Introduction to Kivy ; A Cross-platform Python Framework

Kivy is an open-source, cross-platform Python framework used for developing multi-touch applications with a natural user interface. It allows developers to build applications that run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.

1. Kivy is based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture and uses a declarative language to define the user interface. The framework provides a set of widgets and tools for creating dynamic and responsive user interfaces, including buttons, labels, text inputs, and more.
2. One of the main features of Kivy is its support for touch and gesture input, making it well-suited for developing applications for touch-based devices like smartphones and tablets. Kivy also supports other input methods such as mouse, keyboard, and gamepad.
3. Kivy is built using OpenGL, which provides fast graphics rendering and enables developers to create visually appealing applications with smooth animations and transitions.
4. Kivy is open-source and has an active community of developers who contribute to the framework, provide support, and share resources like tutorials and documentation.

Overall, Kivy is a powerful and versatile framework for building cross-platform applications with a natural user interface, making it a popular choice for developers looking to create multi-touch applications that run on multiple platforms.

Kivy is a graphical user interface open-source Python library that allows you to develop multi-platform applications on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and Raspberry Pi. The best thing about kivy is, it performs better than HTML5 cross-platform alternatives. 

Note that it is necessary to have Python 3 on your machine to make use of the library.

Installation in Windows: 
 

• Step 1: Update the pip and wheel before installing kivy by entering this command in cmd- 
   

python -m pip install --upgrade pip wheel setuptools

• Step 2: Install the dependencies- 
   

python -m pip install docutils pygments pypiwin32 kivy.deps.sdl2 kivy.deps.glew
python -m pip install kivy.deps.gstreamer
python -m pip install kivy.deps.angle

• Step 3: Install kivy.

python -m pip install kivy

It will result in something like the below image:

Installation in Linux: 
 

• Step 1: Add the PPA by entering this command in terminal- 
   

 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kivy-team/kivy

• Step 2: Update your package list using your package manager- 
   

sudo apt-get update

• Step 3: Install Kivy 
   

sudo apt-get install python3-kivy

Create an application 

There are three steps of creating an application with kivy:

1. Inherit Kivy’s App class which represents the window for our widgets
2. Create a build() method, which will show the content of the widgets.
3. And at last calling of the run() method. 
    

Example : 
This is python3 code to make a simple application that shows the desired text on the system’s screen:
 

To run this code open cmd(terminal in Linux) and go through the directory in which the code is saved and type this command- 
 

python file_name.py

Advantages of Kivy:

1. Cross-platform: Kivy allows developers to create applications that run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, which reduces development time and costs.
2. Natural user interface: Kivy is designed for touch-based devices and provides support for touch and gesture input, making it easy to create natural and intuitive user interfaces.
3. Open-source: Kivy is open-source, which means that it is free to use and has an active community of developers who contribute to the framework, provide support, and share resources like tutorials and documentation.
4. Fast graphics rendering: Kivy is built using OpenGL, which provides fast graphics rendering and enables developers to create visually appealing applications with smooth animations and transitions.
5. MVC architecture: Kivy is based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, which provides a structured approach to building applications and separates the user interface from the underlying logic and data.

Disadvantages of Kivy:

1. Learning curve: Learning to use Kivy and its declarative language can take time and effort, especially for developers who are new to the framework.
2. Limited third-party libraries: Kivy has a limited number of third-party libraries compared to other Python frameworks, which can make it difficult to find specific features or tools.
3. Limited community support: While Kivy has an active community of developers, it is not as widely used as other Python frameworks, which means that support and resources may be limited in some cases.
4. Performance issues: Kivy may have performance issues with complex applications, especially on older or low-powered devices. Developers need to pay attention to optimizing their code for performance to ensure a smooth user experience.