Java ain`t bad, early learning curve isn`t bad, to know it well is a long haul, lots to know...
Truly portable apps. in the Web Browser can be made with Java and also in HTML.
If you want your apps. to work only in Puppy, GtkDialog is it`s GUI builder.
Most all GUI builders need themselves installed and use GTK+.
BaCon is Basic converted to C and compiled, so it`s GUIs work on most Linuxes with GTK+.
Nothing to install, most Linux distros. already have gcc ( C compiler ).
Development IDE for X11?
I too use Visual Basic (express) when hobby programming in Windows, and find this IDE amazing with forms generator and autocompletion of code.I guess much of the idea behind the .NET framework was to ease programming.The flip side is code incompatibility with other operating systems, size and the frequent updates making apps more or less outdated after a few years.Now - a bit off topic but - now starting learning C/C++ I find opensource codeblocks IDE come for Windows,Mac and Linux.It runs without problems on my low spec 1200Mhz laptop with Sclacko Puppy installed.It is a frontend with code completion and syntax highlighting for the GNU compiler we can download and install as devx_slacko.sfs from slickpet package manager.On codeblocks homepage there are binary packages for Windows, Debian etc. but not Slackware.Codeblocks will need wxWidgets which can be found as a tgz file in the wxGTK folder in connies repository at http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/ .If installed with the Slackware pkgtool found as a pet in the puppy package manager one is sure symlinks etc. are set appropriate when installing, and uninstall uncomplicated also via pkgtool.Then when downloaded from codeblocks homepage to the base of the puppy file system and extracted with tar xvzf command the codeblocks.src.tar.bz2 file will extract into the /usr/src/codeblock directory, and to build and install it is to navigate to this directory from the console and do ./configure ,hereafter execute make and then make install.We then have a state of the art crossplatform IDE for C/C++ running on low spec. hardware, thanks to puppy and codeblocks 
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EDIT: I see wxWidgets as .pet is at http://puppyfiles.org/dotpupsde/puppy4/ ... ogramming/ ,so probably installing this pet and then compiling sourcecode is all what is needed to build codeblocks
.EDIT: I see wxWidgets as .pet is at http://puppyfiles.org/dotpupsde/puppy4/ ... ogramming/ ,so probably installing this pet and then compiling sourcecode is all what is needed to build codeblocks
Anyone using iup: http://www.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/iup/, lua: http://www.tecgraf.puc-rio.br/iup/ and trusty old C?
I have just got iup and lua running on a basic slacko frugal installation. Lua, iup and libraries are located on a seperate usb stick. So fare so good. I'm a novice in lua programming and using iup so a bit more work and learning has to be done before I could say it's a winner.
Personally I have not found any OpenSource IDE wort fighting with (in my personal time). They all burn and die at some critical point. Spoiled by the M$ VB IDE I guess. I'll give that to Microsoft the VB6 IDE was terrific when it came. Really loved that environment. Did run nicely off my 200MHz laptop to. Try to do that with NET express or what it is called these days
Geany is sufficient for my personal stuff. Especially after I discovered the side bar and its symbols flip.
I also like vim but It's to hard to remember all the good stuff when you don't use it on a day to day basis.
A designer is nice to mock up GUI's. So I guess any one you learn to use will do, as long as you get an understandable layout in a usable format.
I have just got iup and lua running on a basic slacko frugal installation. Lua, iup and libraries are located on a seperate usb stick. So fare so good. I'm a novice in lua programming and using iup so a bit more work and learning has to be done before I could say it's a winner.
Personally I have not found any OpenSource IDE wort fighting with (in my personal time). They all burn and die at some critical point. Spoiled by the M$ VB IDE I guess. I'll give that to Microsoft the VB6 IDE was terrific when it came. Really loved that environment. Did run nicely off my 200MHz laptop to. Try to do that with NET express or what it is called these days
Geany is sufficient for my personal stuff. Especially after I discovered the side bar and its symbols flip.
I also like vim but It's to hard to remember all the good stuff when you don't use it on a day to day basis.
A designer is nice to mock up GUI's. So I guess any one you learn to use will do, as long as you get an understandable layout in a usable format.