• BBj
• CodeGear RAD Studio (former Borland Development Studio)
• Clarion
• Code::Blocks
• dBase
• Ebase Xi RAD platform for web application, workflow and integration.
• Eclipse
• Gambas
• JDeveloper
• Just BASIC/Liberty BASIC
• KDevelop
• Lazarus
• LabWindows/CVI with drag-and-drop GUI builder for creating test and measurement applications
• Liberty_BASIC_Workshop
• Microsoft Visual Studio
• MonoDevelop
• MSEide+MSEgui
• MyEclipse
• NetBeans
• Philasmicos Entwickler Studio
• Purebasic
• Qt Creator
• REALbasic
• SharpDevelop
• Softwell Maker
• WinDev
• wxDev-C++
• Xcode (Contains Interface Builder, formerly a separate application)

See also

• User interface markup language
• User Interface Modeling
• Design-Oriented Programming