What is the difference between the widgets of tkinter and tkinter.ttk in Python?

tkinter.ttk is a themed widget module that provides modern-styled alternatives to standard tkinter widgets. While tkinter provides basic GUI components, tkinter.ttk offers enhanced visual styling and cross-platform native appearance.

Key Differences

Here are the major differences between tkinter and tkinter.ttk widgets −

• Visual Styling: tkinter widgets have basic appearance, while ttk widgets follow the operating system's native theme for a more modern look.

• Widget Variety: ttk provides additional widgets like Combobox, Progressbar, Treeview, and Notebook that aren't available in basic tkinter.

• Theming Support: ttk widgets can be easily themed and styled using the Style() class, while tkinter widgets have limited styling options.

• Configuration Options: Some configuration options differ between tkinter and ttk widgets (e.g., 'bg' vs 'background').

• Import Method: Use from tkinter.ttk import * to override basic tkinter widgets with their ttk equivalents.

Example: Comparing tkinter and ttk Widgets

Let's create an example showing both tkinter and ttk widgets side by side ?

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

# Create main window
root = tk.Tk()
root.title("tkinter vs ttk Widgets")
root.geometry("400x300")

# Create frames for organization
frame1 = tk.Frame(root)
frame1.pack(pady=10)

frame2 = tk.Frame(root)
frame2.pack(pady=10)

# tkinter widgets
tk.Label(frame1, text="Standard tkinter Widgets", font=('Arial', 12, 'bold')).pack()
tk.Button(frame1, text="tkinter Button", bg="lightblue").pack(pady=5)
tk.Entry(frame1, bg="lightyellow").pack(pady=5)

# ttk widgets  
tk.Label(frame2, text="Themed ttk Widgets", font=('Arial', 12, 'bold')).pack()
ttk.Button(frame2, text="ttk Button").pack(pady=5)
ttk.Entry(frame2).pack(pady=5)

# Style configuration for ttk
style = ttk.Style()
style.configure('Custom.TButton', foreground='red', font=('Arial', 10, 'bold'))

# Custom styled ttk button
ttk.Button(frame2, text="Styled ttk Button", style='Custom.TButton').pack(pady=5)

root.mainloop()

Styling ttk Widgets

The ttk.Style class allows you to customize widget appearance ?

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("TTK Styling Example")
root.geometry("300x200")

# Create style object
style = ttk.Style()

# Configure different styles
style.configure('Success.TButton', foreground='green', font=('Arial', 12))
style.configure('Warning.TLabel', foreground='orange', font=('Arial', 10, 'bold'))

# Apply styles to widgets
ttk.Label(root, text="Styled Label", style='Warning.TLabel').pack(pady=10)
ttk.Button(root, text="Success Button", style='Success.TButton').pack(pady=10)

# Default ttk widgets
ttk.Entry(root).pack(pady=10)
ttk.Progressbar(root, length=200, mode='indeterminate').pack(pady=10)

root.mainloop()

Widget Availability Comparison

Best Practices

• Use ttk widgets for modern applications that need native OS appearance

• Mix tkinter and ttk widgets when needed - they can coexist in the same application

• Use ttk.Style() for consistent theming across your application

• Import specific widgets to avoid conflicts: from tkinter import ttk

Conclusion

Use tkinter.ttk for modern, native-looking applications with enhanced styling capabilities. While tkinter provides basic functionality, ttk offers better visual appeal and additional widget types like Combobox and Progressbar.