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Kivy is a cross-platform framework that's been taking the world of software development by storm. It's especially popular among python users, and it's known for its ability to create a working app with minimal setup. When it was first released in 2011 by Mathieu Virbel and Gabriel Pettier as part of the PyMT project, Kivy's goal was to create a framework for developing multi-touch applications that could run on a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Some people love Kivy, with some people mostly referring to python developers, while others think it's just a waste of time. But regardless of how you feel about it, there's no denying that it's becoming or has already been the number one python library for mobile app development.
So, in this video, we're going to take a closer look at the Kivy framework and discuss its pros and cons.
Kivy Architecture
Kivy's architecture is based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern, a common thing for user interface frameworks. Plus, Kivy's speed is incredibly optimized, as it implements time-critical functionality with Cython to leverage the power of existing compilers.
So, what's the verdict? Well, like most frameworks, Kivy comes with its disadvantages. If you're using it to practice or improve your python skill, then it can be a great platform. But if you're building production-ready apps, then there is a couple of things you might want to consider.
The Good
Let's start with the good stuff, Kivy provides an easy-to-use and powerful set of tools for building GUI applications. It is open-source, which means that it's free to use and has a large community of developers who contribute to its development and maintenance.
Another thing I love about Kivy is how you could create a working app with just a single python file and less than 10 lines of code, unlike other cross-platform frameworks where you have a bunch of files and boilerplate codes.
From my personal experience using Kivy, I don't think there is anything other cross platform frameworks can do that kivy can't.
As if python isn't simple enough, Kivy ships with a design language that looks like css called the KVLang, since creating apps with python is usually imperative and adding a lot widgets of make to code hard to read, KVLang makes declaring your widget tree easier to code, read and debug.
The Bad
On the other side, the Kv language is somewhat limited, things like having a conditional widget or for loops have to be done in your python file.
Kivy doesn’t offer as many features as other development frameworks do. For example, it lacks support for 3D animation and integration with web technologies. Also, it can be difficult to find third-party libraries or plugins for Kivy apps. If you’re looking for a powerful mobile development framework that offers plenty of options for customization and integration, Kivy may not be your best choice.
The Ugly
Furthermore, due to its open source nature, Kivy also suffers from a lack of stability compared to other popular mobile development frameworks. This means that bugs are more likely to occur when working on complex projects, making debugging more time consuming. Finally, Kivy's library isn't nearly as comprehensive as some of the more established frameworks', so developers have limited options when it comes to finding third-party components and tools to extend their app's capabilities. With fewer resources to draw upon, creating sophisticated apps with Kivy can be especially challenging.
That's it for today guys, thanks for your time. If you enjoyed it, I hope you learnt something new.