Language/GUI library to make map editor

I'm designing a cross-platform map editor for an application I've developed, and I'm unsure what approach to take regarding language/gui library choice. Just for some basic info, the editor needs to parse and output xml files.

I'm most comfortable with C++, Lua, and Perl, but I'd also be willing to use Python (could use the practice). I'd prefer doing it in a scripting language for productivity.

Any recommendations are appreciated, thanks.

I'd also like support for filling out forms, etc.

P.S.开发者_Python百科 I've tested out extending existing map editors but it isn't really worth it since they don't provide the functionality I need on a fundamental level, requiring me to just re-write the whole thing anyway.

---

My preference is always Gtk2 and Perl 5, but that combination works best on Linux. What OS are you going to run under?

Here is an example Perl 5 script using Gtk2:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

use Gtk2;

Gtk2->init;

my $window = Gtk2::Window->new;
my $vbox   = Gtk2::VBox->new;
my $label  = Gtk2::Label->new("click the button");
my $button = Gtk2::Button->new("click me");

my $i;
$window->signal_connect(destroy => sub { Gtk2->main_quit });
$button->signal_connect(clicked => sub { $label->set_text(++$i) });

$window->add($vbox);
$vbox->add($label);
$vbox->add($button);

$window->show_all;

Gtk2->main;

---

I can recommend using Python and PyQt for the job. Qt offers a class for scene management (i.e. layered object placement, zooming, hit testing, events,coordinate transformations etc., even collision detection) called QGraphicsScene and a matching control to display it all, called QGraphicsView. It also offers support for drag&drop, thus enabling interactive object placement.

Implementing a map using these classes really is just creating QGraphicItems (Rectangles, Polygons etc.) and adding them to the scene, Qt does the rest. You can have a look at how it all fits together reading the documentation, especially the document "The Graphics View Framework". I had to implement something similar for a client recently and was very pleased with this approach.

---

Building on the base of Lua, I would recommend IUP for the GUI. It is lightweight, portable to linux and Windows, and well integrated with Lua. For those who like Gtk, IUP includes a driver for Gtk so it can in principle be ported to any system where Gtk can port.

Another plausible choice is wxWidgets, which also has a wrapper integrating it with Lua.

Both IUP and wxWidgets are included in the Lua for Windows bundle.